Portrait of senior sergeant, aircraft mechanic of the Red Army Air Force Leonid Sanin during the Second World War of the Soviet Union.
With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War at the age of 19, Leonid Sanin was enlisted as an aircraft mechanic in the 17th company of the 6th reserve fighter aviation regiment.
In the city of Volsk near Saratov, he and his comrades were preparing aircraft for the front.
Later, as an aircraft mechanic, Leonid Sanin participated in the deployment of the French fighter aviation regiment, later known as the Normandy. He served with the French from the first day of their appearance in the USSR – during his time the first batch of French pilots was met, in the city of Tula they were trained and sent to the front.
Since the beginning of 1945, L. Sanin served directly in the Normandie-Niemen – senior aircraft mechanic of the third fighter aviation regiment “Paris” of the First French air division in the USSR “Normandie-Niemen”.
Photo courtesy of Gennady Sanin.