Vorozheikin, Grigorii

Vorozheikin, Grigorii Alekseevich 

Born Mar. 4 (16), 1895, in the village of Berezniki, in present-day Kalinin Oblast. Marshal of aviation (1944), member of the CPSU beginning in 1927. Born into a peasant family.

Vorozheikin completed ensign school in 1915 and took part in World War I. In July 1918 he volunteered for the Red Army and participated in the Civil War. He completed the N. E. Zhukovskii Military Aviation Academy in 1934. During the Great Patriotic War, he commanded the air force on the Central Front (August 1941), was chief of staff of the Red Army’s air force (August 1941 to March 1942), commanded the shock air group (March to May 1942), and was first deputy commander of the Red Army’s air force (May 1942 to April 1946). In his capacity as representative of General Headquarters, he directed air operations on the Volkhov, Leningrad, and Central fronts. After the war he was head of a department at the Air Force Academy. In 1959 he retired because of illness. He has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, three Orders of Suvorov (two first-class orders and one second-class), and medals.