Downed 59 German Planes : Pokryshkin, Soviet Air Ace, Dies at 72

Marshal Alexander Pokryshkin, the famed Soviet air ace who shot down 59 German planes, is dead.

A joint Communist Party and government death notice published Thursday did not give the date of Pokryshkin’s death but said he was 72 and had suffered a “long and grave illness.”

His most recent position was as deputy chief of the Soviet air defense forces.

Pokryshkin was best known for shooting down 59 Luftwaffe planes in 156 dogfights during World War II.

In a 1944 interview with the Associated Press he said he had been shot down three times but always over friendly territory and thus was able to rejoin the air battles over the Ukrainian and North Caucasian fronts.

He said he survived because he had learned to approach his prey from the front while going through a series of dives and climbs and firing only at close range when enemy aircraft were below him.

Pokryshkin, a native of Siberia who began in aviation as a mechanic, was three times made a Hero of the Soviet Union, his nation’s highest honor. The death notice praised him for his work as deputy air force commander, saying he had raised combat readiness and improved tactics.