Interview with World War II Russian Pilot Evgeny Stepanov

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Stepanov: No, we didn’t. We were never told, and it didn’t matter anyway. As far as we were concerned, we weren’t fighting against specific pilots, but against all that we encountered. Among them were some high-class airmen, who led groups and decided how to commit them to battle.

AH: While the Khalkin Gol incident was virtually ignored by the West, it involved some mammoth air battles, didn’t it?

Stepanov: There were many major air battles near the Khalkin Gol River, with as many as 200 aircraft from either side taking part. The first of them took place on June 22, 1939, between 120 Japanese and 95 Soviet aircraft. The first phase of the battle was begun by the I-15bis squadron under my command. Japanese losses came to 31 and ours to 12. The second major dogfight was on June 26, when 25 Japanese were shot down. On the same day, our 22nd Air Regiment attacked an enemy airfield in the region of the Uzun-Nur Lake and disabled the 12 aircraft stationed there.

AH: There is mention of an especially sizable air battle on the morning of June 27. Did you take part in that particular day’s heavy activity?

Stepanov: On the morning of June 27, there was a surprise mass strike by 150 fighters and 50 bombers against our airfields. We lost 14 aircraft that were damaged during takeoff. The Japanese lost 32 aircraft on July 3 in two combat encounters. We lost one. Between July 2 and 5, there were pitched battles for air supremacy. Japanese losses amounted to 45. In intense fighting between August 20 and September 1, Soviet pilots claimed a total of 184 enemy planes. On September 15, the Japanese government announced to the Soviet government its consent to a cease-fire in the air over Khalkin Gol. That, however, was a trick, as simultaneously the Japanese decided to launch a 212-plane surprise attack on our airfields. That armada was intercepted, with resultant losses of 20 Japanese planes. There were no Soviet casualties among the 180 pilots who took part in the operation.

AH: There were several cases reported of Japanese airmen landing to pick up downed comrades. Do you know of any occasions on which a Soviet pilot landed in enemy territory to help rescue a downed comrade?

Stepanov: On June 26, Sergei Gritsevets landed his I-16 in the vicinity of Ganjur Mountain to take on board Major Zabaluyev, commanding officer of the 70th Air Regiment, who had crash-landed his own I-16 following an engine failure. Gritsevets, who had been awarded the Gold Star on February 22, 1939, received a second one on August 29. He added 12 victories over Khalkin Gol to the 30 individual and seven shared kills he had scored over Spain. But he was killed on September 16, 1939–ironically, not in combat, nor by the NKVD, but in a flying accident at Bolbasovo, near Vitebsk, while en route to a new duty assignment in Belorussia.

AH: What role did you and your comrades play in the Soviet victory at Khalkin Gol?

Stepanov: My personal mission, and that of my comrades in arms, was to pass on my combat experience to pilots who had not yet engaged the enemy in the air, to organize scrambles when the alarm sounded, and to take part in aerial combat. That work brought its results–throughout the hostilities, we claimed 660 Japanese aircraft, while 179 Soviet pilots were downed.

AH: For what deed or deeds were you awarded the Gold Star?

Stepanov: I was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for my cumulative activities in carrying out combat missions in both Spain and Mongolia. According to archival figures, I am credited with 13 personal kills in dogfights, and with personal participation in a group strike against an enemy airfield that led to the destruction and damaging of nearly 60 aircraft. I took part in 36 air battles and logged a total of 326 combat flying hours.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Aerial Combat, Aviation History, World War II

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