Shot, Trapped, and Falling: The Impossible Survival of WWII's 'Sky Rammer'

In the brutal calculus of World War II's Eastern Front, desperation often bred a unique and terrifying form of courage. Few stories exemplify this better than that of Soviet fighter pilot Boris Kovzan, a man who turned his entire aircraft into a weapon not once, but four separate times. His final, most incredible act of aerial ramming cemented his legacy as a near-mythical figure of survival and sheer will.

The 'Taran': A Weapon of Last Resort

To understand Boris Kovzan, one must first understand the tactic that made him famous: the 'taran,' Russian for 'battering ram.' Far from a simple suicide maneuver, the taran was a calculated, last-ditch attack. When a pilot was out of ammunition but needed to down a high-value enemy, like a bomber, they would use their own aircraft to strike the enemy's wing or tail control surfaces. The goal was to disable the target and, with immense skill and luck, pilot their own damaged plane back to safety or bail out. It was an act of extreme risk, but for the Soviet Air Forces, it was a necessary and honored gambit against the invading Luftwaffe.

A Pattern of Collision

Kovzan didn't just perform a taran once; it became his signature. His first occurred on October 29, 1941. Flying a Polikarpov I-153 biplane, he exhausted his ammunition against a German Messerschmitt Bf 110. Undeterred, he rammed the enemy plane and still managed to land his own aircraft safely. His second and third rams followed a similar pattern of desperate resolve: in February 1942, he rammed a Ju 88 bomber, and in July 1942, a Bf 109 fighter. After the third, he was forced to bail out but returned to his unit unharmed. Three successful rammings already placed him in elite company, but his fourth would defy belief.

The Fourth and Final Ram: A Miracle at 20,000 Feet

On August 13, 1942, the story of Boris Kovzan transcends history and enters the realm of legend. While returning from a mission in his new La-5 fighter, he engaged a squadron of German bombers and their fighter escorts. During the dogfight, an enemy cannon shell ripped through his cockpit, striking him in the head and grievously wounding his right eye. Blinded and bleeding, he discovered his canopy was jammed shut, trapping him in a burning, plummeting aircraft. For most, this would have been the end.

For Kovzan, it was an opportunity. Pointing his crippled plane at a Junkers Ju 88 bomber, he initiated a head-on taran. The resulting explosion was catastrophic. The force of the impact did what he could not—it ripped his plane apart, throwing his unconscious body from the wreckage into the open air. He fell for thousands of feet. Then, the impossible happened. Waking from his daze at just 650 feet from the ground, Kovzan instinctively pulled his parachute cord. He landed in a swamp, severely injured but alive, where he was soon rescued by Soviet partisans.

A Legacy Forged in Steel and Courage

Boris Kovzan spent the next 10 months in a hospital. He lost his right eye but not his spirit. Though his combat career was over, he returned to the Soviet Air Forces as an instructor, training the next generation of pilots. By the end of the war, he was credited with 28 aerial victories, including his four infamous ramming kills. For his incredible bravery and survival, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. His story remains one of the most astonishing accounts of individual valor in the history of aerial warfare, a testament to a pilot who refused to die, even when trapped, wounded, and falling from the sky.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Boris Kovzan
• Warfare History Network: Taran: The Art of the Ram
• Weapons and Warfare: The Taran: A Desperate Weapon of the VVS