Lugansky Sergey Danilovich from childhood wanted to fly. His dream came true. But a dangerous war time came, and he, like other pilots, had to walk the airways all the way to Berlin. A selfless man, a professional, he became twice the Hero of the Soviet Union.
Biography facts
Sergey Danilovich Lugansky was born in 1918 in Alma-Ata. The mother wanted her son to become a doctor and tried to convince him. All her life she worked as a laundress and told Sergei that a doctor can provide for himself and his children and that people respect him. Graduated from 8 classes. The fate of the young man was decided by his grandfather, whose word was always the last. All of his 16 children obeyed him implicitly. The grandson will forever remember his words:
While enrolling in flight school, he and his friend saw a fighter jet in flight and once and for all decided to become pilots. After leaving school he served in aviation.
Representative of the military generation
People of his generation felt like adults in a moment of imminent danger. At the age of 21, S. Lugansky took part in the Russian-Finnish war. The young pilots were eager to fight.
In the first battle, he lost sight of his neighbors and rushed towards the enemy. He and his comrade broke out of line, disrupting the order. Then S. Lugansky realized that a pilot should not be recklessly brave.
Once during a battle he was hit. When he abruptly got out of the cab, the fur boots fell off his feet, and he remained in his socks. And the frost was very strong. He thought only that he would never surrender to the White Finns, he ran for a long, long time and ran into his own people. After this incident, he grew even stronger in his thoughts that he would be a combat pilot, that now his life is connected only with the sky.
Further west
S. Lugansky took part in the defense of Stalingrad. The pilots covered the crossing, accompanied the bombers, and freed the columns of prisoners. In the battles at Stalingrad, the best flying units of Germany were defeated. The German historian Gertlitz wrote:
In the battles for Kursk, returning from the battle, S. Lugansky's group for a long time … could not find the airfield, and the fuel was already running out. It is impossible to navigate by the compass: the magnetic anomaly was affecting. We saw the infantrymen and threw them a note with the question - where is Novy Oskol. Soon, dozens of arms extended in one direction, indicating where to fly. The lack of reference points for the pilots could end tragically during the battles. Then on the ground they marked arrows 50 m long, 5 m wide.
In 1944 S. Lugansky fought on a gift fighter. The money for the plane was collected by residents of the city of Alma-Ata. The pilot himself chose the car at the Saratov plant. He liked only one, which was created specifically for battles with other types of fighters. His name was written on board.
Aerial stories
In one of the battles, pressing a cannon and a machine gun, Lugansky discovered that they were silent. But he didn’t get out of the battle, but he was “cunning”, distracting the Germans from their comrades. And he mentally scolded the armament technician. Then it turned out that he used up all the ammunition, and did not notice how they ran out.
Once he, not having time to shave and without a tunic, flew into battle on the orders of the division commander. When he took two pilots prisoner, the rest laughed at him that unshaven ones are more lucky.
S. Lugansky flew on reconnaissance with V. Usov. When they were almost at their airfield, Viktor's plane was shot down, but he managed to get out with a parachute. Lugansky himself was left alone with the German. A lucky chance helped him. When the landing gear is released, the plane "bends", this moment saved the pilot: the line passed by, and he managed to shoot the German and take him prisoner. He turned out to be a famous ace.
Soviet advantage
Everyone knows that German pedantry has become proverbial. They remained faithful to themselves in the war, which was a labor process for them. And they are used to working "from" and "to". Group C. Lugansky took advantage of this - made unexpected morning raids.
In the first half of 1944, the Americans flew into the squadron. And suddenly German planes appeared. For Soviet pilots, this event was a working moment. And the Americans were worried, because they had not yet had to fight for real. Then, during the conversation, Colonel Bonte suggested S. Lugansky to fight. Although the American maneuvered skillfully, he failed to defeat the Soviet pilot.
On the roads of war I did not lose my kindness
The battle had already ended when Ivan Glukhov's plane stalled, and he was forced to land it in the occupied territory. The sounds of German motorcycles were heard. S. Lugansky decided to help his friend, but when he was already getting into the cockpit, he accidentally touched the ignition lamp. It was clear that they would not start the engine. The Germans are already close. Then another pilot joined them, and they climbed onto the landing gear of his plane and so they flew to their own.
And this story happened with Valery Fedorovsky. The pilots rested after a busy day. And Valera could not fall asleep in any way. As soon as he closed his eyes, he dreamed of crosses. Captain Lugansky approached him and spoke to him in a friendly way about what happens to pilots who most often see not a killed German, but a cross on an enemy vehicle.
On his birthday, Fedor Telegin felt bad. It turned out that he had a bad dream. S. Lugansky, trying to calm his comrade, said that he did not believe in omens: he was not afraid to fly shaved, he flew in the thirteenth number. F. Telegin died on his birthday. Everyone did not know how to explain this incident. S. Lugansky replaced his fighting friend as squadron commander.
Sergei was a kind, warm-hearted person. In his squadron there was a fighter of the airfield service - Uncle Misha. This man was drafted into the army, and his family remained in Leningrad. The wife died of hunger. The boy survived who wrote to his father about his mother's death. Uncle Misha was released to Leningrad to learn about the fate of his son. S. Lugansky said goodbye to him and, while flying into battle, kept thinking about Uncle Misha and his son.
From personal life
The Lugansky family lived in Rostov near the airfield. One Sunday morning, he saw the guards taking up defensive positions, and immediately felt that something was wrong. As soon as he told his wife Masha about this, a messenger appeared at the door, who announced the war.
Rostov residents were to be evacuated. S. Lugansky received the task to check the families. Arriving in Rostov, he found that their house was intact, but the apartment was empty. The wife and daughter were not there. I went to the station and found them there. The family had to leave. Sergei returned to the unit. And the wife and daughter managed to get to Alma-Ata. After the battles for the Dnieper, he was given a vacation, and he got the opportunity to visit Alma-Ata.
last years of life
After the end of the war he studied at the Air Force Academy. Then he served in the army. He went to the reserve in 1964. In memory of the war, S. Lugansky wrote books.
He loved flowers, put together a collection of them and looked after her carefully. He finished his life in 1977. He was buried in Alma-Ata.
Soldier of the Motherland
S. Lugansky is one of the defenders of peace on Earth. Courageously, not sparing his life, the pilot defended Russia from the cruel, inhuman Nazi Germany. The memory of such famous people will live on.
