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Hero of the Soviet Union Gavriil Zuyev

Gavriil Zuyev (1907-1974), a Soviet aircraft pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union Pilots are judged by the number of enemy aircraft shot down. But there were cases when people received the "Gold Star" of the Hero for one fight only, because it was really a feat. ... This happened in December 1942 in the area of ​​Demyansk. Soviet troops, conducting continuous fighting, completed the encirclement of the enemy grouping, and the pilots of the 427th Fighter Aviation Regiment covered them. Once 3 pilots flew: Zuev, Levchenko and Shamenkov. When approaching the front line, they were warned that a group of enemy planes is approaching. Four 'nines' of Ju-87 dive-bombers went one after another, and behind - 16 Me-109 fighters. The moment was critical: the bombers were already on the combat course, and our pilots, not paying attention to the fighter cover, hit the Junkers group on the forehead. Attack - and in the first nine aircraft a plane was burning, the rest were throwing bombs on their own troops. Again the attack - in the second 'nine' 2 aircraft were burning. The third 'nine' didn't wait for a blow and threw bombs. Soviet pilots attacked the fourth 'nine', they shoot down another plane, but then the German fighters arrived. They managed to damage the plane of Captain Zuev and wound him. He caught fire on his overall, but did not jump out with a parachute, he decided to save his plane and landed on his airfield. The technicians dragged him out of the cab, extinguished the burning clothes with snow. In this battle three soviet pilots shot down 4 bombers and 2 enemy fighters. The commander himself shot down 3 Ju-87. Located on the front line, the battle was observed by the commander of the assault aviation corps General Ryazanov. He called the commander of the 427th Fighter Aviation Regiment by phone, and Captain G. P. Zuev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and two other pilots orders. Zuyev, sometimes spelled as Zuev (Russian: Зуев)