Shkurenko’s White-06
Lavochkin, La-5F (Type 39)
137th GIAP, 3rd GIAD, 1st GIAK, 3rd Air Army, 1st Baltic Front, mid August 1944.
Flown by deputy squadron commander, Guards-captain Vladimir Mikhailovich Shkurenko. (Ace with 6-10 personal and 9-17 shared victories) [1]
(It’s possible that it was flown by other pilots of the regiment also)
Vladimir Shkurenko was a Ukrainian youth who joined the Red Army at the age of 16 in 1939. He was already a fighter pilot in the 166th IAP, flying an I-16, by the time the Great Patriotic War broke out on June 22nd, 1941. Later he flew a LaGG-3 as part of the 149th IAP, and in 1943 began to fly La-5s in battle as part of the 160th IAP (Which was renamed to 137th Guards IAP on April 14th, 1944 [2])
By the 8th of August 1944, according to Shkurenko’s award documents, he flew 409 battle sorties, and engaged in over 47 air battles, during which he scored 8 personal and 17 shared victories, for which he received two “Order of the Red Banner” decorations[3] (O.R.B.), one in 1942 and one in 1944. His third O.R.B decoration was awarded to him on the 19th of August 1944, for downing two enemy planes on the 8th of August [4]. This could explain why in the photo of Shkurenko with “White-06” we can see him wearing only two “O.R.B” medals, while“White-06” is already decorated with 8 victory starlets. This photo was probably taken between the 8th and 19th of August, or not long after the 19th, based on the available evidence.
Because Shkurenko presumably flew the “White-06” in battle no earlier than from the end of 1943, the only victories which he might have scored in “White-06” are the following 6 victories: (Based on M.Bykov’s research [5])
12.02.1944 1 FW-190 Михали-Новяки (Mikhali-Novyaki ?)
24.06.1944 1 FW-190 Лесничие (Lesnichie?)
08.08.1944 1 FW-190 юго-вост.Таураге (south-east of Taurage, Lithuania)
08.08.1944 1 Ju-88 оз.Зебрес-Эзерс (lake Zebrus-Ezers, Latvia)
As noted before, the last two victories listed above earned Shkurenko his third O.R.B medal. His award documents for this decoration include the following description of Shkurenko:
”Fights bravely, is bold and decisive in battle, skilfully recognises the tactics of the enemy and makes the right decision.”
The documents include the reports by Shkurenko and his wingman which describe these two victories. The first victory occurred when Shkurenko and jr. lieutenant Terekhin flew out on a reconnaisance mission in the area of Kelme, Taurage, Jurbarkas, Raseiniai (all in Lithuania). Approaching Tauraga train station, the pilots noticed an enemy train with a steaming locomotive, pointing in the northeastern direction. Shkurenko decided to attack. From a height of 1000 meters he dove down and plowed the entire echelon with lead from his cannons. The central part of the echelon exploded, and the pilots observed a fire at the train station.
Having excited the attack Shkurenko noticed 2 FW-190s. He decided to attack. At an altitude of 300 meters he positioned himself about 150-100 meters behind and below one of the FW-190s. He fired twice and the FW-190 burst into flames, falling to the ground in the area of Zaltriskiai.
Continuing on with the mission, on the road near Гырдзи ( Girdziai?) the pilots came across two enemy vehicles. Shkurenko decided to attack, so he and his wingman shot at the vehicles. One vehicle caught fire and the second capsized down the slope of the road. [3].
The second victory of that day was scored by Shkurenko in a different sortie, but also a reconnaissance one. During this sortie Shkurenko noticed a Ju-88 about 300 meters higher than them and temporarily pausing the reconnaissance work decided to attack it. He and his wingman chased the bomber attempting to shoot it down, but had to abort the attacks due to friendly flack fire which was aimed at the Ju-88. The two fighters eventually managed to chase down the bomber and Shkurenko shot it down with some good bursts into the enemy’s right wing, causing the Ju-88’s right engine to catch fire, sending the bomber to the ground. [3]
Two more victories - the last two victories of WW2 for Shkurenko, happened just over one month later on 15th of September when he downed two FW-190s, presumably while at the controls of “White-06”.
15.09.1944 2 FW-190 Смилтниэки — Карави (Smiltnieki-Karavi, Latvia)
For these two victories Shkurenko earned the “Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Grade”. Shkurenko’s award documents for this medal stated the following:
“Having good combat experience as deputy commander of the A.S. (air squadron), he daily and skilfully passes it on to his subordinates, as a result of which there is not a single case of loss of orientation in the squadron ....
.... Guard captain Shkurenko skilfully leads a group of 8-12 aircraft on combat missions and, by personal example, inspires his subordinates to feats and heroism.
On September 15, 1944, while covering ground troops in the Auce area, a group of 8 La-5 aircraft under the command of guards captain Shkurenko’s met 16-18 FW-190s, on which they bravely imposed a battle, as a result our pilots shot down 4 enemy aircraft and returned without loss to their airfield. On this day guards captain Shkurenko led his fearless heroes into battle 5 times, conducted 5 air battles, in which 10 enemy aircraft were shot down, while they themselves returned to their airfield without any losses.”
By the time Shkurenko is presumed to have began training to fly a La-7 in October 1944, implying that he probably stopped flying the White-06 by then, he flew about 462 battle sorties, participated in about 64 air battles (But please note that these were not his final statistics in WW2), during which he scored 10 personal and 17 shared victories [6] .
According to Mikhail Bykov’s research, Shkurenko ended the war with 6 personal and 9 shared victories [7]
The final fate of “White-06” is unknown.
Noteworthy visual characteristics
Please Note! The artwork on this page is based on limited photo reference. Much of it is therefore hypothetical.
General) The plane is painted in accordance with the Grey/Grey camo pattern, but with slight variations which seem to be common to the relatively small number (239) of La-5Fs built at factory 381. The stars appeared in the usual 6 positions. The plane appears to be quite weathered with the paint likely faded, and might have been recently washed for the photos as is evident by a rather ‘clean’ exhaust panel.
1) The white nose is the identification marking of the 137th GIAP
2) Note that there is no “F” symbol/logo for La-5F on this plane which usually appears on the engine cowling (2a). This might have been common to the planes built at factory 381. Based on this rationale, there was probably no “F” symbol on the tip of the tail either (2b) which usually appears on the planes built at factory 21.
3) The top panel in front of the canopy seems to be slightly lighter than the rest of the plane.
4) The small starlets represent Shkurenko’s victories in the period between the 8th of August - 15th of September 1944.
5) The technical markings are barely visible on the plane, they might have been yellow.
6) The two white, diagonal lines on the tail were the identification marking on the 1st GIAK. I have used THIS PHOTO of an airplane from the 137th GIAP as reference to draw the two lines.
7) The victory starlets might have been repeated on the starboard side of the plane. It might have been common practice in the 137th GIAP to paint the starlets on both sides of the plane, as evidenced by photos of other planes in this regiment with victory starlets on the starboard side, such as White-2(something)1 or Maksimenko’s White-31. However it’s worth noting that another photo of White-31 shows that it doesn’t have any starlets on the port side. This could be simply because this photo was taken before Maksimenko scored his first victory in August 1943. So it doesn’t negate the idea that the starlets might have been painted on both sides of the planes, but of course it does suggest that maybe the starlets were painted only on one side of the plane and the pilots chose which side that was.
8)The antena is slightly more pointy than usual, this seems to have been common to the planes built at factory 381.
9) The mid.section of the cowl seems to be entirely painted with one colour (AMT-12 most likely). This is a deviation from the standard Grey/Grey camo. pattern, and seems to be another feature which might have been common to the planes built at factory 381.
Here are a few closeup images to help illustrate the points above. Full set of closeup images is On Patreon
FOOTNOTES
[1] 6 personal and 9 shared victories is according to Mikhail Bykov’s research. 10 personal and 17 shared victories is according to Shkurenko’s award list.
[2] The date is according to “Все истребительные авиаполки Сталина”, by Vladimir Anokhin and Mikhail Bykov, Yauza-press 2014. ISBN 978-5-9955-0707-9, p.228
[3] The award documents were found here: https://podvignaroda.ru/?#id=24813616&tab=navDetailManAward. Please note that the victories listed here don’t match up with the victories in Mikhail Bykov’s research.
The account of the air victories is based on these documents too.
[4] This is based on the fact that the date for Shkurenko’s third O.R.B medal is 19.08.1944 (found HERE), which. is 11 days after the 08.08.1944.
[5] All listed victories are based on ‘Все Асы Сталина 1936-19553’ (All of Stalin’s Aces 1936-1953), by Mikhail Bykov, Yauza-press, 2014, page 1352.
[6] These statistics are based on Shkurenko’s award list for the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Grade. https://podvignaroda.ru/?#id=45807021&tab=navDetailManAward
[7] From ‘Все Асы Сталина 1936-19553’ (All of Stalin’s Aces 1936-1953), by Mikhail Bykov, Yauza-press, 2014, page 1352.
LINKS TO THE REFERENCE IMAGES AND VIDEOS
http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/sh/shkurenko8.jpg
http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/sh/shkurenko2.jpg
This photo seems to show a different pilot, but the plane is definitely our “White-06”
All the work presented on this is page is subject to updates and revisions in the light of new information which might present itself. If you have any new information relevant to this page or disagree with anything that's presented here, then please feel free to contact me through the Planes in Profile Facebook page. Thanks:)
