Ostfligerstaffel

[Carl-Fredrik Geust]

In mid-1943 Luftwaffe formed an Ostfliegerstaffel (also named 1st Aviation Escadrille of ROA - Russian Liberation Army) in Ostrow, recruiting voluntary POW-aviators.

The unit was equipped with Ar 66, Go 145 and also some U-2 war booty aircraft, and was primarily intended for night bombing. According to a Russian article three ex-Soviet pilots escaped back to the Soviet side on 3-4 July 1944, each aviator taking a Russian mechanic as passenger in his aircraft. The pilots were Sn.Lt. Vladimir Sergeyevich Moskalets (ex Pe-2 pilot of 80 BAP in Finnish Lapland), Lt. Panteleimon Vladimirovich Chukuaseli and Jn.Lt. Aram Sarkisovich Karapetyan, who all landed sucessfully at a partisan-held airstrip.

On the Soviet side the escaping pilots were condemned at traitors for serving in a Luftwaffe unit. The successful escape was however considered positively, and their time spent in GULAG-camps was limited to some 10 years. In 1959 the three escaped aviators were fully rehabilitated. After the escape of the three Russian aviators, the Ostfliegerstaffel was disbanded.

What is known about the history of the Ostfliegerstaffel and in particular of the incredible escape story from German point of view??