Early Life and Education
Ivan Vasilievich Bochkov was born on September 17, 1915, in the village of Filkino, now in the Baryatinsky district of the Kaluga region, into a peasant family. He completed incomplete secondary school. At the age of 13, he moved to Moscow to live with his elder brother and began working as an excavator.
Later, Ivan completed chauffeur courses and joined the “Kalibr” factory. For two years, he studied in the evenings and successfully graduated from the aero club’s flight school. In 1937, he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to study at the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School, from which he graduated in 1939.
Military Service and Wartime Heroism
Bochkov participated in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, for which he was awarded the “For Courage” medal. With the start of the Great Patriotic War, he was immediately sent to the front.
By February 1943, as the head of the air-gunnery service of the 19th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (258th Fighter Aviation Division, 7th Air Army, Karelian Front), Guard Captain I. V. Bochkov had completed 308 combat sorties and engaged in 45 aerial battles. He personally shot down 7 enemy aircraft and 32 as part of a group.
Tragically, Ivan Vasilievich Bochkov died in an aerial battle on April 4, 1943.
Posthumous Recognition
On May 1, 1943, for his courage and military valor displayed in battles against the enemies, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He is buried in a mass grave at Shonguy station, Kola district, Murmansk region.
He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, and several medals.