Who's Who - Alexei Kazakov
Alexei Kazakov (1891-1919) is widely
regarded as Russia's top
fighter pilot of the First World War, with 17
confirmed victories.
Kazakov, who was born on 15 January 1891 in the province of Kherton, began the war in the Russian Army, serving with the cavalry, before joining the nascent Russian air force in 1915.
All of Kazakov's confirmed 17 "kills" were achieved on the Eastern Front, where fighting was less intense than on the Western Front, although it is highly possible that he brought down many more aircraft in more rural areas of the front.
His method of bringing down his victims varied, and included simply ramming them (with consequently risky possibilities for his own aircraft). Nevertheless he survived the war and was eventually killed while fighting the Bolsheviks with White forces on 1 August 1919 while aged 28.
Witnesses believed his death - from a crash landing - was the cause of suicide, with Kazakov depressed at the Allies' apparent abandonment of the anti-Bolshevik cause in July 1919.
Battle Police were military policemen deployed behind an attack to intercept stragglers.
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