20 July 2025, 13:57

‘Survive or die, but together’. This war pilot risked his life to save photojournalist

News of the story "Victory Parade: Stories and Faces"

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MINSK, 19 July (BelTA) - Guards Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Bavykin made 92 sorties during the Second World War. At least three times he was on the verge of death.

When the war began, Pavel Bavykin was sent to a bomber regiment in the Far East. He masterfully operated the aircraft in conditions of limited visibility. After he made excellent aerial photos of the Japanese positions he was nicknamed a legend.

During the war, Pavel Bavykin had to fly both a bomber and an Il-2 attack aircraft. He was shot down three times. The veteran recalled one of the cases more often than others. At that time, he was flying together with a front-line photojournalist. The flight was successful: a column of fascist tanks was bombed. But then a terrible thing happened: the plane was hit and starting descending into a tailspin. When the pilot realized that the photographer flying with him could not catapult he decided he would not either. He decided to take a risk and land the plane in a woodland. "We will either survive or die, but together,” he said. Everything ended well: both Bavykin and his passenger remained alive.

Recalling the Victory Parade on Red Square, he admitted that this event made a long-lasting impression on all front-line soldiers. Although the veteran did not know until the last moment why he was urgently brought to Moscow and for what reason all the soldiers who arrived from different fronts were given new uniforms. They started daily drills at VDNKh. They marched for 12 hours a day. And then they were told that Stalin had signed a decree on holding the Victory Parade.

During the wartime and in the post-war years the pilot was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd Class, as well as 28 medals. In the post-war period, Pavel Bavykin served in the Baltics, and later in Germany as a squadron commander. After being discharged into the reserve, he settled with his family in Vitebsk, worked at the Kirov factory, taught basic military training at Secondary School No. 9 (now Vitebsk Gymnasium No. 2) for 14 years.

The project “Victory Parade: Stories and Faces” is published in the 7 Days newspaper and on the website of the Belarusian news agency BelTA twice a month. During the year we will be narrating the stories of the Belarusians who took part in the legendary Victory Parade. These men fought at Rzhev and Odessa, won the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, liberated Belarus, and took Berlin. On 24 June 1945 they marched triumphantly through Red Square in Moscow. They are the faces of our great Victory!