Grigoriy Suk

Praporshik Grigoriy Suk (also known as Grigory Suk in English, Russian: Григорий Эдуардович Сук) was a flying ace for the Imperial Russian Air Service during World War I.

Grigoriy Suk, alias Grigory Suk
Born12 December 1896
Rassudovo, Moscow Governorate
Died28 November 1917
Near Radautz, Bukovina
AllegianceRussian Empire
Service/branchImperial Russian Air Force
RankPraporshik
Unit26th Corps Aviation Detachment; 9th Fighter Aviation Detachment
AwardsOrder of Saint George Fourth Class,
Cross of Saint George, First, Second, Third, and Fourth Classes;
Romanian Order of the Crown
RelationsVyacheslav Suk

Early life and service

Born the Rassudovo Estate near Moscow on 12 December 1896, Grigoriy Suk was of Czech and Russian heritage. His Russian mother, Ljubov Osipovna Sorokina, was the daughter of a well-known physician, as well as an alumnus of the Women's College of Mariinskoe. His Czech father, scientist Eduard Ivanovich Suk, was notable enough to be a hereditary honorary citizen of Moscow.[1] His siblings were brothers Boris and Alexei.[2] His uncle, Vyacheslav Suk, conducted the orchestra at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.[3] Grigoriy Suk was raised in the Russian Orthodox faith.[4]

Young Suk was educated at the Moscow Classical School, and passed on to the Moscow Imperial Practical Academy to study architecture.[1]

The outbreak of World War I changed Suk's direction, as he enlisted in the Cuirassiers on 5 August 1914. He subsequently requested a transfer to aviation service, and was forwarded to the Gatchina Flying School on 5 June 1915. In July 1915 he began his aviation training with a class on aircraft engines.[1]

World War I

Grigoriy Suk made his first training flights in August 1915. After training, he qualified as a military pilot on 25 January 1916.[1] On 27 January, Eduard Ivanovich Suk died abruptly; his son was granted a short leave to attend the funeral.[2]

Suk was posted to the 26th Corps Aviation Detachment of the Imperial Russian Air Force on 11 March 1916 to fly Voisin Ls or Voisin LAs, although he did not arrive at the front until 28 March 1916.[4] Despite being assigned to reconnaissance duties, he clashed with the enemy in the air. As his award commendation for the Cross of Saint George Third Class stated, he drove down an enemy aircraft with machine gun fire from 50 meters distance on 1 June 1916 for his first victory. His Fourth Class award of the Cross also mentioned combat with an Albatros. In fact, Suk won all four classes of the Cross while with the 26th Corps Aviation Detachment. He was also promoted to Starshy Unter-Officer (Senior Unter-officer).[1]

His diligence caused him to be sent for fighter training in Moscow on 4 July 1916.[1] Upon graduation,[4] he was posted to the Kingdom of Romania to join the 9th Fighter Aviation Detachment. He flew 19 combat sorties there during September and October 1916. He began reconnaissance patrols with Nieuport 10 serial number N714, and moved up to flying Nieuport 11 s/n N1109. On 27 October 1916, Imperial Order 1676 appointed Suk to the rank of Praporschik.[1]

On 3 February 1917, Suk and Vladimir Strzhizhevsky staked a combat claim that went unconfirmed. On the 9th, a jamming gun aborted his attack on an enemy plane. On 12 February 1917, the engine of Suk's Nieuport failed at the end of a prolonged reconnaissance flight. His subsequent inept deadstick landing at Bakey Airfield overturned and damaged the machine. Suk was then assigned Morane-Saulnier I s/n MS742.[4] As the weather cleared in the Spring of 1917, the tempo of combat accelerated. Suk scored his second victory on 26 March 1917;[1] his third on 17 April 1917. He then entered a dry spell marked by unfruitful attacks that did blunt enemy reconnaissance efforts. He resumed his victories in early September, and he would string them out until 10 November.[1]

On 28 November 1917, he was killed in a landing accident as he returned from a flight.[3] As he turned to land, his machine spun in, and he died upon impact. Three days later, Suk's award of the Order of Saint George Fourth Class arrived.[1]

List of aerial victories

Although aviation historians cite Suk as credited with either eight or nine aerial victories, they posit slightly differing lists. The below is a compilation from available sources. Confirmed victories are numbered; unconfirmed victories are denoted "u/c".

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I, List of World War I flying aces from the Russian Empire

No. Date/time Aircraft Foe Result Location Notes
1 1 June 1916 Voisin serial number V979 Albatros Glided to deadstick landing behind own lines Shchukino, modern Southwestern Ukraine Bode was his observer
u/c 3 February 1917 Nieuport 11 s/n 1109 Enemy two-seater Crashlanded Ousy River Valley, present day Romania
2 26 March 1917 Morane-Saulnier I s/n MS742 Hansa-Brandenburg C.I s/n 67.24 Driven down out of sight Kezdy-Vozargal[1] Victim from Austro-Hungarian Fliegerkompanie 40
3 17 April 1917 Morane-Saulnier I s/n MS742 Reconnaissance two-seater Vicinity of Rakosa Victory shared with Vladimir Strizhesky
4 8 August 1917 Nieuport 21 s/n N1719 Oefflag C.II s/n 52.63 Pilot killed; observer landed craft in Romanian lines and was captured Vicinity of Ocna Victim from Austro-Hungarian Fliegerkompanie 44
5 4 September 1917 Vickers F.B.19 s/n 12 Reconnaissance two-seater Crashed Suceava River Valley Victory shared with Ivan Loiko; victim from Fliegerkompanie 44
u/c 8 September 1917 Vickers F.B.19 s/n 12 Reconnaissance two-seater Seret Claim shared with Ivan Loiko and another pilot
6 12 September 1917 @ 1800 hours Vickers F.B.19 s/n 12 Reconnaissance two-seater Trailed smoke all the way into a forced landing Vicinity of Radautz Victim from Fliegerkompanie 44
7 14 October 1917 Spad VII s/n 1440 Albatros D.III s/n 53.20 Destroyed; pilot killed Near Gura Solcai, southeast of Radautz[3][1][5]
8 4 November 1917 Spad VII s/n 1446 Fighter Gura Solcai Pilot killed in action[3]
9 8 November 1917 Spad VII s/n 1446 Enemy aircraft Spun down smoking into a crashlanding North of Radautz
10 10 November 1917 Spad VII s/n 1440 Hansa-Brandenburg C.I s/n 269.49 Wounded pilot landed damaged plane in friendly territory Vicinity of Radautz Victim from Fliegerkompanie 49[3][1][5]

References
  • Allen Durkota. The Imperial Russian Air Service: Famous Pilots and Aircraft and World War I. Flying Machines Press, 1995. ISBN 0963711024, 9780963711021.
  • Norman Franks. Nieuport Aces of World War I. Osprey Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1-85532-961-1, ISBN 978-1-85532-961-4.
  • Norman Franks; Russell Guest; Gregory Alegi. Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918: Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI. Grub Street, 1997. ISBN 1-898697-56-6, ISBN 978-1-898697-56-5.
  • Victor Kulikov. Russian Aces of World War 1: Aircraft of the Aces. Osprey Publishing, 2013. ISBN 1780960611, 9781780960616.

Endnotes
  1. Kulikov 2013, pp. 75-79.
  2. Russian language website translated via Microsoft http://persones.ru/biography-19408.html Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  3. Franks et al 1997, p. 215.
  4. Durkota et al 1995, pp. 127-130.
  5. Durkota 1995, p. 479.
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