Vasily Mykhlik


Vasily Ilyich Mykhlik was an Il-2 pilot in the 566th Assault Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces during the Second World War who was twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Biography

Mykhlik was born on 29 December 1922, in the village of Soldatskoye, Kazankovska volost, Elisavetgrad district, Mykolaiv province, Ukraine. He spent his childhood and youth in the city of Krivyi Rig. In 1940 he had graduated from the 10th grade of the school.
He began serving the army in November 1940. In 1941 he graduated from the Volsky Military School of Aviation for Mechanics. He served as an air mechanic in the 8-th Reserve Fighter Aviation Regiment. He was trained as a pilot in the 2-nd separate training aviation regiment and was re-trained at The Training Center at the 224-th Assault Air Division.
He took part in the :ru:Великая Отечественная война|Great Patriotic War: in May 1943 - May 1945 was a pilot, a deputy commander and a commander of an air squadron, a navigating officer of the 566-th assault aviation regiment. He fought in the Western, Bryansk, Leningrad and 3-rd Belorussian fronts. Participated in the Battle of Kursk, Orel, Krasnoselsko-Ropshin, Leningrad-Novgorod, Vyborg, Narva, Tallinn, East Prussian and Koenigsberg operations, the liquidation of the enemy's Zemland group.
January 31, 1944 was shot down in an air battle and landed behind the front line. February 3, 1944, along with the gunner-radio operator returned to his military people. During the war, he made 188 sorties on the Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft to attack the enemy's manpower and equipment.
He died on 29 December 1996 in Moscow and was buried in the Troekurovsky cemetery.

Awards and honors