Mikhail Petrovich Galkin was born in a peasant family on the 22nd of February, 1917, in the city of Plast of the Chelyabinsk region. He graduated from junior high school. He worked as a mechanic at the “Kochkar gold” machine shop. Upon the ticket of the Chelyabinsk regional Komsomol Committee he was sent to a flight school which he successfully completed and became a fighter pilot. For exemplary performance of tasks in the battles with the white Finns (he made 82 flights) he was awarded the order of the Red Star. Since July 1941 he participated in the battles against the German-fascist troops on the southern, south-western and Volkhov fronts. He was a lieutenant and a flight commander of the 4th squadron of the 4th fighter regiment of the 20th mixed air division. At the beginning of the war lieutenant Galkin fought on the southern front. Soviet soldiers fought hard against superior forces. Pilots helped to repel attacks with assault strikes in air battles and made five or six sorties a day. Galkin died on the 21st of July, 1942. According to the memoirs of the aviation technician of the regiment N. Chechel the battle was intense. Six of our patrolling fighters with half-empty tanks were returning to their airfield. They met 26 German planes – 20 bombers and 6 fighters. An unequal battle ensued. Five German planes were destroyed. The others dropped their loads and turned back. In this battle Mikhail Petrovich shot down one bomber but did not return from the battle. He landed his stricken plane in no-man's-land; both legs were broken when he landed in the pines. He died of blood loss. Mikhail Petrovich was buried in memorial cemetery of the village of Bugodosh of the Kirishi district of the Leningrad region. A street in the city of Plast is named after the Hero of the Soviet Union M. P. Galkin, his bust is installed in the central square of the city. Secondary school no. 10 is also named after him. From the description of the feat: “Since the beginning of the Red Army's military operations against the German fascists he has made 58 sorties. Of these 13 sorties were made on the I-153 aircraft, he flew to attack enemy troops and structures. The dropped bombs and machine-gun fire destroyed a large number of German fascists, cars, weapons, ammunition and other military materials. He flew 45 combat missions on an I-16 aircraft with an engine that had run out of life for more than 45 hours. During the fighting he participated in 18 air battles of which more than half of the battles were conducted with a superior number of enemy fighters. In these air battles he shot down two Junkers u-88 bombers, two Messerschmidt Me-109 fighters and one ZL-48 reconnaissance aircraft. In the air battles for our Country he proved to be a brave and courageous warrior. On the 26th of July, 1941, after completing a combat mission, when returning to his airfield, he met two enemy fighters and boldly engaged them in battle. The pilot captain Filonenko came to the aid of lieutenant Galkin, the enemy vultures could not withstand the attacks of our pilots and fled. Lieutenant Galkin, despite the fact that the fuel in the tanks of his plane was running low, rushed to pursue the enemy fighter, caught up with him and attacked again. After several well-aimed machine-gun bursts the enemy plane began to lose speed and fell to the ground. Lieutenant Galkin returned safely to his airfield. After the plane landed, the engine stopped: there was no fuel in the tanks. On the next day, the 27th of July, 1941, lieutenant Galkin performing a combat mission met an enemy reconnaissance plane that was scouting the concentration of our units. Lieutenant Galkin decided to destroy the scout. When the planes approached, the enemy turned away, trying to go to their territory. Lieutenant Galkin began to pursue, caught up with the enemy plane and lit it in the air. The enemy plane and the pilot burned down, the fascist failed to deliver the collected information to his headquarters. For exemplary performance of command assignments at the front against the German fascists and displaying courage and heroism lieutenant Galkin Mikhail Petrovich worthy of high honors, being awarded "Hero of the Soviet Union.” In the report on irretrievable losses, it was reported: “On the 21st of July, 1942, he did not return from a combat mission to cover his troops in the Kirishi district.”