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Aleksandar
Kazakov
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| Country: |
Russia |
| Born: |
15 January 1889 |
| Place of Birth: |
Kherson Province |
| Deceased: |
01 August 1919 |
| Rank: |
Polkovnik |
| Service: |
Imperial Russian Air Service |
| Units: |
4th Corps Air Detachment
19th Corps Detachment |
| Victories: |
20 |
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| Russia's highest scoring ace was
educated in military schools and entered the
army in 1908. After serving in the cavalry, he
transferred to aviation in 1913 and by the following
year was posted to the 4th Corps Air Detachment
in Poland where he flew reconnaissance and bombing
missions in a Morane-Saulnier. Having made several
unsuccessful attempts to bring down enemy aircraft
by dangling explosives and grappling hooks beneath
his plane, Kozakov scored his first victory in
the spring of 1915 by ramming his opponent. In
September 1915, he assumed command of the 19th
Corps Air Detachment but scored no additional
victories that year and only 2 more by August
1916 when he assumed command of the 1st Combat
Air Group. In February 1917, his CAG was ordered
to Romania where Kozakov scored eight more victories
before being wounded in action on 27 June 1917.
With 20 victories, he resigned his commission
in January 1918 and joined the British Joint
Military forces at Murmansk in June. Promoted
to the rank of Major, he commanded the Slavo-British
air detachment at Benezniky and continued flying
combat missions until he was again wounded in
January 1919. In March, he returned to duty but
became deeply depressed by the withdrawal of
British forces from Russia in the summer of 1919.
On the evening of 1 August 1919, ignoring an
invitation to a farewell dinner for British pilots,
he took off in a Sopwith only to crash to his
death a few moments later. Having watched Kozakov
pull a loop at low altitude and stall the plane,
Ira Jones concluded the Russian Ace of Aces "brought
about his own death and staged it in the most
dramatic manner." |
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