Early Career and World War II
Pepelyayev was born on 18 March 1918 in Bodaybo, Irkutsk, in Eastern Siberia, the son of a railroad worker. His elder brother Konstantin enlisted in the Soviet air force, and thus with the intention to follow the steps of his brother he worked in Odessa with the city aeroclubs. He graduated in 1938 from the 8th Military Pilots School and was sent to serve in a regiment deployed in the Far East.
With the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941, he was retained in the Far East despite several requests for a combat posting in the West, especially after his brother Konstantin was killed in action. In late 1943 he was still an instructor with the 162nd IAP. In 1945 he was deputy commander of the 300th IAP, and participated in operations against Japan in Manchuria. Pepelyayev flew 20 combat sorties in the Yak-9T, claiming a locomotive and a truck destroyed on the ground before the end of the war in August 1945.
The 300th IAP was then assigned surveillance duties covering the deployment of the US troops in Korea until March 1946, when the unit was sent back to the Soviet Union. In December 1947 he became the Executive officer of the 196th IAP, 324th IAD. This unit was among the first in the VVS to equip with the newest Lavochkin La-15. In July 1949 the regiment began to receive the MiG-15 jet fighter.
Read more about this topic: Yevgeny Pepelyaev
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