Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

80 years ago today: Hero fighter pilot saves Sofia

Dimitar Spisarevski crashed his own plane into an American bomber during the Second World War.

The gravestone of the World War II hero Dimitar Spisarevski.
Photo: Wikipedia

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the day when fighter pilot Dimitar Spisarevski saved the city of Sofia during the Second World War. He died defending the capital from American bombing. On 20 December 1943, during a night-time bombing raid, the 27-year-old pilot shot down two American bombers, but when he ran out of ammunition to shoot down the second plane, he used his own plane as a battering ram, losing his own life. 
He has since been dubbed "the human torpedo" and his actions are studied in many air combat textbooks, BTA recalls. Although there were 36 Bulgarian aircraft in the bombing raid and the enemy had about 200, the Bulgarian squadron entered the air battle, shot down three bombers and seven enemy fighters and managed to delay the air attack on Sofia. Officers Dimitar Spisarevski and Georgi Kyumurdzhiev were killed in action. Spisarevski was posthumously awarded the Order of Valour and promoted to the rank of Colonel.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Forgery of historical and cultural artefacts "contaminates" science

There are rumours and speculations that some forgeries, so good that they are not inferior to the originals, could be found among the exhibits in the museums, but at the moment a whole series of forgeries can be seen at an exhibition..

published on 10/18/24 10:57 AM

A fully preserved statue from the 2nd-3rd century was discovered in Odessos

A unique statue from the Roman period of Odessos, preliminarily dated to the late 2nd to the first half of the 3rd century, has been discovered during excavation works near the train station in Varna, said archaeologists from the Varna Regional..

published on 10/15/24 6:10 PM
Engineer Katya Stoyanova, head of the

The municipality of Petrich awarded for the promotion of Heraclea Sintica

Petrich municipality has received an award for original promotion of the tourist destination Heraclea Sintica , Katya Stoyanova, head of the "Restoration, conservation and socialization of Heraclea Sintica" project, said this for BTA.  The award..

published on 10/15/24 2:23 PM