V-VS a/c w/honorary names/titles

[Arvo L. V.]

Esteemed forum colleagues;

During the course of the Second World War, the V-VS awarded numerous honorary titles and names to its aviation units. For example, the following V-VS aviation formations carried honorary names, reflecting a connection with cities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania:

Named in honor of the city of Tallinn, Estonia:

159. Tallinskii (IAP)
404. Tallinskii (IAP)
703. Tallinskii (SAP)
999. Tallinskii (SAP)
12. Tallinskii (PBAP)
15. Tallinskii (RAP)
35. Tallinskii (SAP)
51. Tallinskii (MTAP)

Named in the honor of Riga, Latvia:

161. Rizhskii (IAP)
845. Rizhskii (IAP)
108. Rizhskii (BAP)
109. Rizhskii (BAP)
338. Rizhskii (BAP)
362. Rizhskii (BAP)
701. Rizhskii (night bomber AP)
955. Rizhskii (SAP)
958. Rizhskii (SAP)
16. Rizhskii (GAP)
16. Rizhskii (GBAP)

Named in the honor of Klaipeda (Memel), Lithuania:

1. Klaipedskii (MTAP)

I am trying to locate photographs, as well as some operational history/background, of some of aircraft that may have served in these, and other "Baltic named" V-VS aviation formations. One of my goals is to be able to generate some color art work of these airplanes - if they carried the honorary titles on their fuselages - like for example, the Douglas A-20 "Bostons" of the 51. "Tallinskii AP" - after September of 1944.

Thank you kindly in advance for any assistance efforts, which can be rendered on my behalf.

Regards;

Arvo L. V.

[kurlannaiskos]

[Arvo L. V.]

Esteemed kurlannaiskos;

Thank you very much for your wonderful and higly detailed photographs. I am most appreciative of same.

Do you by chance have any reference materials on some of the other V-VS units on my list?

On a similar note, do you by chance have a full photograph or know the USAAF number of the A-20 with the three badges - your bottom-most photograph?

Again, many thanks.

Regards;

Arvo L. V.

[kurlannaiskos]

this close-up should answer your questions.
(another photo from the collection of the aircraft's navigator)


[img]http://www.bellabs.ru/51/Photos/Orlenko-171.jpg[/img]

[Evgeny Velichko]

Arvo - I can give You some links, but they are all in russian.

Also:
VVS, not V-VS.
ShAP, SAP
NBAP, not "night bomber AP"

Best wishes, Evgeniy.

[Arvo L. V.]

Esteemed kurlannaiskos and Eugen;

Thank you very much for the additional information, links to photographs and clarifications. I am most appreciative of same. I have already spotted a number of items on your photographs that I need to correct on my color art work. I would be most thankful for your list of aviation sites, Eugen, even if the sites are in the Russian language.

Again, many thanks.

Regards.

Arvo L. V.

[kurlannaiskos]

Evgeniy,
I would also be interested in these links.
it might be possible to use an on-line translator to start with.
Altavista offers one called Babelfish (a reference to Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy)
Prompt is available at online-translator.com
Google also has a translator that works from Russian to English
(can't remember exact URL's right now--saved in favorites)

Avro,
just in case you did not already know these aircraft were painted in the factory in ANA 613 Olive Drab , ANA 603 Neutral/Sea Gray and ANA 612 Medium Green blotches at the leading and trailing edges of the wings, fin and tailplanes.
to date I am still not sure what color the Soviets used to repaint the noses after the conversion work was done.
it might be A21M Brown, A32M Dark Grey or AMT-6 Black.

[Gunner 1]

"Rizhskie gvardeiskie" published by Izd. "Liesma" at Riga in 1972 has a chapter on the 315-ia Istrebitel'naia Aviatsionnaia Rizhskaia Diviziia that was composed of the 171st IAP and 431st IAP. Gunner 1

[Evgeny Velichko]

Strukture of VVS.
http://www.allaces.ru/cgi-bin/s2.cgi...truct/main.dat

Fighter regiments of VVS:
http://avia-hobby.ru/publ/soviaps/soviaps.html

Fighter aces:
http://avia-hobby.ru/publ/sovaces/sovaces_4145.html

Regards,
Evgeniy.