In 1937, Pavel Boykov, the son of a worker, joined the Leningrad Aero Club through Komsomol recruitment, and by 1938, he became a flight instructor. In 1942, he graduated from the Stalingrad Military Aviation School for Pilots. In October of the same year, he arrived at the Stalingrad Front and remained in the active army until the end of the war.
Heroic Combat and Rescue
On August 12, 1943, Pavel Boykov, while performing a combat mission to cover his troops from enemy air attacks, engaged in an aerial battle with Ju-88 bombers, which were operating under the cover of Me-109 fighters. In this engagement, he shot down two ‘Junkers’ and one ‘Messerschmitt’. Severely wounded, he bailed out of his plane, opened his parachute, but landed in German-held territory.
Residents of the village of Kadnitsa —Ekaterina Nikanorovna Tishchenko, Galina Semenovna Vygulyar, and Zinaida Kirillovna Shakun— who witnessed the pilot’s landing, found him, provided assistance, and helped him cross the front line.
After treatment in a military hospital, doctors forbade P. M. Boykov from flying, but he returned to his regiment. Flying with impaired vision, Pavel Boykov performed 185 combat sorties, participated in 35 aerial battles, in which he shot down 8 enemy aircraft. He ended the war in Prague, as part of the 113th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Distinguished Service and Post-War Life
Overall, during the Great Patriotic War, P. M. Boykov conducted 386 successful combat sorties, 215 of which were for aerial reconnaissance, engaged in 50 aerial battles, personally shot down 15 enemy aircraft, and 4 in a group with comrades.
For exemplary fulfillment of all command assignments in battles with the enemy and for the courage and bravery shown, P. M. Boykov was awarded four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class, numerous USSR medals, and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic’s medal “For Bravery.”
After the war, Pavel Mikhailovich continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1960, P. M. Boykov was discharged from the Soviet Army due to health reasons. He graduated from the history faculty of a pedagogical institute and authored the book “On the Main Directions,” detailing the combat path of the 10th Guards Fighter Aviation Division.
On September 21, 1995, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.