Russian Pilots From The Baltic States

[brewdog]

Originally Posted by agblume

Jeroen, Thanks for details of these airmen. All names were familiar to me, but the fates of some were not.

Brewdog, please be aware that the "Imperial" period ended on 15 March 1917 (n.s) when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated. The Military Air Fleet was never known as "Imperial." Perhaps you refer to the Imperial All-Russian Aero Club, which was forced to change its designation on the abdication of the Tsar. All Romanov's were removed from positions of authority, including the commander of the Air Fleet, Grand Duke Aleksandr Mikhailovich.

Airmen of various ethnicities, including Finland, Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania served as Russian subjects in the Military Air Fleet. During the summer of 1917 the Provisional government allowed the transfer of airmen into units, two entirely Polish and one entirely Ukrainian. During the course of the war 1914-1917 there were Siberian, Caucasian and Turkestan aviation units, all of which were composed of airmen from those regions.

Most airmen were Orthodox, some Catholic, some Lutheran. some Muslim, and I have found at least one Jewish pilot. Perhaps there were others.

I hope this puts questions in some broader perspective. Best regards, agblume

I meant Military Air Fleet. Sorry, my stooge.

A big thanks to you and Jeroen!