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Isle of Wight Festival 1970

The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 was a music festival held between 26 and 31 August 1970 at Afton Down, an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight in England. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970 and often acknowledged as the largest musical event of its time, with a larger attendance than Woodstock. Although estimates vary, Guinness World Records estimated 600,000 to 700,000 people attended. It was organised and promoted by local brothers, Ron and Ray Foulk through their company Fiery Creations Ltd and their brother Bill Foulk. Ron Smith was site manager and Rikki Farr acted as compere.

The preceding Isle of Wight Festivals, also promoted by the Foulks, had already gained a good reputation in 1968 and 1969 by featuring acts such as Jefferson Airplane, Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Move, the Pretty Things, Joe Cocker, the Moody Blues (performed at the 1969 festival), the Who, and Bob Dylan in his second performance since his 1966 motorcycle accident -the first one was just three songs with The Band at a Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert.

Many excerpts from this festival have appeared on record and video.

Artists lineup
The 1970 version, following Woodstock in the previous year, set out to move one step forward and enlisted Jimi Hendrix. With Hendrix confirmed, artists such as Rory Gallagher, Cactus, Chicago, the Doors, Lighthouse, the Moody Blues, the Who, Miles Davis, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Jethro Tull, Sly and the Family Stone, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Free also took part. The event had a magnificent but impractical site, since the prevailing wind blew the sound sideways across the venue, and the sound system had to be augmented by Pink Floyd 's PA. Organizers also faced the logistical problems involved in transporting some 600,000 people onto an island with a population of fewer than 100,000. The Island's transport services were already stretched by the annual influx of summer holiday-makers at the same time. French anarchists armed with knives were already causing trouble on the ferry crossing.

Political and logistical difficulties resulted in the organisers eventually realising that the festival would not make a profit and declaring it to be "a free festival", although the majority of the audience had paid for tickets in advance, and the event was filmed contemporaneously. The commercial failings of the festival ensured it was the last event of its kind on the Isle of Wight for thirty-two years.

Planning difficulties
The opposition to the proposed 1970 festival from the residents of the Isle of Wight was much better coordinated than it had been in previous years. The Isle of Wight was a favoured retirement destination of the British well-heeled, and a haven of the yachting set, and many of the traditional residents deplored the huge influx of "hippies" and "freaks". This led to the introduction of sections to the "Isle of Wight County Council Act 1971" designed to control any further large overnight gatherings. Renting a few acres of suitable farmland to hold a music festival had in earlier years been a simple commercial matter between the promoters and one of the local farmers, but by 1970 this had become subject to approval decisions from several local council committees who were heavily lobbied by residents' associations opposing the festival. As a result of this public scrutiny, the preferred ideal location for the third Festival was blocked, and the promoters in the end had no choice but to accept the only venue on offer by the authorities: East Afton Farm, Afton Down. One unintended result of this choice of location was that, since it was overlooked by a large hill, a significant number of people were able to watch the proceedings for free.

26 Wednesday

 * Judas Jump: A heavy progressive rock band featuring Andy Bown and Henry Spinetti of the Herd and Allan Jones of Amen Corner.
 * Kathy Smith: A Californian singer-songwriter, signed to Richie Havens' label, "Stormy Forest", was well received.
 * Rosalie Sorrels: Another folk musician, accompanied by David Bromberg on guitar.
 * David Bromberg: Bromberg was not on the bill, but he performed a set. "Mr. Bojangles" was included on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies.
 * Kris Kristofferson: Performed a controversial set. Due to poor sound, the audience was unable to hear his set, and it appeared that they were jeering him. He was eventually booed off the stage because the audience could not properly hear his song "Blame It on the Stones" and ignorant members of the audience assumed he was criticising the Rolling Stones and the whole youth movement. "It was a total disaster," Kristofferson recalled. "They just hated us. They hated everything. They booed us, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Sly Stone; they threw shit at Jimi Hendrix. At the end of the night, they were tearing down the outer walls, setting fire to the concessions, burning their tents, shouting obscenities. Peace and love it was not."
 * Mighty Baby: psychedelic rock band.

27 Thursday

 * Gary Farr: The brother of festival promoter Rikki Farr, Gary had been the front man of the T-Bones, an R&B combo that featured Keith Emerson on keyboards. By this time, he had become a solo artist, and his second album, Strange Fruit, for CBS Records, had been released in 1970.
 * Supertramp: Their eponymous debut album was released a month prior to the festival.
 * Andy Roberts' Everyone
 * Ray Owen: Ray Owen ex-Juicy Lucy vocalist
 * Howl: Scottish hard-rock band formerly known as the Stoics, featuring Frankie Miller
 * Black Widow: a British band that wrote songs about Satan worship in their 1970 debut LP, Sacrifice
 * Groundhogs: English blues rockers
 * Terry Reid: The English singer performed with David Lindley. The set was released on CD in 2004.
 * Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso: Brazilian Tropicália musicians.
 * Gracious!: A British progressive rock band.

28 Friday

 * Fairfield Parlour: They had recorded a single called "Let The World Wash In", released under the name I Luv Wight, which they hoped would become the festival's theme song. They had also previously recorded as Kaleidoscope.
 * Arrival: Their set included a Leonard Cohen song.
 * Lighthouse: This Canadian act performed two sets at the festival.
 * Taste: Guitarist Rory Gallagher had a blues trio from 1966 to 1970. This was one of their final shows, which was filmed and recorded. An album, Live at the Isle of Wight, was released of their set in 1971. Their set is featured on the Taste: What's Going on – Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 DVD & Blu-ray released in 2016.
 * Tony Joe White: Performed hits including "Polk Salad Annie"; his drummer was Cozy Powell. Tony Joe's entire set was released in 2006 on Swamp Music, a Rhino Handmade collection of his Monument recordings.
 * Chicago: Their set included "25 or 6 to 4," "Beginnings" and "I'm a Man." Their entire set was released as part of the box set Chicago: VI Decades Live (This is What We Do) (2018) and separately on Chicago: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival (2018).
 * Family: Their set included "The Weaver's Answer," which had become their signature song.
 * Procol Harum: Frontman Gary Brooker commented that it was a cold night. "A Salty Dog" was included on The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies album.
 * The Voices of East Harlem: An ensemble of singing school children from East Harlem in New York City. Their set received several standing ovations.
 * Cactus: Two songs from their set were featured on the LP The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies.
 * A showing of the Murray Lerner film Festival.

29 Saturday

 * John Sebastian: Performed an 80-minute set, during which former Lovin' Spoonful guitarist Zal Yanovsky made a surprise guest appearance.
 * Shawn Phillips: This American folk musician performed an impromptu solo set following John Sebastian.
 * Lighthouse (second set)
 * Joni Mitchell: Played a controversial set; following her performance of "Woodstock", a hippie named Yogi Joe interrupted her set to make a speech about the people at the festival in an encampment built of straw bales known as Desolation Row. When Joe was hauled off by Joni's manager, the audience began to boo until Mitchell interrupted her own set to chastise the audience and make an emotional appeal to "give us [the artists] some respect". Contrary to popular belief, Joe was not the man who was ranting about a "psychedelic concentration camp". That was another incident that took place the previous day. After the crowd quieted down, Mitchell closed her set with "Both Sides Now" and returned to the stage for an encore singing two more songs for an appreciative crowd. Her set is featured on the DVD Joni Mitchell Both Sides Now: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, released in 2018.
 * Tiny Tim: His rendition of "There'll Always Be an England" can be seen in the film Message to Love.
 * Miles Davis: A DVD of his complete set was released in 2004. "Call It Anythin'" was included on The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies album.
 * Ten Years After: British blues rockers performing what was basically a reprise of their famous Woodstock set. Highlights included "I'm Going Home" and "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes," which was featured on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies and the film Message to Love.
 * Emerson, Lake & Palmer: This was their second gig. Pictures at an Exhibition, which featured the Moog synthesizer, was the centerpiece of their historic set. Commercially released as Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 in 1997.
 * The Doors: Their set was shrouded in darkness due to Jim Morrison's unwillingness to have movie spotlights on the band. Their performances of "The End" and "When the Music's Over" are featured in Message to Love. As described in Morrison's biography, No One Here Gets Out Alive, wind, bad weather, and the cold made their performance even harder. Bootleg recordings of the performances and audio exist, alongside a 2015 remastered release by Doxy Records which has been made available on Spotify. A live version of "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" was featured in the soundtrack for When You're Strange. Their set is featured on the Doors: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 in a combo DVD/CD – Blu-ray/CD & DVD – Blu-ray released in 2018.
 * The Who: Their entire set, including the rock opera Tommy, was released in 1996 on CD (Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970). Two years later their set appeared on DVD with significant cuts from Tommy and a few other songs (such as "Naked Eye") missing.
 * Melanie: This Woodstock veteran played a well-received set as the sun rose. Prior to her set, Keith Moon of the Who offered her some moral support and encouragement. Not until afterwards did Melanie realize who he was. Her performance of her own song, "What Have They Done to My Song Ma", was included in a 2010 French documentary, spanning the 1970 and 2010 I.O.W. festivals, called From Wight to Wight and first shown on TV station ARTE, on 30 July 2010.
 * Sly and the Family Stone: The showstoppers of Woodstock performed to a tired audience on the early morning of Sunday. However, the audience woke up for spirited renditions of "I Want to Take You Higher", "Dance to the Music" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", which featured Sly on guitar. "Stand" and "You Can Make it if You Really Try" appeared on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies. Prior to their encore, another political militant decided it was time to make a speech and the booing audience started to throw beer cans onto the stage. Freddie Stone was hit by a flying can and an angry Sly decided to skip the encore. He did promise a second appearance, but this never occurred.

30 Sunday

 * Good News: American acoustic duo with Larry Gold on cello and Michael Bacon on guitar.
 * Kris Kristofferson (second set). For his second set he was warmly received. He came on with a bigger band and joked when he took the stage: 'Well, I'm back but this time I've brought some bodyguards'.  Two of his songs from his sets were included on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies.
 * Ralph McTell: Despite an enthusiastic reception from the audience, he did not play an encore, and the stage was cleared for Donovan.
 * Heaven: British jazz-influenced rock band, managed by Rikki Farr.
 * Free: Their set list consisted of "Ride on a Pony", "Mr. Big", "Woman", "The Stealer", "Be My Friend", "Fire & Water", "I'm a Mover", "The Hunter", their classic hit "All Right Now", and concluded with a cover of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads".
 * Donovan: He first performed an acoustic set, and then an electric set with his band Open Road.
 * Pentangle: British folk band. A German woman interrupted their set to deliver a political message to the audience.
 * The Moody Blues: A popular British act and veterans of the 1969 festival. Their rendition of "Nights in White Satin" can be seen in Message to Love. Their set is featured on Threshold of A Dream Live at the Isle of Wight 1970.
 * Jethro Tull: Their set is featured on Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970. During Sunday morning the audience were entertained by a rehearsal/sound-check by Jethro Tull.
 * Jimi Hendrix: Performed in the early hours of 31 August with Mitch Mitchell on drums and Billy Cox on bass. Throughout Hendrix was beset by technical problems (during "Machine Gun" the security personnel's radio is clearly heard through Hendrix's amplifier).  David Gilmour claims to have helped mix the sound that night. The set has been released on CD and video in various forms. "Power to Love", "Midnight Lightning" and "Foxy Lady" received top billing on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies.
 * Joan Baez: Her version of "Let It Be" can be seen in the film Message to Love.
 * Leonard Cohen: Backed by his band the Army, his tune "Suzanne" can be seen in the film Message to Love. "Tonight Will Be Fine" were included on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies. In October 2009, audio and video (both DVD and Blu-ray) recording of his set, Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 was released.
 * Richie Havens: The musician who opened Woodstock closed this festival with a set during the morning of 31 August. As Havens performed his version of "Here Comes the Sun", a cloudy dawn broke after four days of cloudless sky, so he changed the lyrics to "Here Comes the Dawn". Havens' set, which is available as an audience recording, also included "Maggie's Farm" by Bob Dylan, "Freedom", "Minstrel from Gault" and the Hare Krishna mantra.

 * Canvas City performances
 * Hawkwind (on Thursday)
 * Pink Fairies (on Thursday)
 * T2

On the bill, but did not perform:
 * Cat Mother
 * Spirit
 * The Everly Brothers
 * Redbone
 * Mungo Jerry

The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies (1971)
This three-LP set on CBS Records devoted the first disk to Second Annual Atlanta International Pop Festival, and two disks to the later Isle of Wight. Teo Macero is credited as the producer for the Isle of Wight disks. It featured in order billed: Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, Ten Years After, Miles Davis, Kris Kristofferson, Procol Harum, Cactus, Leonard Cohen and David Bromberg.

Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival
All the performances at the festival were professionally filmed by award-winning film director Murray Lerner. with a view to releasing a documentary film but due to financial difficulties, nothing was released until 27 years after the event. Finally, Lerner distilled material from the festival into the film Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival which was premiered at a San Jose film festival in 1995 and released in 1997. A CD of the soundtrack was also issued by Castle Communications/Sony Legacy in 1997. The film puts a negative slant on the 1970 event by splicing in footage of violent incidents preceding the festival itself. Chief Constable, Hampshire Constabulary, Sir Douglas Osmond emphasised the peaceful nature of the event in his evidence given to the Stevenson Report, 1971 (submitted to parliament as evidence in favour of future Isle of Wight Festivals). By the end of the festival, the press representatives became almost desperate for material and they seemed a little disappointed that the patrons had been so well behaved.

Other films and albums

 * "Let The World Wash In" by "I Luv Wight" was the festival official theme song that was soon replaced with "Amazing Grace" by "The Great Awakening"

A number of other performances were later released on various formats: VHS, LaserDisc, cassette tape, CD, DVD, Blu-ray & Vinyl records:

 * The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (1996 – 2 CD) (2004 – 3 x Vinyl LP) Listening to You (1996)(1998)(2004) (1 LaserDisk/1 DVD/1 Blu-ray)
 * Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (1997) (1 CD) The Birth of a Band: (2006) (1 DVD/ 2-Sided Disc: CD+DVD)
 * Jimi Hendrix: Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight (2002) 3 x Vinyl LP, (2014) (2 CD/1 DVD/1 Blu-ray)
 * Jimi Hendrix: (1990) "At the Isle of Wight" VHS, LaserDisc, CD (1971) "Isle of Wight" (1 x vinyl LP)
 * Miles Davis: Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue (2004) (1 DVD) (2009) "Isle of Wight" CD n°39 from "The Complete Columbia Album Collection" boxset
 * Miles Davis: (1987) "Isle of Wight" 1 x Vinyl LP, (2011) "Bitches Brew Live" 2 x Vinyl LP, (2007) "Isle of Wight concert" (Unofficial release) 1 x Vinyl LP)
 * Jethro Tull: Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (2005) (1 DVD/ 1CD/ 2 x Vinyl LP) (2002) "By a Benefit of Wight" (1 CD) Unofficial release
 * Free: Free Forever (2006) (2 DVD) (Only Disc 2 is from the Isle of Wight Festival 1970)
 * Free "Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 30/08/70" Fan club release 1 x CD 2 bonus track from the 1969 festival – (2019) "Live at the Isle of Wight 1970" (1 x CD 1 x Vinyl LP)
 * The Moody Blues: Threshold of a Dream: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (2009) (1 CD/1 DVD/1 Blu-ray) (2008) (1 x Vinyl LP)
 * Leonard Cohen: Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (2009) (1 CD/1 DVD/1 Blu-ray 2 x Vinyl LP)
 * Taste: What's Going on: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (2015) (1 CD/1 DVD/1 Blu-ray 2 x Vinyl LP) (1971) "Live at the Isle of Wight" 1 x Vinyl LP release on CD in 1992
 * The Doors: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (2018) (1 CD/1 DVD/ 1 Blu-ray, (2019) 2 x Vinyl LP Ltd edition of 11,000)
 * The Doors Unofficial release: (1982) "Get Fat And Die" 1 x Vinyl LP, "First Flah of Eden" 1 x Vinyl LP, (2009) "When The Music's Over" 1 x Vinyl LP, (2011) "Last Screams of the Butterfly" 2 x Vinyl LP, (1997) "Palace of Exile" (1 x CD)
 * Jim Morrison: "The Ultimate Collected Spoken Words 1967–1970" 2 x CD – CD 1 track 2 The Isle of Wight Festival Interview (in full) also available on vinyl LP (2020)
 * Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now. Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (2018) (1 DVD, 1 Blu-ray)
 * Chicago: (2018) "Live at the Isle of Wight Festival" 2 x Vinyl LP, "Live Chicago" (VI Decades Live) 4 x CD + 1 x DVD boxset (CD 1&2 recorded at the Festival).
 * Tony Joe White: (2006) "Swamp Music" 4 x CD Boxset Ltd edition to 5000 with 1 CD containing 5 songs recorded at the Festival.
 * Terry Reid: (2004) "Silver White Light" Live at Isle of Wight 1970, 1 x CD
 * Donovan unofficial release: (year unknown) "Diving For Pearls In The Sea" Volume2, 3 x CD set with booklet, Disc 1: With Open Road The Complete Isle of Wight August 30, 1970.
 * Sly & the Family Stone: (2013) "Higher" 4 x CD set, CD 3, 4 tracks recorded live from the Isle of Wight, "I Want to Take You Higher" Numbered Ltd edition 1 x Vinyl LP.
 * Coca-Cola Bullshit: (1970) 1 x Vinyl LP (unofficial), Side A: Kralingen (Rotterdam June 1970) Side B: Isle of Wight: 1 Melanie, Birthday of the Rain 2 Fairfield Parlour, Soldiers of Flesh (credited as: Taste, Soldiers of Flash) 3 Joan Baez, Joe Hill 4 Ten Years After, Sweet Sixteen 5 Joni Mitchell, Real Good For Free 6 Tiny Tim, Two Time a Day/Loveship
 * Kralingen – Isle of Wight: 1 x Vinyl LP (unofficial), Side A: Kralingen (Rotterdam June 1970) Side B: Isle of Wight: 1 Jethro Tull, Bouree – 2 The Doors, Break on Through – 3 Richie Havens, I'm a Stranger Here – 4 Arrival, Not Right Now 5 Jimi Hendrix, God Save the Queen/Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/Spanish Castle Magic
 * Extremes: (2017) 1 CD + bonus DVD. Festival scenes: "Welcome to the Isle of Wight Music Festival" (10mn), "Naughty Naked People Celebrate Being Alive on the Beach " (5mn), "Meanwhile, Back at the Isle of Wight" (4mn), "Dancing in the Sea, Letting It All Hang Out" (9mn)

Other audience/soundboard recordings in different audio formats are circulating, among others are: Ten Years After, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Joni Mitchell, Procol Harum, Family, Kris Kristofferson, Pentangle ...

Influence
The founders/main instigators of the Glastonbury (1971), Windsor (1972–74) and Stonehenge (1974) Free Festivals were all at IOW 1970, respectively Andrew Kerr, Ubi Dwyer and Wally Hope, inspired by the anarchistic nature of the breakdown of control by the original organisation and the subsequent freedom of the last days of the event.

For the 50th anniversary of the event, a re-enactment was scheduled in the same location, with John Lodge, Ten Years After, Pentangle, The Pretty Things and Nik Turner all confirmed. However, this was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Publications

 * The Last Great Event: with Jimi Hendrix & Jim Morrison, by Ray Foulk (Organiser) & Caroline Foulk, 364 pages, Medina Publishing 2016, Hardback ISBN 978-1-909339-58-3 & Paperback ISBN 978-1-909339-57-6
 * Nights in Wight Satin: "An illustrated history of the Isle of Wight festivals" (1968,1969 & 1970) by Brian Hinton, 72 pages, 1990 – ISBN 0-906328-46-2
 * Message To Love: "The Isle of Wight Festivals 1968 – 1969 – 1970", by Brian Hinton, 191 pages, 1995 – ISBN 1-86074-147-9
 * The Last Great Event: "The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival" by Chris Weston, 152 pages, Ltd edition of 950 copies, Privately Published 2009 ISBN 0-9545233-3-4
 * Six Days That Rocked The World: "Isle of Wight Festival 1970" by Bob Aylott, (40th anniversary 1970 – 2010), 144 pages, Ltd edition of 1000 copies, 2009 The Press Photographers Galery – My Best Seller Isle of Wight Festival 1970
 * I Luv Wight: "The Isle of Wight Festival 1970", "The Band – The Theme Song – The Broken Dream" by Peter Daltrey, 119 pages, 2012 Chelsea Records Book Division
 * Isle of Wight 1970: "The Last Great Festival" A picture record by Rod Allen,published September 1970 by Clipper Press, London.
 * Festival de Wight: "Un Festival de Légende" by Bernard Rouan (photographer) Hardback photo book (400 copies) – 80 b/w full page photos, 96 pages, 2016 Édition des Galeries & Musées ISBN 979-10-93881-04-1
 * Rocking the Isle of Wight: "How Three Totland Brothers Invented The British Rock Festival" By Alan Stroud and Tom Stroud. limited edition softback, 272 pages including 32 pages of unpublished colour photographs. 2020 Now and Then Books ISBN 978-1-8381740-0-2
 * The Cameron Life Festival Experience: "1970 IoW Music Festival 40th Anniversary Exhibition Catalogue" A personal photographic account of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Limited edition 1000 copies, 18 pages, 59 colour photographs by Charles Everest. Copyright © 2010 Cameronlife Link:
 * Isle of Wight 1970: "The View From The Crowd" By Alan Stroud and Tom Stroud. Limited edition softback, 136 pages photo album containing over 120 large format colour photos. 2021 Now and Then Books ISBN 978-1-8381740-1-9
 * Isle of Wight Festival 1969 - 1970: Café Royal Books 36 pages, 29 b/w photographs by David Hurn. © 2022 David Hurn & Café Royal Books - ISSN 2752-5619

title: Isle of Wight Festival 1970


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Ivan Kozhedub

Marshal of Aviation Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub or Ivan Mykytovych Kozhedub (Russian: Иван Hикитович Кожедуб; Ukrainian: Іван Микитович Кожедуб; 8 June 1920 – 8 August 1991) was a Soviet World War II fighter ace. Universally credited with over 60 solo victories, he is considered to be the highest scoring Soviet and Allied fighter pilot of World War II. He is one of the few pilots to have shot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, and the first Soviet pilot to have done so. He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on three occasions (4 February 1944, 19 August 1944, and 18 August 1945). After World War II, he remained in the military and went on to command the 324th Fighter Aviation Division during Soviet operations in the Korean War.

Early life
Kozhedub was born on 8 June 1920 to a Ukrainian family in the village of Obrazhiivka, in Chernihiv Governorate, located within what is now Shostka Raion of Ukraine's Sumy Oblast. After graduating from his seventh grade of school in his hometown in 1934 he went on to complete two more years of school in Shostka. There he initially worked as a librarian until completing his ninth grade of school in 1936, and from that year to 1940 he attended the Shostka Chemical Technology College. In addition to his studies, he attended training at the local aeroclub, from which he graduated in 1939. He subsequently joined the Red Army in February 1940, and in January 1941 he graduated from training at the Chuhuiv Military Aviation School of Pilots, where he initially learned to fly the UT-2, UTI-4, and I-16. Remaining at the school as a flight instructor, he continued to train pilots after the school was forced to evacuate to Shymkent in the autumn of 1941 due to the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He was sent to Moscow in November 1942, where was posted to the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment, but he did not arrive on the warfront until March 1943 when the 302nd Fighter Aviation Division was deployed to the Voronezh Front.

World War II
Despite having started in the regiment as a regular pilot, he quickly mastered the new La-5 and was promoted to flight commander. He opened his tally on 6 July 1943 with the shootdown of a Ju 87 dive bomber. Kozhedub became friends with Kirill Yevstigneev, an accomplished flying ace; although they did not often fly together, Kozhedub acquired many of his tactics and, in a spirit of competition, they shared their experiences using different techniques. Vasily Mukhin, who often flew as Kozhedub's wingman, also went on to become a flying ace.

Over the next few months Kozhedub steadily gained more aerial victories and a promotion to squadron commander, but in the first half of October he rapidly increased his tally with 14 shootdowns. On 10 October 1943 he was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union for flying 146 sorties, engaging in 27 aerial battles, and totaling 20 aerial victories; he was awarded the title on 4 February 1944.

In July 1944 the 240th Fighter Regiment was honored with the Guards designation and renamed the 178th Fighter Aviation Regiment, and Kozhedub was nominated for a second gold star for 46 aerial victories across 256 sorties. He did not stay with his regiment much longer, though, having been reassigned as the deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, a special "free-hunting" regiment equipped with the new Lavochkin La-7 fighter, per the initiative of Chief Marshal of Aviation Aleksandr Novikov. There, he was rarely assigned such specific missions as escorting other aircraft or providing air support for troops, enabling him and his subordinates to tally more aerial victories. In mid-February 1945, during a free-hunting mission in an area south of Frankfurt with his wingman Dmitry Titarenko, Kozhedub shot down an Me 262 jet, thereby becoming the first Soviet pilot to do so. When Kozhedub and Titarenko encountered the Me 262, Kozhedub quickly accelerated from low to full speed; when the Me 262 banked left and slowed — spooked by tracer rounds fired by Titarenko — Kozhedub shot it down.

By the end of the war, Kozhedub tallied 330 sorties, had engaged in 120 dogfights, and had shot down 64 enemy aircraft. Having gained all his aerial victories on the La-5F, La-5FN, and La-7, he expressed his strong preference for Lavochkin fighters, and met with Semyon Lavochkin to comment on various aspects of the fighters' designs. Having been nominated for a third gold star in May 1945, he became thrice a Hero of the Soviet Union on 18 August 1945, and remained deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment based in Schönwalde until September that year.

Preferring short, intense attacks to stun and bring down enemy aircraft, one favorite technique he developed and used in the war involved darting at a target from below and subsequently opening fire only when extremely close. Kozhedub used this tactic very successfully against the Ju 87 dive bomber, gaining him an unsurpassed 18 shootdowns of the type (equal with Arseny Vorozheykin). However, being so risky, the manoeuvre was neither promoted nor taught to young pilots. Though never shot down throughout the war, Kozhedub did experience several close calls. He nevertheless always managed to land his airplane, regardless of damage.

Post war era
Upon returning to the USSR, Kozhedub attended the Air Force Academy based in Monino, graduating in May 1949. He was originally to be posted as deputy commander of the 31st Fighter Aviation Division based in Baku, but — per orders 'from above' owing to his high status as a top flying ace — he was reassigned to the 324th Fighter Aviation Division. He initially served as assistant commander for flight training, but was soon promoted to command the division in November 1950. Shortly thereafter the unit was sent to China, where they initially trained Chinese and North Korean pilots. Kozhedub, despite being one of the first pilots to master the MiG-15 fighter jet back in 1949, was strictly forbidden from participating in combat sorties by order of his commanding officers. His division consisted of only two regiments (the 176th Guards and 196th Fighter Aviation Regiments) rather than the usual three. Nevertheless, pilots of his division claimed 216 aerial victories in Korea from April 1951 to February 1952, while sustaining only 27 MiG-15 losses and nine pilots killed.

Upon its return to the Soviet Union in February 1952, the 324th Fighter Division was stationed in Kaluga as an air defense unit. The following year he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and in February 1955 attended the High Command Academy, graduating in 1956. He then served as deputy head of the air force's combat-training and frontline aviation-training directorates. Having become the 1st deputy commander of the 76th Air Army in April 1958, he visited Cuba alongside the unit's commander Viktor Davidkov from 1962 to 1963. From 1964 to February 1971 he served as 1st deputy commander of the air force of the Moscow Military District, although he ceased flying in 1969. During his career as a pilot he totaled 1937 flight hours, piloting the Yak-3, Yak-11, Yak-17, Yak-28, MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-21, Li-2, and Il-14 airplanes and the Mi-4 and Mi-8 helicopters. From 1971 to 1978 he served as deputy chief of combat training of the air force, and subsequently became a military advisor in the Ministry of Defense; in 1985 he was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Aviation. Beyond his military duties, he served as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1946 to 1962 and chairman of the Federation of Aviation Sports from 1967 to 1987. He resided in Moscow for the rest of his life, where he died of a heart attack on 8 August 1991 and was buried in the Novodevichy cemetery.

List of aerial victories
According to ''Soviet aces 1941–1945. The victories of Stalin's Falcons'' (Советские асы 1941—1945. Победы сталинских соколов) by Mikhail Bykov.

 * Until August 1944 Kozhedub was flying on Lavochkin La-5, after that Lavochkin La-7.

Alleged shootdown of two USAAF P-51 fighters
In his autobiography, Kozhedub claimed to have downed two USAAF P-51 Mustang due to a friendly fire incident on 17 April 1945. By his account, he encountered a group of American B-17 Flying Fortresses under attack by Luftwaffe aircraft. His aircraft was apparently mistaken by American escort fighters for the enemy and attacked. Kozhedub, having no other option, defended himself by shooting down two of the P-51s. The story is highly suspect. Film footage exists that had been touted as Kozhedub's actual gun camera film from the event; however, the footage was shot using Zeiss equipment, which was used primarily by the Luftwaffe.

Awards and honors

 * Soviet Union
 * Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union (4 February 1944, 19 August 1944, and 18 August 1945)
 * Two Order of Lenin (4 February 1944 and 21 February 1978)
 * Seven Order of the Red Banner (22 July 1943, 30 September 1943, 29 March 1945, 29 June 1945, 2 June 1951, 22 February 1958, and 26 June 1970)
 * Order of Alexander Nevsky (31 July 1945)
 * Order of the Patriotic War 1st class (11 March 1985)
 * Two Order of the Red Star (4 June 1955 and 20 October 1955)
 * Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 2nd degree (22 February 1990)
 * Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd degree (30 April 1975)
 * Medal "For Battle Merit"
 * Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" (1945)
 * Medal "For the Capture of Berlin" (1945)
 * Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
 * Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1965)
 * Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1975)
 * Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1985)
 * Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969)
 * Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1976)
 * Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms"
 * Medal "For Impeccable Service", 1st class
 * Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" (1948)
 * Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1957)
 * Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1967)
 * Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1978)
 * Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1988)
 * Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" (1947)
 * Medal "In Commemoration of the 1500th Anniversary of Kiev" (1982)

 * Foreign
 * Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship (China)
 * Patriotic Order of Merit, Bronze, 3rd class (East Germany)
 * Order of the Red Banner (Mongolia)
 * Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Army" (Mongolia)
 * Order of the National Flag, 3rd class (North Korea)
 * Order of Freedom and Independence, 1st class (North Korea)
 * Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)
 * Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)

Legacy
A military university in Kharkiv is named in his honor, the Kozhedub University of the Air Force.

On May 8, 2010, a monument to Ivan Kozhedub was opened in Slavy Park in Kyiv.

Ivan Kozhedub Street in the cities of Bila Tserkva, Bucha, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Lutsk, Cherkasy, Chuhuiv, Shpola.

There is Ivan Kozhedub Lane in the cities of Kremenchuk and Kropyvnytskyi.

In December 2022 the Kyiv City Council renamed, "with the aim of decolonizing the capital's toponymy", the Mikhail Kutuzov Street in Kyiv's Desnianskyi District Ivan Kozhedub Street.

A bust of Kozhedub made by Nikolai Tomsky was installed in his native village in 1949.

There is a statue of him in Sumy made by Oleg Prokopchuk. A sculpture of him made by Aleksandr Shlapak, Yevgeny Karpov Sr, and Yevgeny Karpov Jr was installed in Kiev in 2013.

On February 13, 2024, in the city of Zhmerynka, Vilinskii Lane was renamed Ivan Kozhedub Lane.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ivan Kozhedub


text:
Alexander Pokryshkin

Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin (Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Покры́шкин; 6 March 1913 – 13 November 1985) was a Soviet fighter pilot in World War II, and later a marshal of aviation. He was one of the highest-scoring Soviet aces, and the highest-scoring pilot ever to fly an American aircraft, having achieved the great majority of his kills in the Lend-Lease Bell P-39 Airacobra. During the war Pokryshkin earned the title Hero of the Soviet Union three times: 24 May 1943, 24 August 1943, and 19 August 1944. After the war, he served in the Soviet Air Defense Forces, reaching the rank of Marshal of Aviation; he retired in 1981.

During the war, he strongly promoted training in and use of improved aerial combat techniques, such as vertical maneuvers that newer fighter aircraft were capable of carrying out, and he spent much of his time studying aerobatics for combat situations.

Early years
Pokryshkin was born in Novonikolayevsk (now Novosibirsk) in Tomsk Governorate, son of a Russian peasant-turned-factory worker. He grew up in a poor, crime-ridden part of town, but unlike most of his peers he was more interested in learning than in fighting and petty crime. His nickname in his early teens was Engineer. He caught the "aviation bug" when he was 12 years old at a local air show, and the dream never left him. In 1928, after seven years of school, he found work as a construction worker. In 1930, despite his father's protests, he left home and entered a local technical college, where he received a degree in 18 months and worked for six more as a steel worker at a local munitions factory. Subsequently, he volunteered for the army and was sent to an aviation school. His dream finally seemed to be coming true. Unfortunately the flight school was suddenly closed, and all students were instead transferred to be trained as aircraft mechanics. Dozens of official requests were denied with a simple explanation: "Soviet aviation needs mechanics just as badly".

Pokryshkin still strived to excel as a mechanic. Graduating in 1933, he quickly rose through the ranks. By December 1934, he became the Senior Aviation Mechanic of the 74th Rifle Division. He stayed in that capacity until November 1938. During that time his creative nature became clearly visible: he invented improvements to the ShKAS machine gun and the R-5 reconnaissance aircraft among other things.

Finally, during his vacation in the winter of 1938, Pokryshkin was able to circumvent the authorities by passing a yearly civilian pilot program in only 17 days. This automatically made him eligible for flight school. Without even packing a suitcase, he boarded a train to flight school. He graduated with top honors in 1939, and with the rank of senior lieutenant he was assigned to the 55th Fighter Regiment.

Early experiences
He was stationed in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in June 1941, close to the border, and his airfield was bombed on 22 June, the first day of the war.

His first involvement in air combat was a disaster. Seeing an aircraft in the air of a type he had never seen before, he attacked and shot it down, only to notice as it was going down that it had Soviet red stars on the wings. It was a Soviet Su-2 light bomber of the 211th Bomber Aviation Regiment, piloted by squadron commander Mikhail Gudzenko. This was a new bomber type that was kept secret even from other Soviet pilots. He then frantically flew in front of all the other MiG-3 pilots who were lining up on the other Sukhoi bombers, thwarting any other Soviet losses by other pilots of his unit. Luckily, Gudzenko survived, although the navigator was killed.

He claimed his first shootdown of an enemy aircraft when he shot down a Bf 109 the next day, while he and his wingman were on a reconnaissance mission, and were jumped by five enemy fighters. On 3 July, having claimed several more victories, he was shot down by German flak behind enemy lines and spent four days getting back to his unit. During the first weeks of the war, Pokryshkin began to see very clearly how outdated the Soviet combat doctrine was, and started slowly drafting his own ideas in his meticulous notebooks. He carefully recorded all details of all air engagements in which he and all his friends were involved, and came up with detailed analysis of each. He fought in very complicated conditions: constant retreat, poor- to no-controlling and communication from HQ, and overwhelming odds versus a superior opponent. He later said "one who hasn't fought in 1941–1942 has not truly tasted war".

Pokryshkin survived several close calls during this time. A machine gun round drove through the right side of the cockpit, cut his shoulder straps, ricocheted off the left side and scratched his chin, covering the entire windscreen in blood. Twice, unexploded bombs landed between his feet, one time during a dramatic low-level raid on his airfield by a pair of Ju 88s. Pokryshkin tried to defend his fighter, one of the very few remaining serviceable aircraft, by removing a flexible machine gun from the nearby bomber and placing it on top of his fighter's fuselage. One of the German bombers saw Pokryshkin firing the only machine gun in the area and flew straight at him, dropping small bombs in a shallow dive. Pokryshkin watched a string of explosions running up to him, but the bomb that landed immediately next to him did not explode. The Ju 88 had dropped it too low; the bomb had insufficient time to arm itself before hitting the ground.

In the autumn of 1941 Pokryshkin, flying a MiG-3 (possibly winter-camouflaged), took off in sleet and rain conditions after two other pilots had crashed on takeoff. His mission was to locate von Kleist's 1st Panzer Group, which had been stopped in front of Shakhty, and then their position lost by the Soviet forces. After some time flying at low altitude, low on gasoline, in bad weather, he finally found them, and was able to return safely to base with this critical information. For the successful completion of this mission, he was awarded the Order of Lenin.

When the German summer offensive of 1942 began, part of 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment had been re-equipped with the Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter, including Pokryshkin's squadron. In that period Pokryshkin flew missions escorting Su-2 and Il-2 Shturmovik aircraft, and frequently was engaged by German fighters. On 17 July 1942, during a dogfight with Bf 109s, he became separated from his wingman Konstantin Figichov, and was jumped by a Rotte of Bf 109G-2 "Gustavs" flown by the experte Feldwebel Hans Dammers and his wingman Unteroffizier Kurt Keiser (7./JG 52). Initially Pokryshkin dived to escape, but realizing that the heavier and faster Gustavs would catch him, he performed a chandelle and then a barrel roll. This caused the Germans to overshoot, and then Pokryshkin shot down (and killed) Keiser at short range. Dammers attacked Pokryshkin shortly afterwards, damaging his Yak-1. But once more Pokryshkin performed a barrel roll, forced Dammers to slide forward, and then shot down the German ace.

In the late summer of 1942, his regiment was recalled from the front lines to convert to a new fighter type, the Bell P-39 Airacobra. While training in the rear, Pokryshkin frequently clashed with the regiment's new commander, Isayev (the former regimental navigator), who could not stand his criticism of Soviet air combat doctrine. Isayev fabricated a court-martial case, accusing Pokryshkin of cowardice, insubordination, and disobeying orders. Pokryshkin was grounded, removed from the regiment's headquarters, and had his Party membership cancelled. However, he was helped by his squadron mates, the regimental political commissar, and the divisional commanders, and he was soon vindicated. The 216 Fighter Aviation Division's leadership dismissed the case against him, and had him reinstated.

Kuban
Pokryshkin's most significant contribution to the war effort and the most impressive kill record came during the battle for the Kuban region in 1943. The area east of the Crimean peninsula had seen vicious air combat in the months that led to the Soviet assault on Crimea itself, where the Kuban-based Soviet air regiments flew against Crimea-based Luftwaffe Geschwader. Pokryshkin's regiment fought against such renowned German fighter units as JG 52 and JG 3 'Udet'. The area saw some of the most fierce fighting on the Eastern Front, with daily engagements of up to 200 aircraft in the air. Pokryshkin's innovative tactics of using different fighter types stacked in altitude, the so-called 'pendulum' flight pattern for patrolling the airspace, and the use of ground-based radar, forward based controllers, and an advanced central ground control system, contributed to the first great Soviet Air Force victory over the Luftwaffe.

In the summer of 1942, the 4th Air Army in which Pokryshkin served received their first mobile radar stations. They were tested in directing interceptions of German and Romanian aircraft over water, and they proved highly successful.

In early January 1943, 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was sent to 25th Depot Fighter Aviation Regiment, a unit tasked with checking that Soviet-made and Lend-Lease aircraft were ready for combat service near the Iranian border, to re-equip with new aircraft, and also to receive new pilots. Many of these planes had to be ferried in from Iran. Whilst there were delays in assembly by the Americans in Iran, the Soviet pilots involved felt that the Americans were willfully impeding the war effort It was at this time that the unit converted to the P-39 Airacobra which, when all had arrived, transformed the unit into a 3-squadron regiment. 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment received 14 P-39L-1s, seven P-39Ks (the very last of which was assigned to Pokryshkin) and 11 P-39D-2s. The unit returned to action on 8 April 1943. During the remainder of the month, Pokryshkin was credited with 11 Bf 109s and one Ju 88 destroyed.

He was credited with a Bf 109 destroyed on his very first Airacobra mission, on 9 April 1943, and scored four Bf 109 kills on 12 April 1943, one of his more successful days. He scored again on 15, 16, 20, 21, and 24 April – one Bf 109 on each day, adding a Ju 88 (probably in fact an He 111) on 29 April, plus one more Bf 109 on 30 April.

On 4 May 1943 Pokryshkin gained three confirmed kills two Ju 87 and a Bf 109.

In most subsequent fights, Pokryshkin would usually take the most difficult role, attacking the German flight leader, who was often an aggressive experte. He had learned in 1941–42 that shooting down the flight leader would demoralise the enemy and often cause them to scramble home. Taking that into account, several such experten were almost certainly among his kills during the month of May that year. On 6 May 1943 Pokryshkin shot down a Bf 109, probably the plane of 9-kills ace Unteroffizier Heinz Scholze (4./JG 52), who crashed while trying to land at Kuteinikovo. Two days later, his victim may have been the Bf 109G-4 of Leutnant Helmut Haberda (an experte of 5./JG 52 with 58 victories to his credit), though the Luftwaffe credited the loss to Soviet flak.

Pokryshkin received his first 'Hero of the Soviet Union' award on 24 May 1943, and was promoted to major in June, having become commanding officer of his squadron. On 23 June, he exchanged his old P-39K-1 USAAF Serial Number 42-4421, "White 13", for the famous P-39N USAAF S.N. 42-9004, "White 100". He flew aircraft designated 100 for the rest of the war, such as P-39N-5 42-19185, after 42-9004 was damaged in August or September 1943, except for the test of the Berlin autobahn as a runway in Konstantin Sukhov's "White 50", which was much photographed.

The Campaign in Ukraine
In mid-July the 216 Fighter Aviation Division (then redesignated 9 Guards Fighter Aviation Division) was deployed in southern Ukraine to help take the Donbass area. There he continued to defeat German aces – on 23 July 1943 Pokryshkin shot down the 56-kills experte Uffz. Hans Ellendt, of 4./JG 52.

Occasionally his P-39s also escorted the Pe-2 bombers. In that role, he used his nickname Sotka ("One Hundred") – his radio call sign), because he knew very well that the Luftwaffe ordered its airmen to stay on the ground if they knew he was in the air. A Pe-2 pilot of the 36 Bomber Aviation Regiment, Timofey P. Puniov, recalled that because of the heavy casualties inflicted by the German fighters, the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was tasked to escort them. Puniov clearly remembers that twice Pokryshkin violated radio silence saying openly in the frequency: "Vnimanie! Ya – sotka. Poedu na rabotu!" (Attention! I'm "100". I'm going to work!). Neither on those two occasions nor after did the German fighters try to intercept the 36th Bomber Aviation Regiment.

On 20 August, Isaev, who had been the Unit Navigator, and then Commanding Officer, and with whom Pokryshkin had strong differences, took measures to have Pokryshkin stripped of his Hero of the Soviet Union, expelled from the regiment, and hauled before a tribunal. From 10 PM that night at least through the following day, Pokryshkin, 298th Fighter Aviation Regiment's Major Taranyenko, and the 16th Guards' Commissar, Gubarevim, and some "Osobists" (NKVD people) completed interrogations and investigations. Gubarevim, with difficulty, was able to clear Pokryshkin's name and reputation, and "Sasha" was thereupon awarded his second Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 August 1943.

On 21 September 1943, Pokryshkin was involved in another high-profile air engagement. This one happened at low altitudes right over the front line. It was witnessed by dozens of journalists and representatives of the high command. Pokryshkin shot down three Junkers Ju 88s in a single pass, overcome by hatred, as he had just found out that the entire family of Zhmud, his mechanic, had been killed in German-occupied territories. Only two kills were confirmed, the third Ju 88 being recorded as brought down by the explosion of the second one and not because of Pokryshkin's gunfire. All three Junkers are confirmed by German loss records – they were Ju 88A-4s of 5./RummKGr. Earlier that same day Pokryshkin had added two more Junkers Ju 87s to his tally, almost certainly Ju 87D-5s of 6./StG 1.

1944–1945
In February 1944, Pokryshkin was offered a promotion and an easy desk job managing new pilot training. He immediately rejected this offer, and stayed at his old regiment and his old rank. However, he did not fly nearly as much as before. Pokryshkin had been made a famous hero by the propaganda machine, and he was not allowed to fly as often because of fear of him being killed. Instead, Pokryshkin spent a lot of time in the radio bunker, directing his regiment's fights over the radio. In June 1944, Pokryshkin was promoted to colonel and given command of 9th Guards Air Division.

On 19 August 1944, for 550 front-line sorties and 53 official kills, Pokryshkin was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for the third time. He was the first person ever to receive the award three times, and he is the only Soviet soldier to receive the award three times during wartime. Pokryshkin was forbidden to fly altogether, but managed to circumvent the rule a few times and still continued to score an occasional kill.

One of such occasions occurred on 30 May 1944 near Jassy, Romania. The whole 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment engaged a large formation of Ju 87s heading towards the Soviet ground forces escorted by Fw 190s and Bf 109s. In the ensuing melée, the Airacobra pilots claimed to shoot down five Stukas, three Focke-Wulfs and one Messerschmitt without losses – three Ju 87s were shot down by Pokryshkin himself. The next time Pokryshkin scored victories was on 16 July, when he got credit for two more Stukas and one Hs 129 of 10.(Pz)/SG 9, probably the Henschel Hs 129B-2 of Hauptmann Rudolf-Heinz Ruffer, credited with 80 tank-kills. His last victory was another Ju 87, downed on 14 January 1945.

Out of his official score of 65 victories, only six were scored in the last two years of the war. The bulk of Pokryshkin's victories came during the time when the Soviet Air Force was still fighting at a disadvantage, and he was among the most  successful Soviet pilots during the most difficult first year of the war.

In the Victory Parade, Pokryshkin participated as the standard bearer of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

After the war
In 1948 he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy. in 1949–1955 he acted as deputy commander of the 33rd Fighter Air Defense Corps and commander of the 88th Fighter Aviation Corps in Rzhev. He was repeatedly passed-over for promotion, possibly because he was just too intelligent (or honest) for Stalin's comfort. Only after Stalin's death did he find himself back in favor and finally promoted to Marshal of Aviation.

In 1957 he graduated from the General Staff Academy. After graduation he served as Chief of Fighter Aircraft of the North Caucasian Military Defense. From 1959, he served in the 8th Independent Air Defense Army Air (Kiev), and from 1961 to 1968 acted as Commanding General of the 8th Army Air Defense and deputy commander of the Kiev Military District Air Defense Forces. In 1968 he became Deputy Chief of the Air Defense Forces.

His highest position was as president of DOSAAF (1972–1981), a mostly civilian organization that was largely tasked with training young civilians and preparing them for service with the Air Force. Pokryshkin again found himself ostracized for his honesty. Despite strong pressure, he never wrote about or supported glorification of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's role in the battle of Kuban, where Brezhnev was a minor general. Pokryshkin died on 13 November 1985 at the age of 72, and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. In Novosibirsk, a street, a square, and a subway station are named in his honor.

He wrote several books in Russian about his wartime experiences. He appeared in the documentary TV Series The Unknown War, in episode 9, entitled "War in the Air", and, at the beginning and end of the episode, he spoke to the host and narrator, Burt Lancaster.

There are two Soviet-made documentaries about Alexander Pokryshkin: Pokryshkin in the Sky (1945), and Russian Ace Alexander Pokryshkin (1985).

Aircraft flown by Pokryshkin
Pokryshkin started the war flying the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter, in which he scored almost twenty victories. The unit was given the honor "16th Guards Fighter Regiment" in March 1942. At this time or soon after, the unit received some Yak-1s, in which Pokryshkin also scored victories, but which are neither identified, nor illustrated, in any known way. In January 1943, his regiment converted to Lend-Lease Bell P-39 Airacobras. Soviet pilots liked this aircraft, and found it quite competitive with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and superior to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 at the low air combat altitudes common on the Eastern Front. Pokryshkin enjoyed the 37 mm cannon's destructive firepower, as well as the two upper nose-mounted .50 caliber machine guns, synchronized to fire through the propeller (airscrew), in addition to the pair of .30 caliber machine guns mounted in each wing. He claimed that the cannon's trigger, positioned at the top of the joystick, was impossible to push without moving the pilot's hand, which made the aircraft deviate from the gunsight, so finally he had his regiment's aircraft rigged so that a single button simultaneously fired cannon and machine guns. In his memoirs he describes many enemy aircraft immediately disintegrating upon being hit by a salvo. Pokryshkin and his regiment were repeatedly asked to convert to new Soviet fighters such as the La-5 and Yak-3. However, Pokryshkin found the Yak-3's firepower insufficient, and personally disliked Yakovlev, so the squadron remained with the P-39.

Finally, in 1944, he found an aircraft that he deemed a worthy heir: the Lavochkin La-7. However, one of his close friends, Soviet ace Alexander Klubov, was killed in a landing mishap while converting to the La-7. The crash was blamed on the malfunction of the plane's hydraulic system. Pokryshkin subsequently cancelled his regiment's conversion, and there are multiple reports that they instead began flying the Bell P-63 Kingcobra. Through the Lend-Lease agreement with United States, the Soviet Union was not allowed to use P-63s against Germany; they were given only to be used in the eventual battle with Japan. Thus it is quite understandable that no mention of this appears in any official records. However, personal accounts of German pilots and flak crewmen include encounters with P-63s in the skies of eastern Prussia, and P-63 operations are mentioned in the memoirs of a pilot in Pokryshkin's squadron. It is reported that 9th Fighter Aviation Division was given approximately 36 P-63s but these were not used while the fighting was still in progress.

The designations of MiG-3 aircraft used by Pokryshkin were, in the likeliest order of use, "7", "4", "01", "White-5" (with "GVARDIYA" on the intakes – likely dating to when the unit was awarded this designation), and finally "67". He then flew Yak-1 fighters when the unit partially re-equipped with them.

He flew P-39K-1 "White-13" 42-4421 over the Kuban. He converted in late June to P-39N-0 42-9004 "White 100". "White 100" was damaged in August or September 1943. The only known photograph of 42-9004 dates from around this time: it shows the nose resting on a saw horse with the nose wheel main leg hyper-extended so the nose wheel rests on the ground. According to a VVS color scheme research website, 42-9004 was struck by inadvertent gunfire from a badly damaged Il-2 that had a rough landing, and on one of its last bounces the guns went off and, among other things, the gunfire struck, such as the aircrew dugout, hit the parked Airacobra.

About this time Pokryshkin changed to P-39N-5 42-19158 (or possibly a different N-5). which was also designated "White-100". (This is according to the document for an award to an aircraft mechanic assigned to 42-19158, for keeping it airworthy and ready to fly combat missions for 100 flights in a row.) On 28 May 1943, Pokryshkin flew P-39D-2 41-38520 ("White-17") for a single mission. There is a photo of him post-mission bending to remove his parachute straps in front of the nose of 41-38520. In the famous photo taken of him using a stretch of German "autobahn" as a runway, he was flying a P-39Q-15 designated "White-50", with the serial number painted out (the same aircraft was originally assigned to K. V. Sukhov).

He used five La-7 aircraft with the inscription, "From the Workers of Novosibirsk to Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Ivanovich Pokhryshkin", but did not fly in them himself. A La-7-equipped unit was, in 1945, made a part of the 9th Guards Division, making it a four-regiment division. At one point in 1944, he was apparently given a La-5FN for his personal use, pending the hoped-for Lavochkin conversion of the entire unit.

The unit apparently flew P-63A or C Kingcobras after the war, and Pokryshkin would have again numbered his aircraft "100". Finally, one or more of the 9th Guards Fighter Division units may have eventually converted to the Yak-9P before his attendance at the War College in 1948. After his appointment as DOSAAF director in the early 1950s, he had use of a MiG-15, and, later, of an Il-12 or Il-14.

Final tally
Pokryshkin's score is heavily disputed among historians. Overclaiming was not uncommon in World War II, and Pokryshkin's claims in his memoir are much higher than recent estimates by historians and official records, and recent estimates are generally lower than older estimates. In 1986 Oleg Levchenko claimed that Pokryshkin in fact shot down 94 enemy aircraft, damaged 19 and destroyed three more on the ground, and said that no less than 15 victories scored in 1941 were not taken into account, because the documents confirming them were destroyed during the hurried withdrawal from encirclement during the Battle of Uman. However, Levchenko's claims are generally disputed in 21st century estimates, which tend to place Pokryshkin's tally in the mid 40s. Thomas Polak and Christopher Shores credited him with 53 solo and 6 shared victories in their 1999 book, however the bibliography of the book cites Pokryshkin's memoirs instead of any official documents, and the tallies of several other aviators are heavily inflated to match the official Soviet claims. Russian historian Mikhail Bykov credited him with 43 individual and 3 shared victories in a 2014 book; a decade earlier, in an article titled Мутное Небо 1941 года ("The Murky Sky of 1941") with Aleksandr Rodionov he claimed that Pokryshkin tried to steal Rechkalov's kills during 1941. Andrey Simonov and Nikolai Bodrikhin credited him with 45 solo and 4 shared shootdowns in a 2017 book.

Honours and awards

 * Soviet awards
 * Three times Hero of the Soviet Union (24 May 1943 – № 993, 24 August 1943 – II № 10, 19 August 1944 – III № 1)
 * Six Orders of Lenin (22 December 1941 – № 7086; 24 May 1943 – № 9600; 24 August 1943 – № 124904; 21 October 1967 – № 344099; 21 February 1978 – № 429973; 5 March 1983 – № 400362)
 * Order of the October Revolution (5 March 1973 – № 1793)
 * Order of the Red Banner, four times (22 April 1943 – № 66983; 18 July 1943 – № 8305 / 2; 24 December 1943 – № 448 / 3; 20 April 1953 – № 1392 / 4)
 * Order of Suvorov, 2nd class, twice (6 April 1945 – № 1484; 29 May 1945 – № 1662)
 * Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class (11 March 1985 – № 537 850)
 * Order of the Red Star, twice (6 November 1947 – № 2762070; 4 June 1955 – № 3341640)
 * Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class (30 April 1975 – № 0039)
 * Medal for Combat Service (3 November 1944)
 * Medal "For Development of the Virgin Lands" (5 November 1964)
 * Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (30 April 1984)
 * Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation" (31 May 1980)
 * Campaign, jubilee and commemorative medals
 * Honorary Citizen of: Novosibirsk, Mariupol and Bălți
 * Novosibirsk airport Tolmachevo, russian:(Аэропо́рт Толмачёво)(IATA: OVB, ICAO: UNNT)(Ob, Russia) was named after him.

 * Foreign awards
 * Distinguished Service Medal (USA)
 * Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, 1st class (Bulgaria)
 * Order of Tudor Vladimirescu, 2nd and 3rd classes (Romania)
 * Order of Karl Marx (East Germany)
 * Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (Poland)
 * Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)
 * Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia)
 * Order of the Red Banner (Mongolia)

title: Alexander Pokryshkin


text:
Imperial State Crown

The Imperial State Crown is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and symbolises the sovereignty of the British monarch. It has existed in various forms since the 15th century. The 1937 version is worn by a new monarch for the first time in the royal procession following their coronation (having been crowned with St Edward's Crown during the ceremony) and subsequently used at State Openings of Parliament. The crown is adorned with 3,170 precious stones, including the Cullinan II diamond, St Edward's Sapphire, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Black Prince's Ruby (a spinel).

Origin
St Edward's Crown, used to crown English monarchs, was considered to be a holy relic, kept in the saint's shrine at Westminster Abbey and therefore not worn by monarchs at any other time. Instead, a "great crown" with crosses and fleurs-de-lis, but without arches (an open crown), was a king's usual headgear at state occasions until the time of Henry V, who is depicted wearing an imperial crown of state with gold arches (a closed crown). Arches were a symbol of sovereignty, and by this point in history, the king of England was being celebrated as rex in regno suo est imperator – an emperor of his own domain – subservient to no one but God, unlike some continental rulers, who owed fealty to more powerful kings or to the Holy Roman Emperor.

Henry VII or his son and successor Henry VIII may have commissioned a more elaborate version of the state crown which is first described in detail in an inventory of royal jewels in 1521, and again in 1532, 1550, 1574, and 1597, and was included in a painting by Daniel Mytens of Charles I in 1631. The Tudor Crown had more pearls and jewels than its medieval predecessor, and the centre petals of each of the fleurs-de-lis had images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and St George. The crown weighed undefined ozt (7 lb 6 oz troy) and was set with 168 pearls, 58 rubies, 28 diamonds, 19 sapphires, and 2 emeralds.

Following the abolition of the monarchy and the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Tudor Crown was broken up by order of Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum, and its valuable components were sold for £1,100.

Restoration to present day
Upon the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, a new state crown was made for Charles II by Sir Robert Vyner. About 10 versions of the crown have existed since the Restoration. The one made for Queen Victoria in 1838 is the basis for today's crown. Made by Rundell and Bridge using old and new jewels, it had a crimson velvet cap with ermine border and a lining of white silk. It weighed 39.25 ozt and was decorated with 1,363 brilliant-cut, 1,273 rose-cut and 147 table-cut diamonds, 277 pearls, 17 sapphires (including St Edward's Sapphire, thought to have been taken from the Confessor's ring when his body was reinterred at Westminster Abbey in 1163), 11 emeralds, 4 rubies, and the Black Prince's Ruby (a cabochon red spinel).

At the State Opening of Parliament in 1845, the Duke of Argyll was carrying the crown before Queen Victoria when it fell off the cushion and broke. Victoria wrote in her diary, "it was all crushed and squashed like a pudding that had sat down". In 1909, the crown was altered to accommodate the 317 carat Cullinan II diamond, also known as the Second Star of Africa. A faithful copy of the Victorian crown, which had fallen into a poor state of repair, was made in 1937 by the jewellers Garrard & Co. for George VI. The Imperial State Crown's inner headband was adjusted and its arches lowered by 1 in in 1953 for Queen Elizabeth II. The empty frame of Victoria's crown survives in the Royal Collection, and is now on display in the Tower Jewel House, minus its monde and cross which now sit on the current crown.

Description
The Imperial State Crown is 31.5 cm (12.4 in) tall and weighs 1.06 kg (2.3 lb), and has four fleurs-de-lis alternating with four crosses pattée, supporting two arches topped by a monde and cross pattée. Its purple velvet cap is trimmed with ermine. The frame is made of gold, silver and platinum, and decorated with 2,868 diamonds, 269 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and 5 rubies.

Notable stones are St Edward's Sapphire on the top cross, reputedly taken from the ring of Edward the Confessor when he was re-interred at Westminster Abbey in 1163, and the Black Prince's Ruby (a large spinel) on the front cross. In 1909, the 104-carat (21 g) Stuart Sapphire, set in the front of the crown, was moved to the back and replaced by the 317-carat (63 g) Cullinan II. Below the monde hang four pearls, three of which are often said to have belonged to Queen Elizabeth I, but this association is almost certainly erroneous.

Usage
The crown is worn by the monarch on leaving Westminster Abbey at the end of his or her coronation. It is usually also worn at State Openings of Parliament, although Elizabeth II wore a hat in March 1974, June 2017 and December 2019 after snap general elections, and in May 2021; and, in October 2019 she wore the State Diadem, while the Imperial State Crown was carried beside her. Usually, it is taken to the Palace of Westminster under armed guard in its own carriage and placed in the Robing Room, where the monarch dons the Robe of State and puts on the crown before giving the speech to Parliament. If a State Opening occurs before a coronation, the crown is placed on a cushion beside the monarch. In 1689, one week after being proclaimed king, William III wore his crown in Parliament to pass the Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689. When not in use, the Imperial State Crown is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

title: Imperial State Crown


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Auchel

Auchel (Auchez) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France.

Geography
An ex-mining town, nowadays a light industrial & farming commune, situated 8 mi southwest of Béthune and 34 mi southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D183 and the D183E roads.

History
Following the discovery of coal deposits in the area in 1851, the town grew as the demand for coal increased in France. This old mining town had close to 15,000 inhabitants in the 1950s.

The coal recession in the late 1960s lead to a constant decline in population, despite the efforts of the municipality to attract and keep people here during and after the recession.

Population
The inhabitants are called Auchellois.

Sights

 * The church of St. Martin, dating from the sixteenth century.
 * A museum about coal mining.

International relations
Auchel is twinned with:
 * 🏴 West Malling, in the county of Kent, England.
 * 🇩🇪 Iserlohn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Notable people
Auchel is the birthplace of:
 * Xavier Beauvois, actor, director and screenwriter.
 * Angela Behelle, writer
 * Pierre Laigle, football player
 * Augustin Lesage, French spiritualist artist. Lesage is one of the most fascinating figures associated with Art Brut
 * Stéphane Lecocq, professional footballer
 * Fred Personne, actor
 * Afida Turner, singer, songwriter, actress, and media personality
 * Pierre Waché, Formula One engineer and technical director for Red Bull Racing

title: Auchel


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Anatoly Lyapidevsky

Anatoly Vasilyevich Lyapidevsky (Анатолий Васильевич Ляпидевский; 23 March 1908 – 29 April 1983) was a Soviet aircraft pilot and one of the first people to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (in June 1934). A graduate of the Soviet Air Force Academy, he reached the rank of Major general of the Soviet Air Force at 1946.

Birth and youth
Anatoly Lyapidevsky was born on March 23 (10), 1908 in the Belaya Glina village in Stavropol Governorate (now Krasnodar Krai) in the family of a clergyman. His family is of a dynasty of clergymen from Tula Governorate. At childhood he dwelt at Staroshcherbinovskaya stanitsa, later at Yeysk. Lyapidevsky worked as an apprentice in a smithy, apprentice of a metalworker, an engineman of a mowing machine, driver assistant at an oil mill.

In 1926 he was conscripted into the Red Army. In 1927 Anatoly has graduated from Leningrad Military Theory School of the Air Force, in 1928 – from Sevastopol School of Naval Pilots. Lyapidevsky served in a frontline unit of Naval Aviation of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, then as an instructor pilot at Yeysk School of Naval Pilots. He was discharged in 1933.

Pilot
He worked as a pilot with the Far Eastern department of the Civil Air Fleet. Lyapidevsky took part in an aerial search and rescue operation for the crew of the steamship Chelyuskin, under extremely difficult conditions, after it was sunk in Arctic waters after February 13, 1934.

Rescue
Together with six other pilots, Lyapidevsky rescued 104 people from the wrecked freighter. The rescue operation took two months, as survivors waited to be rescued on ice floes. Lyapidevsky personally made 29 scouting flights despite blizzards. Lyapidevsky made his first landing on one of the floes on March 5. It was a great feat of flying. Not only was the weather horrid but the floe was only 500 by 1,300 feet. Lyapidevsky took off from the floe with 10 women and 2 children on board his plane. He flew the stranded people from their makeshift airstrip on the floating ice field of the Chukchi Sea to the town of Uelen. Lyapidevsky was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union for this deed on April 20, 1934. After the Gold Star medals had appeared, on November 4, 1939 No.1 medal was handed over to him.

The heroics of the fliers in the Chelyuskin Rescue prompted the government to create the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The title later became the Soviet Union's highest military honor.

After the feat
In 1935 Lyapidevsky returned to the Army. In 1939 he graduated from the Department of Engineering of Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. Beginning in 1939, he was the deputy of the head of the Main Inspectorate of People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry and head of Aviation Factory No.156 (Moscow, after October 1941 – Omsk).

Lyapidevsky participated in World War II. From May to September 1942 he was head of 4th Department of the Air Force Research Institute, from September 1942 to September 1943 he took the position of Deputy Commander of Air Force of 19th Army, then head of field repair service of 7th Air Army (Karelian Front).

In 1943 Lyapidevsky returned to his work as head of an aviation factory. After the end of the war, he worked as the main inspector of Ministry of State Control, deputy of Minister of Aviation Industry. From 1949 to 1954 Lyapidevsky was head of Factory No.25 of Ministry of Aviation Industry. After in May 1954 the factory was handed over to Ministry of Medium Machine Building, he was the first deputy of the head of Design Bureau-25 and head of Experimental Factory No.25 (now All-Russian Research Institute of Automation). From 1962 to 1983 he was the lead constructor, the deputy of the main engineer of Mikoyan Design Bureau. Major-General Lyapidevsky was discharged in 1961.

He died on April 29, 1983, after catching a cold at the funeral of Vasily Molokov. Lyapidevsky is buried in Moscow, at Novodevichy Cemetery.

Memory

 * In 1935 a postmark was issued to commemorate Lyapidevsky's deed.
 * Streets in numerous Russian towns have been named after him.
 * Omsk Flight and Technical College of Civil Aviation is named after Lyapidevsky.
 * Three schools in Russia are named after Anatoly Lyapidevsky.
 * An airplane of EMERCOM is named after him.

title: Anatoly Lyapidevsky


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Audruicq

Audruicq (Ouderwijk) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.

Geography
A town located 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Calais, at the junction of the D224 with the D309 road.

History
Baldwin II, Count of Flanders named it a city in 1175, rebuilding the castle and converting the surrounding marshland to tillable soil. After continuously changing authority between the 13th century and the 17th century, Audruicq finally became a French town after the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678.

Sights

 * The eighteenth-century church of St. Martin.
 * The eighteenth-century château.

Personalities

 * Gilbert Brazy: Born at Audruicq on 15 February 1902. A pilot, he disappeared, flying a "Latham47" in the Arctic in 1928 with Roald Amundsen.1

International relations
Audruicq is twinned with: Hawkhurst in Kent, England, since 1998.

title: Audruicq


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Mirror, Mirror (Star Trek: The Original Series)

"Mirror, Mirror" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on October 6, 1967.

The episode involves a transporter malfunction that swaps Captain Kirk and his companions with their evil counterparts from a parallel universe (later dubbed the "Mirror Universe").

"Mirror, Mirror" is one of the most celebrated episodes of the original Star Trek series, and the Mirror Universe was revisited in episodes of later Star Trek series.

Plot
After failing to persuade the Halkan Council to allow the Federation to mine dilithium crystals on their planet, Captain Kirk, along with Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, Chief Engineer Scott, and Communications Officer Uhura, attempt to beam back to the USS Enterprise during an ion storm, and find themselves on a dramatically different Enterprise designated "ISS Enterprise." First Officer Spock now has a mustache and goatee, sidearms are standard issue, and the ship belongs to an empire known as the Terran Empire rather than the Federation. After inquiring about the status of the mission, Spock orders the bridge crew to prepare a phaser barrage on the Halkans for their refusal to cooperate, then uses an "agonizer" to punish Transporter Chief Kyle for an error.

Kirk orders the landing party to sick bay so that they can assess their predicament in private. He deduces that the ion storm must have opened a barrier between parallel universes, causing the landing parties in each universe to switch places. They decide to impersonate their counterparts until they can find a way home. Uhura ascertains that Starfleet has ordered the Halkans' destruction unless the Empire's demands for dilithium are met. Kirk orders a twelve-hour delay, which Spock reports to Starfleet. Kirk heads for his quarters and is nearly murdered by Chekov and his henchmen, one of whom betrays Chekov and saves Kirk's life.

Kirk's bodyguards arrive and take Chekov to the "Agony Booth" for punishment. When Scott and McCoy join him in his quarters the computer confirms Kirk's hypothesis and provides a procedure to reproduce the transporter accident and return them to their home universe. Kirk also learns that in this universe, his counterpart took command of the ISS Enterprise by assassinating Captain Christopher Pike, and has since committed numerous atrocities. Meanwhile, aboard the USS Enterprise, Spock places their mirror-universe counterparts in confinement, but has not yet determined how to send them home.

On the ISS Enterprise, Scott and McCoy secretly begin work on the engines and transporter. Spock warns Kirk that despite their relationship he cannot support Kirk's aberrant behavior. Kirk defies the warning, releases Chekov from the Agony Booth, and returns to his quarters. There he finds a female officer, Marlena, the "captain's woman"; she assumes his unusual behavior is part of a plot, as their relationship has been cooling of late. Spock interrupts to inform Kirk that he has been ordered to kill him and take command unless Kirk carries out their mission within four hours. Marlena suggests using the Tantalus Field, a weapon concealed in Kirk's quarters. She focuses the device on Mr. Spock, lamenting his imminent demise, but Kirk prevents her from activating it. He reassures her that she is still the captain's woman as he leaves.

In his own quarters, Spock, already suspicious of the landing party, queries the computer about the "classified research" being conducted in Engineering, and decides to confront Kirk again. On the bridge, Uhura distracts Sulu, the security chief as well as the senior helm officer in this universe, from his security board when it signals Scott's connection of warp power to the transporter. Spock intercepts Kirk in the transporter room and leads him at phaser-point to Sickbay, where Scott, McCoy, and Uhura have been waiting. A fight ensues, in which Spock is knocked out by Kirk. McCoy insists on treating Spock, and before they can leave, Sulu arrives with three security guards. Sulu tells them he intends to assassinate Kirk and make it look like Kirk and Spock killed each other, but Marlena intervenes from Kirk's quarters, using the Tantalus Field to vaporize Sulu's henchmen. Kirk renders Sulu unconscious, and Uhura, Kirk, and Scott head for the transporter room, leaving McCoy to follow after tending to Spock. Spock suddenly awakens and forces McCoy into a Vulcan mind meld to learn why the captain spared his life.

Kirk, Scott, and Uhura reach the transporter room to find Marlena waiting. She asks Kirk to take her with them, but Kirk explains that the transporter is set for four people. Marlena points a phaser at Kirk, but Uhura disarms her. They discover power to the transporter has been cut, and Scott can only reset the controls to allow manual operation, requiring one of them to stay behind. Spock arrives and announces he will operate the controls. Kirk uses the time remaining before the landing party must transport out to argue for the overthrow of the Empire, which Spock agrees is inevitable in 240 years. He urges Spock to take command of the Enterprise and find a way to save the Halkans. When Spock reminds him of the necessity of power, Kirk reveals the existence of the Tantalus Field. As he transports them out, Spock promises to consider what Kirk has said.

Kirk, McCoy, Scott, and Uhura beam out, and find themselves back in the Federation universe. Spock reports he found the ruthless attitude of their counterparts refreshing, sarcastically calling them "the very flower of humanity." Kirk is startled by the appearance of Lieutenant Marlena Moreau from his own universe, recently transferred to the Enterprise, with a report for his signature. In answer to Spock's inquiry, Kirk says only that Moreau "seems like a nice, likable girl" and that perhaps they could become "friends".

Mirror universe in Star Trek
The Star Trek mirror universe concept was revisited in five episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Crossover", "Through the Looking Glass", "Shattered Mirror", "Resurrection" and "The Emperor's New Cloak".

In Star Trek's internal chronology, the earliest appearance of the Mirror Universe is in the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise. The two-part episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", which is a sequel to the Original Series episode "The Tholian Web", reveals the fate of the USS Defiant.

The Mirror Universe played a large role in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery and was visited in "Despite Yourself", "The Wolf Inside", "Vaulting Ambition", and "What's Past Is Prologue".

The 2014 episode "Fairest of Them All" in the non-canonical fan series Star Trek Continues shows the events in the mirror universe following the original series episode, "Mirror Mirror".

Among many parodies of the Mirror Universe are a 1977 episode of science-fiction sitcom Quark, and "Spookyfish", a 1998 episode of South Park.

Reception
For the franchise's 30th anniversary in 1996, TV Guide ranked "Mirror, Mirror" No. 3 on its list of the 10 best Star Trek episodes from all series. In 2016, Newsweek ranked "Mirror, Mirror" as one of the best episodes of the original series. In 2016, IGN ranked "Mirror, Mirror" the 3rd best episode of the original series. IO9 ranked "Mirror, Mirror" as the tenth best episode of all Star Trek episodes up to 2011.

In 2012, The A.V. Club ranked this episode as one of their top ten "must see" episodes of the original series.

In 2012, Christian Science Monitor ranked this the fifth best episode of the original Star Trek.

In 2015, New York Public Library noted this episode as having Spock's fifth best scene in the show.

In a 2016 article highlighting the best episode from each Star Trek series, Digital Trends gave "Mirror, Mirror" an honorable mention. In 2016, Business Insider ranked "Mirror, Mirror" the 6th best episode of the original series. In 2016, IGN ranked "Mirror, Mirror" number 3 in a top ten list of original series episodes.

Empire ranked "Mirror, Mirror" 12th out of the 50 top episodes of all Star Trek in 2016. At that time, there were roughly 726 episodes and a dozen films released.

In 2015, SyFy ranked this episode as one of the top ten essential Star Trek original series Spock episodes.

2016 was the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of Star Trek, which triggered a large amount of press including TV Guide's review of top original series episodes. They ranked "Mirror, Mirror" the fourth best episode of the series.

In 2016, SyFy noted this episode for actress Nichelle Nichols presentation of Uhura, as having her fourth best scene in Star Trek.

In 2017, SyFy ranked this the best mirror universe episode of Star Trek.

In 2017, Comic Book Resources ranked a character in this episode, Marlena Moreau of the mirror universe, the 8th "fiercest" female character of the Star Trek universe.

In 2017, Vulture listed "Mirror, Mirror" as one of the best episodes of the original show, noting the episode's trip to the darker mirror universe.

In 2018, Collider ranked this episode the 4th best original series episode.

In 2018, PopMatters ranked this the 13th best episode of the original series.

A 2018 Star Trek binge-watching guide by Den of Geek recommended this episode as one of the best of the original series.

In 2019, Comic Book Resources ranked this episode as one of the top 8 most memorable episodes of the original Star Trek.


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June 1927 Irish general election

The June 1927 Irish general election was to elect the 5th Dáil held on Thursday, 9 June following the dissolution of the 4th Dáil on 23 May 1927. It was the first election contested by Fianna Fáil, which had been formed a year earlier when Éamon de Valera, leader of the abstentionist Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin, failed to convince the party to take their seats if and when the Oath of Allegiance were abolished. Most of Sinn Féin's TDs, as well as the bulk of its support, shifted to Fianna Fáil. The impact of this shift saw Sinn Féin all but decimated; it was reduced to five seats. This was for many years the end of the party as a major force in the southern part of the island; it would not win more than 10 seats at an election until 2011, by which time it had undergone fundamental transformation. This election cemented Fianna Fáil as a major party; it and Cumann na nGaedheal/Fine Gael remained the two largest parties in Ireland until 2011.

The 5th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 23 June to nominate the President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State for appointment by the Governor-General. W. T. Cosgrave was re-appointed leading a government of Cumann na nGaedheal.

Fianna Fáil took the oath of allegiance and its seats in the Dáil on 12 August 1927. Fianna Fáil's decision to take up its seats ended Cumann na nGaedheal's working majority, forcing Cosgrave into a minority government which proved unstable. After government victories in two by-election, Cosgrave sought a dissolution on 25 August and a second election of that year was held in September 1927.

Result

 * }

Government formation
When the 5th Dáil first met on 23 June 1927, there were 50 TDs still abstaining. Cumann na nGaedheal formed the 3rd Executive Council of the Irish Free State with the support of the Farmers' Party and 13 Independents. This government proved unstable once Fianna Fáil took their seats.

First time TDs

 * Tadhg Crowley
 * Patrick Boland
 * Andrew Fogarty
 * John Jinks
 * Michael Keyes
 * Michael Óg McFadden
 * Thomas Mullins
 * Patrick O'Dowd
 * Matthew O'Reilly
 * Timothy Quill
 * Jasper Wolfe

Outgoing TDs

 * Cornelius Connolly (Retired)
 * Patrick McFadden (Lost seat)

title: June 1927 Irish general election


text:
1923 Irish general election

The 1923 Irish general election to elect the 4th Dáil was held on Monday, 27 August, following the dissolution of the Third Dáil on 9 August 1923. It was the first general election held since the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. The election was held shortly after the end of the Irish Civil War in May 1923. Many of the Republican TDs, who represented the losing anti-Treaty side, were still imprisoned during and after the election and had committed to not participating in the Dáil if elected.

The 4th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 19 September to nominate the President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State for appointment by the Governor-General. Cumann na nGaedheal, the successor to the Pro-Treaty wing of Sinn Féin, won the election and formed the government.

Legal background
It was the first general election fought since the establishment of the Irish Free State and the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. It was contested under the Electoral Act 1923, which increased the seats in the Dáil from 128 to 153, and introduced a franchise of all citizens over the age of 21, without distinction of sex. Lax electoral practices were tightened up by The Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act 1923.

Result

 * }

Most parties made gains, in part because the total number of seats in the Dáil was increased by 25 from 128 to 153.

Government formation
The Republican TDs continued to abstain from the Dáil. Therefore, Cumann na nGaedheal had a majority of seats which were taken in the Dáil and formed the 2nd Executive Council of the Irish Free State on 19 September 1923.

First time TDs

 * Frank Aiken
 * Patrick Baxter
 * Dan Breen
 * Frank Cahill
 * John James Cole
 * Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll
 * Cornelius Connolly
 * Edward Doyle
 * Peadar Doyle
 * Seán Gibbons
 * Kathleen Lynn
 * Patrick McFadden
 * James Myles
 * Michael Shelly
 * Paddy Smith

Retiring TDs

 * Gerald Fitzgibbon
 * Joseph Whelehan

Defeated TDs

 * Walter L. Cole
 * Robert Day
 * Patrick Gaffney

title: 1923 Irish general election


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Sigizmund Levanevsky

Sigizmund Aleksandrovich Levanevsky (Сигизмунд Александрович Леваневский, Zygmunt Lewoniewski; 15 May 1902 – 13 August 1937) was a Soviet pioneer of long-range flight who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1934 for his role in the SS Chelyuskin rescue.

Life and career
Sigizmund Levanevsky was born to a Polish family in Saint Petersburg on 15 May 1902. His brother Józef Lewoniewski (1899-1933) was a Polish military and sports pilot. Sigizmund took part in the October Revolution on the Bolshevik side and later participated in the Russian Civil War, serving in the Red Army since 1918. In 1925 he graduated from the Sevastopol Naval Aviation School and became a military pilot. In 1930 he was withdrawn to reserve. From 1932 to 1933 he was head of flight and training unit of All-Ukraine Pilot School.

In 1933 Levanevsky became a pilot for the Glavsevmorput' (Main Northern Maritime Route's Administration) - providing ice reconnaissance for shipping convoys in the eastern part of the northeast passage. At July 20, 1933 he achieved his first international fame, evacuating from Anadyr to Nome the American pilot Jimmie Mattern who had crash landed to the west of Anadyr during his attempt to break the record for a solo flight around the world.

The following year Levanevsky and fellow-pilot Mavriky Slepnyov traveled to Alaska to obtain a pair of Consolidated Fleetster 17AF transport planes for use in the aerial rescue efforts for the passengers of the crushed steamship Chelyuskin. During the March 24th flight from Nome, Levanevsky's plane was forced down at Kolyuchin Bay on the north Chukotka coast and during landing its skis were ripped off. Slepnyov evacuated him to the operations base at Vankarem but without a plane Levanevsky did not participate in the rescue efforts. However, he would later shuttle a doctor from Uelen to Saint Lawrence Bay at Chukotka for emergency attention for Bobrov, deputy head of the expedition, who suffered from appendicitis - for which he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1934 he became member of the Communist Party.

North Pole flights
On 3 August 1935 Levanevsky and a two-man crew (co-pilot Georgy Baydukov and navigator Viktor Levchenko) attempted a transpolar flight from Moscow to San Francisco in a prototype single engine Tupolev ANT-25 long-range bomber. A thousand miles into the flight (just north of the Kola Peninsula) the oil tank developed an oil-leak, being overfilled, and Levanevsky chose to abort the mission.

In the summer of 1936, Levanevsky and Viktor Levchenko evaluated the air route from Santa Monica, California to Moscow, via Alaska and Siberia. The 10,000 mile flight was made in a Vultee V-1AS, though the floats were replaced with wheel landing gear. For this flight Levanevsky was awarded with Order of Red Banner of Labour.

On 12 August 1937 a type Bolkhovitinov DB-A (no. N-209, a Dalniy Bombardirovshik-Academy, i.e. Long-range Bomber) aircraft with 6-men crew under captaincy of Levanevsky started its long distance flight from Moscow to the United States (to Fairbanks) via the North Pole. The radio communications with the crew broke off the next day, on the 13th of August, at 17:58 Moscow time after the North Pole, when the aircraft encountered adverse weather conditions and suffered failure of its end right engine. The Soviet Government financed two aerial searches for the missing aircraft using purchased US aircraft under the command of Canadian bush and Antarctic pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon in 1937 and 1938. Jimmie Mattern flew a Lockheed 12, "The Texan" from California to assist in the search for his former rescuer in the initial search. After the unsuccessful search attempts all the members of the crew were presumed dead.

In March 1999, Dennis Thurston of the Minerals Management Service in Anchorage located what appeared to be wreckage in the shallows of Camden Bay, between Prudhoe Bay and Kaktovik. There was conjecture in the media that it was Levanevsky's aircraft, but a subsequent attempt to locate the object again proved unsuccessful.

title: Sigizmund Levanevsky


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Mikhail Vodopyanov

Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodopyanov (Михаил Васильевич Водопьянов; 18 November 1899 – 11 August 1980) was a Soviet aircraft pilot, one of the first Heroes of the Soviet Union, and a Major General of the Soviet Air Force. Together with Mikhail Babushkin, he was the first to land an airplane on the North Pole.

Biography
He was born on 18 November (6 November Old Style) 1899 in Bolshiye Studyonki village (now part of Lipetsk) in Tambov Governorate. He volunteered for the Red Army in 1919 and took part in the Russian Civil War. Initially, he was a driver in an air unit. From 1925 he trained as an aircraft mechanic, and in 1928 he became a pilot himself. He then worked in state commercial aviation on long distances, first flying to Sakhalin. From 1931 he also worked for the Pravda newspaper, distributing its matrix from Moscow to other cities by the air.

In 1934, he participated in the Arctic rescue operation of the crew of the sunken steamship Cheliuskin on the frozen Chukchi Sea, making a historical 5800 km flight from Khabarovsk to Vankarem, being the first to fly across the Chukotka Mountains. Vodopyanov was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union for this deed on April 20, 1934, as one of the 7 first recipients of the title. Then, he commanded an expedition of four Tupolev TB-3 aircraft, being the first to land on the North Pole on May 21, 1937, carrying parts and crew for an Arctic station.

During World War II, after July 1941, he was the commander of the 81st Special Purpose Air Division (a long range bomber division). He commanded the first Soviet air raid on Berlin on 10/11 August 1941. On the return trip, his Petlyakov Pe-8 heavy bomber was shot down by the flak and crash landed in Estonia, in no man's land between front lines. He and his crew managed to break through to the Soviet side. Vodopianov was dismissed from the commanding post as a result of big losses in this raid, but he continued to serve as a bomber pilot. (The main reasons for big losses were aircraft failures and hurried preparations, caused by Joseph Stalin's order). In 1943 he was promoted to Major General.

After the war, in 1946 he was discharged from armed forces, and turned to writing in Moscow. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and Order of the Red Banner four times each and the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class.

Many children grew up with his book "The polar pilot" that has described not only his path to aviation, but also the further adventures of his plane in revolutionary Spain, as well as the description of the Cheliuskin rescue and his participation in the War.

Honours and awards

 * Hero of the Soviet Union (20 April 1934)
 * Four Order of Lenin (20 April 1934, 27 June 1937, 6 November 1945, and 6 December 1949)
 * Four Order of the Red Banner (11 April 1940, 20 February 1942, 3 November 1944, 14 January 1952)
 * Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class (13 July 1945)

title: Mikhail Vodopyanov


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Henry Laurence Gantt Medal

The Henry Laurence Gantt Medal was established in 1929 by the American Management Association and the Management section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for "distinguished achievement in management and service to the community" in honour of Henry Laurence Gantt. By the year 1984 in total 45 medals had been awarded.

Award winners

 * 20th-century winners, a selection:
 * 1929: Henry Laurence Gantt (posthumously)
 * 1930: Fred J. Miller,
 * 1931: Leon Pratt Alford
 * 1932: Henry S. Dennison
 * 1933: Henry Wallace Clark
 * 1934: Horace B. Cheney
 * 1935: Arthur Howland Young
 * 1936: Morris Evans Leeds (1869–1952)
 * 1940: William Loren Batt
 * 1941: Paul Eugene Holden
 * 1943: Dexter S. Kimball
 * 1944: Frank Bunker Gilbreth Sr. (posthumously) and Lillian Moller Gilbreth
 * 1945: John Milton Hancock
 * 1946: Paul G. Hoffman
 * 1947: Alvin E. Dodd
 * 1948: Harold Fowler McCormick
 * 1949: Arthur Clinton Spurr
 * 1950: Charles R. Hook Sr.
 * 1951: Thomas Roy Jones
 * 1952: Frank Henry Neely (1884–1979)
 * 1953: Thomas E. Millsop
 * 1954: Clarence Francis
 * 1955: Walker Lee Cisler
 * 1956: Henning Webb Prentis Jr.
 * 1957: Harold F. Smiddy
 * 1958: Richard Redwood Deupree
 * 1959: Peter Drucker
 * 1960: Charles McCormick
 * 1961: Lyndall Urwick
 * 1962: Austin J. Tobin
 * 1963: Lawrence A. Appley
 * 1964: Harold Bright Maynard
 * 1965: Ralph J. Cordiner
 * 1968: J. Erik Jonsson
 * 1969: Dave Packard
 * 1970: Frederick R. Kappel
 * 1971: Donald C. Burnham
 * 1972: Robert Elton Brooker
 * 1973: John T. Connor
 * 1974: Willard Rockwell
 * 1975: Patrick E. Haggerty
 * 1976: Kenneth Daniel
 * 1982: Charles Luckman
 * 1983: Walter A. Fallon
 * 1984: Rawleigh Warner Jr.
 * 1987: Edmund T. Pratt Jr.
 * 1988: William S. Lee
 * 1996: George N. Hatsopoulos

 * 21st-century winners
 * 2000: Paul Soros
 * 2001: Roy Huffington
 * 2002: Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr.
 * 2003: William R. Timken
 * 2004: Julie Spicer England
 * 2006: Charla K. Wise
 * 2007: Dean L. Kamen
 * 2009: Charles M. Vest
 * 2018: Todd R. Allen
 * 2019: Margaret G. McCullough

title: Henry Laurence Gantt Medal