The feat of Maresyev, a pilot and a real man. What feat was Alexei Maresiev doing?

The feat of Alexei Maresyev, a legendary Soviet pilot, who lost both legs during World War II, is known to everyone today. The willpower and the desire for the life of the hero were able to defeat at first death, and then disability. Contrary to the verdict, which seemed to be imposed by the very fate, Maresiev managed to survive when it was impossible, to return to the front for the fighter's steering wheel and at the same time into a full-fledged life. Maresiev's feat is a hope and an example for many people who were victims of tragic circumstances not only in military but also in peacetime. He recalls what can be achieved by one who has not lost strength to fight and belief in himself.

Maresyev Alexey Petrovich: childhood and youth

May 20, 1916 in the family of Peter and Catherine Maresiev, who lived in the town of Kamyshin (present Volgograd region), was born the third son. Alexei was three years old when his father died of wounds received at the front of the First World War. Mother, Catherine Nikitichna, who worked as a cleaner at the plant, had a difficult part to raise herself to the feet of children - Peter, Nicholas and Alexei.

After completing eight classes, Alexei Maresiev entered the school of FZU, where he received the profession of a locksmith. For three years he worked at a timber factory in his native Kamyshin as a metal turner and simultaneously studied at a factory faculty. Even then he had the desire to become a pilot.

Twice he tried to enter a flight school, but he was returned documents: the severe form of malaria suffered in childhood seriously undermined his health, complicated by rheumatism. Few people believed then that Alexei would become a pilot - neither his mother nor his neighbors were an exception - but he stubbornly continued to strive for his goal.

In 1934, in the direction of the Kamyshin District Committee of the Komsomol, Maresiev went to the Khabarovsk Territory to build the Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Working as a diesel mechanic, he also works in an aero club, studying flight business.

Three years later, when Maresyev was drafted into the army, he was sent to serve in the 12th airborne post on Sakhalin Island. From there, he received a referral to the aviation school in the city of Bataysk, which he graduated with as a junior lieutenant. There he was appointed as an instructor. In Bataysk he served until the war.

The beginning of the war and the history of heroism

In August 1941, Alexei Maresyev was sent to the front. The first of his combat sorties took place near Krivoy Rog. When the pilot was transferred to the North-Western Front in the spring of next year, four enemy planes were already listed on his account.

April 4, 1942 in the course of the air battle in the area of Staraya Russa (Novgorod region), the Maresjev fighter was hit, and he himself was injured. The pilot had to make a landing in the forest - on the territory of the enemy rear.

Eighteen days Alexei Maresiev fought desperately with death, making his way to the front line. When the wounded and then frostbitten legs were brought, he continued to move crawling, feeding on bark, berries, cones ... As soon as he was alive, two boys from the village of Plav (Plavni) of the Valdai district found him in the forest. Villagers sheltered the pilot and tried to get out, but the consequences of injuries and frostbite were too heavy. Maresiev needed an operation.

In early May, a plane landed near the village. It was piloted by Andrey Dekhtyarenko - squadron commander, in which Maresiev served. The injured pilot was transported to Moscow to a military hospital.

The ruthless verdict of the doctors and ... the return to service

Everything that happens next is nothing more than Maresyaev's long, unceasing feat. Hospitalized with gangrene and infection of blood to the pilot, the doctors miraculously saved life, but they had to amputate his lower leg. Still being on a hospital bed, Alex begins exhausting training. He is preparing not just to stand on prostheses and learn how to move on them. In his plans - to own them so perfectly to be able to return to aviation. He continued to train in the sanatorium in 1942, making stunning successes, which were the result of his iron will and courage.

Early next year, Maresyev is sent to the medical board, after which he received a referral to the Ibresinsky Flight School in Chuvashia. In February 1943, he successfully conducted the first test flight after his injury. All this time he with remarkable persistence sought to be sent to the front.

And again in battle!

The request of the pilot was granted in July 1943. But the commander of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment at first was afraid to let him go on assignments. However, after the commander of his squadron Alexander Chislov, who sympathized with Maresyev, began to take him with him to combat sorties, which turned out to be successful, the credibility of the pilot's capabilities increased.

After Maresiev got into the air on prostheses, before the end of the war seven more enemy planes were shot down. Soon the glory of the exploit of Maresyev spread all over the front.

Around this time, the first meeting between Alexei Petrovich and front-line correspondent of Pravda newspaper Boris Polevoy took place. The feat of the pilot Maresyev inspired Polevoy to create his famous book "A Tale of a Real Man." In it, Maresiev made a prototype of the main character.

In 1943, Maresiev received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

End of the war. Life after it - another feat Maresyev

A year later, Alexei Maresyev was offered to leave the combat regiment and move to the management of the Air Force universities as an inspector-pilot. He agreed. On his account by this time, there were eighty-seven sorties and eleven enemy planes shot down.

In 1946, Alexei Petrovich Maresyev was fired from military aviation, but he continued to maintain an excellent physical form. He skated, went skiing, practiced swimming and cycling. His personal record was set at Kuibyshev when he crossed the Volga (2200 meters) in fifty-five minutes.

Maresiev was very famous in the postwar years, was repeatedly invited to various festive events, participated in meetings with schoolchildren. In 1949, he visited Paris, participating in the First World Congress of Peace Supporters.

In addition, he continued to study, finishing in 1952 the Higher Party School of the CPSU Central Committee, and four years later defended his Ph.D. thesis in the field of history.

In 1960, the light was seen by the book "On the Kursk Bulge", authored by Alexei Maresiev (photo below).

A lot of time Maresiev devoted to social work. He was a member of the Committee of War Veterans, was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in addition, he headed the All-Russian Fund of Disabled WWII.

A family

Alexei Petrovich Maresiev was married. Galina Maresyeva (Tretyakova), his wife, was an employee of the General Staff of the Air Force. They had two sons. The elder, Victor (1946), currently heads the Maresiev Foundation. The youngest, Alexey (1958), who was a disabled childhood, died in 2001.

Death

Two days before the official birthday of the great pilot, on May 18, 2001, a concert was to be held at the Theater of the Russian Army on the occasion of the eighty-fifth anniversary of Maresiev. For some time before the start of the event, Alexei Petrovich had a heart attack, after which he died.

Buried Alexei Maresiev at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Memory of the hero

Maresiev's combat and labor merits were awarded numerous awards. In addition to the Golden Star of the Hero of the USSR and a number of state awards of his homeland, he became a knight of many foreign orders and medals. He also became an honorary soldier of one of the military units, an honorary citizen of his native Kamyshin, Orel, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and many other cities. His name has a public fund, a number of streets, schools, patriotic clubs and even a small planet.

The memory of Aleksey Maresiev, his strength of will, love of life and courage, which rightfully earned him the fame of a legendary man, will forever remain in the hearts of men, serving as an example for the upbringing of future generations.