Pilot Leonid Belousov
"Pilots,
People of bold and proud fate ... "
People of bold and proud fate ... "
Unfortunately, over the past 20 years we have forgotten our great, real Heroes. The young Pepsi generation doesn't even know them. Our people, who performed real, amazing feats, were forced out of consciousness and memory of young people by the inflated Hollywood idiots, “ninja turtles” and other characters sucked from their finger.
Leonid Belousov before the next sortie. 1944 year
It's sad ... At a young age, people tend to look for an example to follow. If the country needed Heroes, then the studios received a “social order” - and made great films about the heroes. Millions of boys sought to be like Chkalov, Gagarin, the heroes of the legendary film “Officers”. Then "other times came" and movie screens flooded countless movies and TV shows. The main "heroes" in them: bandyuks, racketeers, prostitutes, and the "cops" in their behavior, language, "manners" and rozham with anything from bandyukov no different.
When there is no one else to imitate, and no one else to be equal with - these bandyukov are taken as an example by millions of guys in all parts of the country ...
And then we are surprised at the "increase in crime", the wild amount of cruelty and unmotivated murders in our lives. The contribution of the “masters of the arts” to this phenomenon is undoubted.
A line from the famous song: “When a country orders to be a hero, anyone becomes a hero!” - in the souls of very many young people replaced the “grandmother”, drunk and women, and the symbol of “success” in life was well-fed idleness. In the years of the hardest trials, the country won thanks to completely different people. About them will be discussed ...
First, tell about one Hero. In Soviet times, he was, unfortunately, little known. His life and deed was, as it were, "in the shadow of" another legendary Hero of the Soviet Union, Alexei Maresiev. And now, after decades of collapse, degradation of the national spirit and memory - and even more so, almost no one knows about the courage, life and feat of Leonid Belousov ...I was born and grew up in Leningrad, on Dobrolyubov Avenue. Leonid Belousov lived on the same avenue. Sometimes, walking with my parents on my native street, we met an overweight man, in big black glasses, walking slowly, accompanied by an elderly woman. It was evident that he was walking with difficulty, leaning on his wand. This was not surprising. There were a lot of living front-line soldiers then, and among them there were also a lot of disabled people. The Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on his chest attracted much more attention. At the time, this caused everyone to respect and admire. But not even this Star attracted special attention to him. Shook his face. More precisely - the person as such, the person did not have ... A continuous huge burn, covered with pink skin and scars. His nose, lips, eyebrows, ears - were clearly “made” by surgeons again and did not resemble ordinary human ones. It is impossible to explain. Such a person must SEE ... Far not everyone could, without a shudder, look close at the face of the Hero for at least a few seconds. His wounded, burned appearance showed that the title of Hero had got him a terrible price.
Of course, no one approached him on the street with inquiries or requests for an autograph, this was not accepted at that time. About his feat, we did not really know anything. Neither the radio, nor the TV, nor the newspapers for some reason told Belousov. Even the surname of the neighbor - the hero, I learned only ten years later.
After graduating from college I had a chance to serve for several years near Gatchina. There was a fairly large military camp in the forest, there were several military units of our 6 OA air defense. I served there in various positions of political personnel.
One of our responsibilities was to organize the celebration of Victory Days and other military holidays. We often invited veterans of the Great Patriotic War to them. They told our soldiers, officers and residents of the town about their fighting youth, living and fallen comrades, their exploits and awards. Someone did it better, someone worse, in general, these events were quite familiar and usually did not cause much interest (let's be frank).
Once, on the eve of the next holiday, the chairman of the Council of veterans of our 6 OA Air Defense gave us a new phone number and suggested: “Call Belousov Leonid Georgievich. That's who knows how to speak! And he himself is a man of legend. True, disabled. Sick often, and it is difficult to walk. We will have to take him from home to the unit and back by car. ” There were no problems with this. Usually we drove veterans.
The phone was not Belousov himself, but his friend, who traveled with him on long journeys, as an accompanying person. We phoned and agreed on the details, and on that day and hour I arrived at the UAZ, at the address indicated, on Dobrolyubov Prospect. I was already waiting for two middle-aged veterans. In one of them, I recognized an acquaintance from childhood Belousov, with the Hero Star on his jacket lapel. The second was the attendant, his friend (whose names, unfortunately, I do not remember). Belousov, not without difficulty, climbed onto the high step of the "UAZ" and sat in the cab next to the driver.
My attempt to help him stopped the accompanying person: “Do not go! He himself.
Got no problems. In the garrison hall of the Officers' House it was already full of people: soldiers, officers and warrant officers of the garrison, women - military personnel were assembled "for the event".
Instead of the usual "presidium" there was only a small table and a few chairs in a semicircle, facing the hall. (So I asked Belousov to arrange the scene during our negotiations about the details of the meeting).
After the traditional introduction of the corps commander, a friend of Belousov, who briefly spoke about the Hero, spoke. His story about Leonid Georgievich was rather ordinary and brief: “Before you is a combat pilot, a member of the Soviet-Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars, deputy regiment commander. As part of 13 IAP, which later became 4 –m Guards IAP participated in the defense of Hanko and “Roads of Life”, air battles over Leningrad and the Karelian Isthmus. He was shot down several times in aerial combat with the enemy (after all, we fought with a very skillful, clever and insidious opponent !!!), and received serious injuries.
Since 1944, the Guard Major Belousov has flown WITHOUT BOTH FEET. ”
(Here, in a half-asleep hall, a wave of amazement and bewilderment passed. “Like without legs ??? He is without legs ?!” the gathered people asked each other again. It was clear that Belousov came with a wand and slowly rose to the stage, but he didn’t have the impression of a legless did not produce).
“I mastered flights to PO-2, UTI-4, Yak-7, LA-5” - the accompanying person continued the story. “300 made combat missions. Already without legs, I was able to personally shoot down two enemy fighters. ” This story, of course, made a certain impression on the hall.
Then the word was given to Belousov himself. He effortlessly rose from his chair and walked over to the microphone. Throughout the performance (and it was not too long, minutes 40- 50). Belousov spoke STANDING without taking off his dark glasses. But this is not the main thing. The main thing - how he spoke.
Neither before nor after that did I see a more vivid, emotional, and sincere speech.
Tell about such a speech - is impossible. It was necessary to hear and see him, to be among the people of the hall, to whom the Hero addressed with his own, surprising and frantic speech.
I must say that Belousov’s voice was rather high and sharp, but this did not spoil his performances. He didn’t tell anything at all about himself. He spoke only about his military friends. Pilots who fought with a cruel and brave enemy from the first days of a terrible war. Pro combat fighter friends desperately fought with the enemy on their plywood "ass" and "seagulls." In the most difficult conditions, they beat down the German aces in the sky of that bitter and terrible summer of 1941. About how they fought on the Hanko Peninsula, where our naval base was located, in the depths of Finland. About how they had to take off and land under the daily shelling of Finnish artillery, which sought to destroy the small air garrison base. About how one of them contrived to knock down "Junkers", having spent in the battle of all seven cartridges. About how bravely fought and died his comrades, giving their young lives for their homeland and its freedom.
Belousov, talking about the battles, mainly used this word: “fought”. They didn’t “fight”, didn’t “fight”, didn’t “fight”, but it was “DRAW”. It was evident that for him, thirty years after the Victory, the sharpness of perception, the despair of those cruel fights did not decrease, and he tried his best to convey his feelings and the memory of his heart to us, his listeners.
The pilots of his squadron Antonenko and Brynko were the first Baltic Heroes of the Soviet Union 14 July 1941.
Captain Antonenko managed to conquer only 34 of the day and shoot down 11 of enemy aircraft. He died because of a ridiculous accident: hurrying to take off to intercept the enemy, did not fasten his shoulder straps, and when landing, when a Finnish shell exploded under his plane, Antonenko knocked the blast wave out of the cockpit ...
His slave senior lieutenant Brinko fought the entire 2,5 month, but managed to shoot down the enemy's 15 aircraft. In the last battle, he was mortally wounded, but managed to land his damaged I-16 on his own airfield ... He was only 26 years old, Antonenko was barely 30. Very young guys ...
Some phrases from the story of Leonid Georgievich forever bumped into my memory:
"Protecting the Road of Life" my comrades made five to six daily sorties a day. They fought without sparing themselves or the enemy. Fatigue was such that some pilots even fell asleep in the cockpit in flight !!! And when they landed, they got out of the cockpit, fell down and fell asleep right there, in the snow, under the wing of their fighter, in the 20-degree frost, not feeling anything from deadly fatigue and over-stress. Some were so tired that they could not be woken up and brought to life for a new departure. Sometimes we even had to resort to using narcotic drugs for this! ” (I remember how then everyone was struck by these words. It was not accepted to speak about fights).
It is a pity that we didn’t have then cameras or current video equipment, and we could not “capture” his passionate speech. Such brightest performances deserve perpetuation. It was an amazing story of a fighter, a pilot and a patriot of his country.
His high, ringing voice sounded in total silence. No one in the hall was sleeping, whispering, talking, or distracted. It was just impossible. Everyone, without exaggeration, was captured by this desperate speech and caught every word of Belousov.
The key moment of his speech was a gesture, when at the very end of his speech, at the moment of the highest emotional tension, he tore off his dark glasses. Hall Ahnul !!! Many - "in the voice." Two soldiers in the first row in a natural way crashed into a swoon, and they had to be taken out of the hall. The shock was universal. Belousov knew, of course, WHAT an impression on people is made by his appearance ...
And then he said a few words about himself, concluding his fiery speech: “We gave everything to our Motherland: youth, health, life. All that they had and could give. Millions of my peers did not flinch in battle and died for you, for our great homeland, for its bright future. I was shot down several times in a dogfight, burned in an airplane and burned like a fire. He was badly wounded and lost both legs. (here he slightly raised his pants and the hall saw that instead of his legs he had artificial limbs. And again AHAL ...).
“But I could not stay in the rear when the enemy trampled our land. He learned to go on prostheses, mastered new combat fighters and achieved permission to fly. Then he returned to his regiment, and fought with a merciless enemy, along with his comrades, as long as he had enough strength.
Be also worthy of us. We are already a passing generation. We did everything we could, and had to do for the Motherland at a terrible hour. We want to be sure that we fought and died for good reason. That our country is in your reliable young hands, and you will not flinch in a minute of testing, just as we did not flinch. We really hope for you guys !!! ”
The ovation completed his presentation and lasted several minutes. The ovation is sincere, the whole hall clapped standing, many were shocked and did not hide their emotions.
Then we gathered in the office of the head of the House of Officers, drank a meeting, remembered the fallen heroes and I, as a senior car, drove Belousov and his friend home. In the car, Leonid Georgievich was silent and thoughtful. It was evident that he spent all his energy and energy during his speech and was not inclined to talk. His attendant was silent too. I also did not bother them with questions. Belousov drove to his house. He again got out of the car, warmly said goodbye to us, thanked for the welcome and hospitality.
Then we drove to his friend's house. He lived quite far from the center.
“Do you want me to tell you about Belousov?” He asked me. “He never EVER talks about himself at such meetings, only about his guys, the pilots say.”
“Of course, tell me, I, too, know almost nothing about him,” I replied to him.
Here is what kept the memory from the story of a friend Leonid Belousov:
“Leonid was a great, courageous pilot. In 1938, he raised his “seagull” (I-153 fighter) to intercept the intruder of the USSR air border. During the flight, the weather turned sharply, a terrible blizzard rose. Belousov did not want to leave his fighter and tried to land the plane "blindly." When landing there was an accident, and the plane caught fire. Comrades with difficulty pulled Belousov from the cabin of a flaming fighter. He suffered terrible burns of the head, face, eyes. Hospital. 32 Leonid Georgievich suffered plastic surgery on his face "...
“Do you even know how HOW plastic surgery was done?”, Suddenly asked Belousov’s friend. And he continued his story.
“The doctor cut off a piece of skin from his shoulder, or collarbone, and transplanted him to a cleansed area of the face. Then Leonid 12 watches kept his finger in this place. In order for the skin to take root, 36,6 temperature was needed in this place. Otherwise, rejection is possible. And so 32 times! His skin is cut from the back and - on the face.
All without anesthesia, be patient, fighter!
Hell's torments he suffered. His eyelids burned almost completely. After all, you cannot restore them with skin from your back ... Since then, Leonid has been sleeping with his eyes open. Most of all he was afraid that he would become blind and no longer be able to fly. Doctors for a long time did not allow him to remove the blindfold. Once Leonid could not stand it and tore it off himself. And - shouted for joy. He saw !!! So, I was able to return to the system.
Finnish war began. Voroshilov and Zhdanov arrived at the hospital. Belousov, whose face was still covered with bandages, turned to the drug commissar, begging him to let him go to the front. And I received this permission. He returned to his regiment. Frosts in that winter were strong, up to 35-40 degrees, and the cabin of the “seagull” on which Belousov flew was open. In it, and a healthy person is terribly cold, and burned ?! To alleviate the pain, Belousov daubed his face (and bandages on it) with a thick layer of fat, and so flew the entire Finnish campaign. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War - Belousov squadron commander for Hanko. Friends jokingly call him "fireproof" behind the eyes.
Then - fighting in the 13 IAP. This regiment covers the “Road of Life” to besieged Leningrad. In December, 1941, in an air battle, he was wounded, and he also froze his injured, desensitized legs while landing the plane. The doctor diagnosed spontaneous gangrene.
“I'll be back!” He promised to his military friends when U-2 took him to the rear ...
Began his long epic in hospitals. After many moves, he ended up in the Almaty hospital. For a long time did not give consent to the amputation of the leg. But all the same doctors were forced to do it. The right leg had to be amputated above the middle part of the thigh. (“Almost up to the very eggs, did you understand?”? The storyteller darkly emphasized).
Misfortune never comes alone. After some time, a terrible diagnosis was made and the second leg of Leonid Belousov. Here he did not begin to delay the operation, and “only” the foot was amputated at the left leg.
In 32, Leonid became an invalid of the 1 group, without both legs and even without a face ...
Many were drunk and died from lesser injuries ...
Belousov, on the other hand, dreamed only of one thing: to return to the ranks, to FLY, to beat the hated enemy. He was helped to get good prostheses "Roosevelt's gift," which he himself improved. Mastered them. Due to the long grueling and painful workouts, he learned to walk: first on crutches, and then without them, only with a wand. It took more than a year.
Finally, he felt that he could fly. Will be able to master not only the Y-2, but also the latest fighters. It remains to convince this of their doctors.
(The books about Maresyev's “The Story of a Real Man” didn’t exist yet. It was inconceivable for doctors to give permission to fly without a leg, but for doctors).
Belousov made sure that his fate was decided by the military medical commission (VVK) under the leadership of the Baltic chief surgeon fleet legendary I.I. Janelidze. The meeting of the VVK took place in the autumn of 1943, on the 2nd floor of one of the dilapidated shelling buildings of Oranienbaum. In the large hall where the IHC was meeting, there were high doors from which one could go out onto a wide and long balcony. Under it was (from pre-revolutionary times) a pond. Belousov “explored” all this and seriously prepared for the main event of his life.
He entered the hall where the IHC sat in a naval overcoat (it was already cool in the premises of besieged Oranienbaum). Clearly went to the table, trying not to limp. Reported, as it should. The decision of members of the commission, familiarized with history illnesses and records in his medical book were unequivocal: “There can be no question of any flights, comrade major!”, Belousov Dzhanelidze strictly told. “Do not ask or persuade us, it will not help !!!” We have no right to do it! You, sorry - disabled !!! ".
And then Leonid quickly walked around the long table, at which members of the IHC sat and jerked open the doors of the balcony doors. Going out onto the balcony, he threw off his overcoat, jumped over his railing and jumped into the cold water of the pond, from the second floor! Having crossed the pond, he climbed ashore and again entered the building where the shocked commission was sitting.
None of its members could say a word.
Rising to the 2-th floor, Belousov, in wet through uniforms, again went into the hall and went to the table IHC:
“You are all healthy, and I am sick, disabled. Let one of you do what I did now !!! ”- he threw to the doctors.
Excited to the depths of his soul, Janelidze, without saying a word, grabbed Belousov’s medical book and wrote his resolution in it: “FLY, ORYOL !!!”.
Then he left the table, hugged and kissed the wet pilot. The path to heaven was open to him.
After some time, his friends from the former 13 IAP, which had become the 4-th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, met their “fireproof” and inflexible comrade. He was appointed deputy commander in his native regiment.
His promise: "I'll be back" Belousov kept, no matter what!
Then there was a hard combat study of mastering the “strict” management of the LA-5. Having mastered it, Leonid Georgievich began to make combat missions both to intercept the enemy and to attack his positions and to accompany his bomber. In total, he made more 300 sorties and shot down 7 of enemy aircraft, including 2, flying without legs.
At the beginning of 1945, his amputated “stumps” again inflamed from enormous loads, and Belousov could not finish the victory in the flight formation. Had to be treated again for a long time. After the war, he worked for a long time: first as head of the flying club in Ozerki, in Leningrad, then as director of a taxi company. Now, when health permits, he speaks about the war, ”and so ended his story about Leonid Georgievich his friend.
In my memory, we managed to invite Belousov to our garrison a couple of times ...
And each time he also performed brilliantly, giving the story to himself all over, all the heat of his soul, as if going into a fierce attack. And always listened to him all "breathless", there were no sleeping and indifferent people in the hall.
And every time he, at the climax of his speech, tore off his glasses, causing the audience to moan and faint faint-hearted. Anticipating this, we organized the duty of the medical brigade (with ammonia) for the listeners at his speeches.
To finish the story about Belousov you need a poem written by his friend, veteran-gangutz Mikhail Dudin:
Eyes L. Belousov
The Hero of the Soviet Union lives
On the old side of Petrograd
Retired,
Heavy with cargo
Years and glory, completely correct.
Life is not an eagle
And death in battle is not tails.
Near Vyborg in the fortieth year
He, downed, burned like a fire,
Then he froze at freezing cold.
He got out of the dentures, limping
From the hospital.
Rage threatening
His eyes were not blinking
Do not close your eyes for centuries.
Burned eyelids
Courage
By force
There is no limit.
And there was a stir,
When he returned to the squadron
As a god of vengeance,
Merciless god.
To entrust a fighter to a disabled person?
Entrusted.
Believe it.
Write it.
And the wings that raised offense,
How to grow together with the fury of the soul.
The heavens of Gangut remember this.
And Ladoga gray clouds,
Where is the duel
Every minute
Was equal to centuries
For sure.
In battle, there is also skill.
Flight
Special handwriting
And a special class.
Instant
Work
Machine gun -
And falls, closing his eyes, ace.
And he looks
Like a swastika curve
Breaks from the explosion and chadit,
Not averting faces
And without blinking -
So courage in the future looks.
What does he see?
The fire and blood of the river,
Semiramis in the rose garden,
Pestilence or the world?
... I slept, time, eyelids,
Let see Victory and Trouble!
...............
Leonid Belousov 7 died on May 1997 of the year ...
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