Aleksandr Sergeyevich Butko

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Butko was born on 1 September 1915 in the village of Machekha, now in Kikvidzensky district of Volgograd region, into a peasant family; he was Ukrainian. After finishing secondary school he was called up into the Red Army in 1935. In 1938 he graduated from the Stalingrad military aviation school for pilots, and in 1940 he joined the party. He was in the fighting army from November 1941. By September 1943 Senior Lieutenant Butko, a squadron commander of the 667th Assault Aviation Regiment, 292nd Assault Aviation Division, 1st Assault Aviation Corps, 5th Air Army, Steppe Front, had flown 118 successful sorties against enemy troops and equipment, and had shot down six enemy aircraft in air combat. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of 4 February 1944 conferring the title on officers of the Red Army air force, published in the Vedomosti of the Supreme Soviet, Senior Lieutenant Aleksandr Sergeyevich Butko was made a Hero of the Soviet Union, for exemplary performance of combat tasks and the courage and heroism shown in them, with the Order of Lenin and Gold Star medal no. 1470. He continued to serve in the air force after the war and in 1947 completed the Higher Officers' Flight Tactical Courses. In 1954 he went into the reserve as a lieutenant colonel. He lived and worked in Volgograd, and died on 20 September 1977. His awards included the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky and the Order of the Red Star. A memorial plaque has been placed on the house in Volgograd where he lived.