[DaveM2]

Stig

I don't think the being drunk story holds much water. I asked the Russian where he got the info from and he couldn't recall where he read it. I think the only possibility is that this reference came from some captured documents, possible obtained after the Luftwaffe bases were overrun.
Also I and the Russian think the reference to Kandalaksha is only there as the Germans didn't know the names of the lakes and had no other landmark to point to when documenting the vicinity of the pilot pickup. I think they could only reference Kandalaksha as there was nothing else - even if it was a long way off it was the closest recognizable location.

All speculation of course.

Dave