Semyon Kharlamov

Kharlamov was born on 30 April 1921 to a working-class Russian family in Krasny Kut. Before entering the military in 1939 he completed his eighth grade of school in 1937. Initially enlisted in the army, he attended the Chkalovsk Infantry School in Orenburg before moving on to the Stalingrad Military Aviation School of Pilots, which he graduated from in 1942 before being deployed to the warfront as a pilot in the 821st Fighter Aviation Regiment.^{[citation needed]}

Originally deployed with the 821st Fighter Regiment in 1942, in December that year he transferred to the 249th Fighter Aviation Regiment as a senior pilot. There, he flew for the rest of the war and quickly rose through the ranks from senior pilot to squadron commander. As a skilled reconnaissance pilot, he discovered, radioed information about, and photographed positions of enemy forces before Soviet advances, having to fly past intense anti-aircraft artillery and enemy fighter cover to complete missions. In September 1943 during the battle for the Taman Peninsula he documented a convoy of 300 enemy vehicles and barges in the port, enabling attack aircraft to close in on the target. Later on in the war he documented enemy positions on the Kerch peninsula before gathering information about enemy defenses on various rivers in Eastern Europe. On 23 February 1945 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his accomplishments. Throughout the war he piloted the Yak-1, LaGG-3, and La-5 fighters, totaled 575 sorties, 419 of which were reconnaissance missions, tallying four solo and two shared shootdowns of enemy aircraft over the course of 85 aerial engagements.^[1][2][3]