RP79KAF
Klubovu A.F., letchiku-istrebitelyu, Dvazhdy Geroyu Sovetskogo Soyuza, urozhencu Vologodskoy oblasti

Alexander Fedorovich Klubov.

Fighter-pilot, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

Alexander Fedorovich Klubov was born on January 18, 1918 in the village of Yarunovo, Vologda province in the family of a poor peasant.

After graduating from the seven-year school, Alexander went to Leningrad. There he entered the Bolshevik Factory training school, which he graduated from in 1934. Since 1936 — at the carburetor plant named after “Kuibyshev”. Alexander spent his free time at the aero club, where he mastered the skills of a pilot. In 1939, Alexander Klubov volunteered for the army. He was sent by the command to the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots. At the final exams, he passed most of the subjects with excellent marks and became a fighter pilot. After graduating from college in 1940, he was sent to one of the aviation units located in the south, near the Caucasus Mountains.

The battle path

The Great Patriotic War caught Junior Lieutenant Klubov in Transcaucasia. In the first air battle on July 28, 1942, he shot down an enemy aircraft. He fought on the outdated I-153 “Chaika”, I-15 bis and I-16. Soon he had 3 enemy planes shot down. But he was also shot down. During the emergency landing of the burning aircraft, the pilot's face was severely burned, and traces of burns remained. For his courage and bravery, Alexander Klubov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and then the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree. The fame of the air ace was firmly established behind him.

In May 1943, Alexander Klubov was sent to the squadron of Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin. A strong friendship was formed between the two combat pilots. Under Pokryshkin's leadership, he mastered the P-39 Aerocobra fighter, on which he went through the entire further combat path. Adopting the experience of his teacher, he developed a certain manner of fighting and mastered the art of maneuver perfectly. In the fiercest battles, he was able to impose his will on the opponent. Alexander Pokryshkin, later three times Hero of the Soviet Union, gave an exhaustive description of a combat friend:

The real soul of the fighter lived in the Klubov. I was pleased with his fighting style. He was always looking for a fight.

During his three months in the 16th Guards Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Army), commanded by A. I. Pokryshkin, the fighter pilot Klubov participated in 28 air battles and personally shot down ten enemy aircraft. For this, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

In total, during the war, fighter pilot A. F. Klubov flew 457 combat missions. Personally shot down 31 enemy aircraft and 19 more in the group.

On April 14, 1944, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, A. F. Klubov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Alexander Klubov died on November 1, 1944 at one of the frontline airfields (Lotnisko Stalowa Wola-Turbina; village of Turbia, Poland), landing after a training flight on the newest La-7 fighter. Due to the crosswind, his fighter veered to the side and rolled out of the lane; the landing gear wheel got into a rain-washed ditch, and the plane piloted. When turning over on his back, the fighter pinned the pilot's head with the left side.

At the time of his death, he held the position of assistant commander of the fighter regiment in the air rifle service. Some time later, the captain of the Guard Clubs was posthumously awarded the second Gold Star medal.

He was buried on November 1, 1944 in Lviv on the Hill of Glory.

On June 22, 2001, on the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, at the request of relatives, A. Klubov's ashes were reburied at the Vvedenskoye military cemetery in Vologda.