Ivan Pavlovich Belozyorov was born on September 1, 1918, in the village of Malye Prokhody, now in the Dergachevsky district of the Kharkiv region, into a peasant family. He completed an incomplete secondary school and a factory-vocational school in Kharkiv. He then worked as a lathe operator at a locomotive construction plant, and later as an instructor at an aeroclub.
He joined the Red Army in 1939, and in 1940, he graduated from the Chuguyev Military Aviation Pilot School. He was on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War from its very first day.
Military Career and WWII Service
Belozyorov began his combat activity as part of the 8th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force. By April 1944, as a flight commander of the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (11th Assault Aviation Division, Black Sea Fleet Air Force), Guards Senior Lieutenant I. P. Belozyorov had completed 300 successful combat sorties.
He participated in 34 aerial battles, personally shooting down 8 enemy aircraft and another 18 in a group with comrades. He also destroyed many enemy military targets. For the courage and bravery shown in battles with the enemy, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on May 16, 1944.
Post-War Service and Legacy
By the end of the war, Belozyorov had completed 460 successful combat sorties. After the war, Ivan Pavlovich continued to serve in the Air Force, and in 1945, he graduated from the Higher Officer Courses of the Naval Air Force.
From 1964, Lieutenant Colonel I. P. Belozyorov was in the reserve. He lived in the city of Simferopol, where he worked as a senior dispatcher for a Civil Aviation enterprise. He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner (twice), the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class (twice), the Order of the Red Star, and various medals. He is the author of the book “In the Skies of Taurida.”