“My self-sacrifice is nothing compared to the duty to the Motherland” – 80 years since the heroic death of Ivan Somlev.
Ivan Minchev Somlev was born on February 1. 1922 in Gabrovo. He finished secondary education at the April High School. Here he shows himself as an excellent athlete and a talented football player, where he is also included in the team of Sports Club “Chardafon”. He continued his education at the Air Force School in Kazanlak, and later at the school (today the Higher Air Force School “Georgi Benkovski”) in Dolna Mitropolia. Training follows at Telish Airport near Pleven. The 6th fighter regiment, stationed at Karlovo Airport, was enrolled.
His battle baptism is on 10 Jan. 1944. This is the day of one of the most destructive bombings over Sofia, carried out by the Anglo-American air force. In it, the British attack at night, and the American planes during the day.
The bombing took place at 13:00 when the bombers, the so-called “Flying Fortresses”, attacked. A total of 73 planes took off against them from Bozhurishte, Vrazhdebna and Marno Pole near Karlovo. Together with three other fighter pilots, in a foursome, Ivan Somlev was sent to support the 39 Bulgarian fighter pilots who were fighting an unequal battle with the numerous enemy over Sofia. In combat, Somlev showed exceptional qualities and as a reward was transferred to the elite 3/6 Orlyak. During his service he wrote the following lines to his mother “..’If ever my steel comrade betrays me, you will not cry, mother, but you will be proud to have given a son for the Motherland!'” and to his sister “..”I am ready for my people to give everything that depends on me for a peaceful world. My sacrifice is nothing in front of Duty to the Motherland! …..”
On April 16, 1944 – Easter, the enemy subjected Sofia to another merciless bombardment. The event remains in history under the name “Black Easter”. Fighter pilots are on alert. Ivan Somlev is on leave, but he considers that for him it is “a sacred duty to be with the whole flock”. He gets on Todor Rozev’s plane and takes off. He met the enemy near the village of Gushantsi (today the village of Zamfirovo, Berkovitsa municipality), where he encountered an armada of the so-called “flying fortresses” of the American bomber regiments and their escort of Lightning fighters. The fight was brutal and uneven. Caught in a fight to the death, Ivan Somlev several times managed to rise above the enemy planes and attack them – he brought down a “fortress” that fell near the village of Gagantsi. His plane was struck and headed headlong towards the ground, where it crashed in the Tarniovets area. Ivan Somlev died at only 22 years old.
The hero was sent on his last journey by all the inhabitants of the village of Gushantsi. On April 20, 1944, he was buried in his native Gabrovo with a mourning procession attended by thousands.
His words “My self-sacrifice is nothing compared to the duty to the Motherland” are an eloquent expression of high moral virtues and patriotism. His name is included in the list of our national heroes, and every year at the solemn dawn-check on March 3, his name is mentioned along with the names of the most deserving for the Motherland.
In 2004, the Youth Council of the “Konstantin Berberov” Foundation, together with the “Bogdan Iliev” Pilots’ Club – Montana and other non-governmental organizations, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his death on April 16, placed a memorial moraine with a bas-relief of Ivan Somlev in the kindergarten in the center of Gabrovo, on “Radecka” street. In the same year, at the lob site of Ivan Somlev near the village of Zamfirovo (Gushantsi), the “Bogdan Iliev” Pilots’ Club – Montana placed a commemorative marble plaque, fulfilling the will of their patron Bogdan Iliev, who was Somlev’s instructor and commander during his training at the Fighter School in Lower Metropolis.
Information about his short and heroic life is preserved in the biographical books about him “Ivan Minchev Somlev” and “Requiem for the Golden-Haired Heavenly Knight” by Milka Berberova.
The documents from the personal archive of the “golden-haired heavenly knight”, as Mrs. Berberova (1925-2014) calls him, were handed over by his nephew Ivan to the members of the Youth Council of the Konstantin Berberov Foundation, who later handed them over together with the documents of the Foundation in the State Archives – Gabrovo. They have been processed and are available to readers and researchers.
Source: State Archives – Gabrovo.
