At the end of February, at the central gate of Perm Engines Research & Production Complex Management (part of the Rostec United Engine Corporation) there was the opening ceremony of the memorial plaque dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot Anvar Anvarovich Gataullin (1923-1994).
“Engine builders have always been strong with glorious traditions. One of them is the preservation of historical memory about our fellow countrymen – heroes of the country. Their fates serve as a support in life and moral development for many generations of engine builders,” Tatiana Snitko, ad interim HR Director at UEC-Perm Engines, addressed the participants of the opening ceremony.
Anvar Gataullin was born on February 23, 1923 in Perm, in a working-class family. After graduating from School of Pilots in 1943 he served in the air reconnaissance at the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. On October 10, 1944 in Latvia Gataullin's plane was shot down by antiaircraft artillery fire. Native of Perm directed his plane to the positions of enemy artillery batteries. He was declared dead and posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1945. However, the courageous pilot survived the crash of the plane, was later discovered by German patrol and taken prisoner, from where he managed to escape. Despite his lack of documents, he was accepted into an infantry regiment. As a common infantryman he reached Germany. After the war, Anvar Anvarovich lived in Perm, worked as a dispatcher in the test shop at the Engine Plant named after Ya. M. Sverdlov (now UEC-Perm Engines).
Rashid Dzunza, the Chairman of the Perm city public organization “Veterans of Perm Engines” emphasized that the opening of the memorial plaque is an important stage of the project for preserving the historical memory of the military and labor feats of the engine builders, which has been carried out by the veterans for many years. The memorial “To Engine Builders Who Died During the Great Patriotic War” has already been reconstructed in the park on the street. Chkalov was named after M.I. Subbotin, the monument "MiG on Takeoff" was opened, the stop "ZhBK-1" was renamed to "Yungorodok".
Anas Gataullin, son of the hero, took part in the ceremony. He noted that his father’s life was and remains an example of service to his country both at home and at the front. Igor Davletshin, the former military pilot of “Normandy-Neman” air fighter regiment and the acting first deputy head of Sverdlovsky district of Perm, thanked the engine builders for their contribution to the education of youth and wished everyone peaceful skies, for which Anvar Gataullin fought.
