Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov

Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov (in Russian: Иван Васильевич Смирнов) (January 30, 1895 - October 28,1956) was a famous Russian pilot of the 1st Combat Air Group in the Imperial Russian Army.

Early life and World War I accomplishments

He was born to a peasant family on a tiny village near Vladimir. In the outbreak of the World War I Smirnov enrolled as a volunteer. He was enlisted in the 96th Omsk infantry regiment which fought on Russian Northern Front (WWI). Ivan Smirnov was awarded the Cross of St. George of the 4th degree. He was seriously wounded on December 8, 1914 by a gunmachine fire and was sent to Petrograd (St. Petersburg) where he saw taking off planes. Smirnov decided to enter into Aviation Corps. In the beginning of 1915 he was sent to a pilot school in Petrograd, then in Moscow. After a year-and-half course Smirnov was ordered to the 19th Corps Air Fighter Detachment whose commander was, a distinguish pilot, Aleksandr Kazakov. His first plane was Nieuport 10 and scored for the first time on December 20, 1916 and was promoted to Praporshchik. Smirnov got Morane-Saulnier and hit 5 more planes on it. In March 1917 the 1st Combat Air Group was moved to Galicia where Smirnov scored 6 victories and was awarded the Crosses of St. George (3rd and 2nd degrees). Finally on October 31, 1917 Smirnov got the Order of St. George (4th degree) for his 7th plane. In November Smirnov took his last two planes as a Russian Imperial pilot. He celebrated over 20 victories during the WWI and Smirnov was never hit. On December 14, 1917 he left his unit because of threat of lynching all officers. He finally managed to reach England, where he was serving as a flight instructor for British officers.

Postwar Activity

After World War I he served a little in the White Army of general Denikin, Wrangel and Kolchak and after its defeat he went back to the United Kingdom. Smirnov worked for airline companies such as SNETA in Belgium and KLM in The Netherlands during the 1920s and 1930s. Ivan Smirnov was soon naturalised as a Dutch citizen.

In 1933 he and his crew went worldfamous when they made their record breaking flight from Amsterdam to Batavia (Jakarta) on Java (Indonesia - formerly the Dutch East Indies) in 4 days each way. The journey took place from 18 December to 22 December and from 26 December to 30 December. In 1934 he and the crew was conferred upon the dignity of Chevalier (Knight) of Honour of Orange Nassau. He could then call himself Sir Ivan.

In the South West Pacific during World War II

During World War II Smirnov worked as a pilot for KLM in the Dutch East Indies. In January 1942 he was mobilized as a captain in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. On Java he participated in many hazardous flights, and he also flew passengers and materiel between Java and Australia. On 3 March 1942, a Douglas DC-3 Dakota, PK-AFV or "Pelikaan", piloted by Smirnov, left Bandung, Java for Broome, Australia, with a plane load of evacuees and a box of diamonds worth approximately £150,000-300,000 (now an approximate A$20-40 million). (The flight took off three days before the Japanese took the Bandung area.) They were attacked by three Japanese Zeroes about 80 km north of Broome. Captain Smirnov was wounded several times in his arms and hip. Smirnov managed to put the Dakota into a steep spiral dive with the Zeros in pursuit and made a forced landing on the beach. Four passengers were killed. The box of diamonds went missing after the crash and relatively few were recovered. Three local men were tried, but not convicted, of their theft.

After the crash landing Smirnov now worked as a captain in the US 317th Troop Carrier Group, responsible of flying supplies from Brisbane in Australia to Port Moresby on New Guinea. Late 1943 he arrived in USA and was introduced to the new Douglas DC-4 and the Lockheed Constellation. Autumn 1944 he went back to Europe and flew on the Bristol-Lisbon-Gibraltar line to the end of war.

After the War

Back in The Netherlands Smirnov took up old activities and began to fly on his beloved Java route again. But in 1948 Smirnov got an offer he could not resist. He was asked to pilot a World Tour. The American Atlas Supply Company, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, was planning a 100-day round-the-world flight on which heads of important American firms would act as their own commercial travellers. The plane in which they flew would be a travelling stockroom, loaded with colour films, scale models, give-away samples and litterature in many languages. The Sky Merchant, a Douglas DC4, was to travel a route of 80.000 kilometres, crossing the equator six times, visiting all five continents, twenty-eight countries and forty-five principal cities. Smirnov was delighted.

In 1950 he retired from KLM and moved to Cala d'Or on the Balearic Island of Majorca. He died in 1956 and was buried in Palma de Majorca. Three years later he was re-buried in Heemstede near Amsterdam.

Smirnov's orders

* Croix de Guerre
* Crosses of St. George (4th, 3rd, 2nd degrees)
* White Eagle of Siberia
* Order of St. Anna
* Order of St. George (4th degree)
* Order of St. Stanislaus

He died on Majorca, Spain in 1956.

External links

* [http://airaces.narod.ru/ww1/smirnov.htm Full biography in Russian]
* [http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/smirnoff.htm Smirnov's actions in the WWII in English]
* [http://home1.stofanet.dk/smirnoff The Ivan Smirnov Page]