Twice Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Force: led the VVS through Barbarossa and rebuilt it in the post-Stalin era
The factory telegrams told the truth: 701 finished aircraft sat idle for lack of pilots. Zhigarev's story crumbled before Stalin, who uttered a single word: 'Scoundrel! Get out!'
Born to a poor peasant family, Zhigarev rose from the cavalry to lead the Soviet Air Force at the moment of its greatest trial. Appointed VVS Commander-in-Chief days after the German invasion in June 1941, he presided over the catastrophic losses of Barbarossa, but was dismissed in April 1942 after Stalin caught him lying about combat-ready aircraft deliveries (a scene witnessed by Air Marshal Alexander Golovanov). He redeemed himself commanding Far Eastern air forces and led the 10th Air Army in the 1945 Soviet–Japanese War. After heading Long Range Aviation, he returned as VVS Commander-in-Chief from 1949 to 1957, overseeing the jet-age transition and earning the rank of Chief Marshal of Aviation in 1955. He ended his career as head of the Civil Air Fleet and commandant of the Air Defence Academy.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1919Joined the Red Army, fought in the Russian Civil War
- 1922Graduated from 4th Tver Cavalry School, cavalry platoon commander
- 1927Graduated from Leningrad Military School of Pilot-Observers
- 1932Graduated from Zhukovsky Air Force Academy command faculty
- 1937–1938Deputy Air Attaché to China, commanded Soviet volunteer pilots in Sino-Japanese War
- 1938–1939Head of Air Force Combat Training Directorate, People's Commissariat of Defence
- 1940–1941First Deputy Head → Head, Main Directorate of the Air Force
- 1941–1942Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Deputy People's Commissar of Defence
- 1942–1945Commander, Air Forces of the Far Eastern Front
- 1945Commander, 10th Air Army — Soviet–Japanese War
- 1946–1948First Deputy C-in-C Air Force and Commander of Long Range Aviation
- 1949–1957C-in-C of the Air Force, Deputy → First Deputy Minister of Defence
- 1955Promoted to Chief Marshal of Aviation
- 1957–1959Head of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet
- 1959–1963Commandant of the Military Command Academy of Air Defence
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionRussian Civil War participant
- 1937–1945The war with Japan and the second united frontCommander of Soviet volunteer pilotsIn China in 1937, he commanded a group of Soviet volunteer pilots fighting Japan.
- 1941–1945The Great Patriotic Warcommander-in-chief of the Soviet Air Force
The China Mission and Command of the Volunteer Pilots
The China posting gave Zhigarev front-line experience on the eve of the great war. Sent to China in 1937 to take part in the war against Japan, he commanded the group of Soviet volunteer pilots and served as assistant air attaché at the Soviet embassy. The Nationalist government and the Chinese Communists had by then entered a temporary united front against Japan, and on that side Zhigarev helped organise the repulse of Japanese air strikes, air defence, and the training of Chinese pilots on Soviet aircraft. Family testimony describes aircraft shipped dismantled in crates to a site near Almaty, reassembled and flown on to Lanzhou along a route of difficult terrain, unfamiliar country and severe weather, with no radio equipment, so that Chinese comrades reportedly carried fuel by hand and on their backs. Little documentation of those years survives and part of it remains classified. Zhigarev's work in China was rated highly, and after returning home in September 1938 he was appointed head of the combat training directorate of the Red Army Air Force.