CONR Air Force

The Wehrmacht Air Force Command supported the idea of ​​creating volunteer units from prisoners of war for use in their structure. In the spring of 1942, a company of airfield services was created at a military airfield in Zadniprovye (Smolensk). The company number reached 200 people who were volunteers from among Soviet prisoners of war. The company included aviation specialists, such as aircraft mechanics, minders, and other ground service specialists. The pilots were not included in the company ^[3] . The number of employees in such formations increased. As a result, by the end of 1944, 22.5 thousand Russian volunteers served in the Luftwaffe, and 120 thousand prisoners of war in units serving air defense facilities ^[4] . Together , the Hitler Youth , SS and the Luftwaffe in the occupied territories recruited a young population (aged 15 to 20 years) to the ranks of the "Luftwaffe and Air Defense Assistants" (from December 4, 1944, "SS Inmates"), the number of which reached 14 thousand person ^[5] . The first attempt to create a volunteer aviation unit dates back to August 1942. During the formation of the RNNA (Russian National People’s Army), the question was raised of organizing an air link from captured Soviet pilots under the command of Major Filatov ^[4] . An air link was created, but did not receive aircraft, since its existence was not agreed upon with the German command. They only returned to the idea of ​​creating a Russian volunteer air unit in the autumn of 1943.

Lieutenant Colonel Luftwaffe G. Holters, head of the Vostok intelligence processing unit at the Luftwaffe command headquarters, made a notable contribution to the construction of volunteer air forces. Holters, as a result of analysis of the testimony of Soviet pilots, proposed the creation of a Russian aviation unit ^[6] . His associate was the former Colonel of the Red Army Air Force V. I. Maltsev who voluntarily sided with Germany. A special camp in Suwalki (Poland) was created to receive volunteer pilots. People underwent a medical examination, psychological tests. This qualifying camp replenished the staff of the Holters Air Group, which was located at Moritzfeld near Eastenburg. Pilots retrained in German cars. Some took part in the distillation of aircraft from factory sites to airfields of the Eastern Front. Soon, the air group took part in air battles on the Eastern Front ^{[6] [7]} .

On December 19, 1944, Reichsmarshal German Goering signed an order to create the Air Force of the ROA , which on February 4, 1945 came under the direct subordination of General Andrei Vlasov . Colonel (since February 2, 1945 - Major General) V. I. Maltsev was appointed commander of the Air Force ^[8] . By April, Marienbad managed to form the 1st Aviation Regiment (commander - Colonel L. I. Baidak ) as part of the 5th Fighter (16 Bf.109 aircraft), 8th Bomber (12 Ju 87 ) and 5th Training training (2 - Bf.109 , 1 - Ju 87 , 2 - Fi 156 , 2 - U-2 , 1 - He.111 and 1 - Do l7 ) squadrons. In the formation stage were another squadron of bombers, reconnaissance and transport squadrons. The Air Force ROA also formed an anti-aircraft artillery regiment, a paratrooper battalion and a communications company. Due to the worsening martial law and the lack of conditions for special training of ground units, it was decided to prepare them for use as infantry, as well as create conditions for combining these units and airfield service units, numbering a total of up to 5 thousand people, in combat formation in the form of a brigade or division. Attempts were made to create their own identification marks , but the OKL abandoned this idea, since the official marking of aircraft required international registration for which there was no time. But consent was given to combine the German emblem with the Andreev cross, on the model of the marking of the aircraft of the Italian Air Force. ^[9] .

At the end of the war, Maltsev decided to move to the American zone . The surrender of weapons on April 27, 1945 in Langdorf , between Zwiesel and Regen , was organized, in perfect order. The Americans immediately separated the officers from the rank and file and divided the prisoners of war into three categories (so that military organizational forms immediately fell apart). The first group included officers of the air regiment and part of the officers of the paratrooper and anti-aircraft regiments. This group, consisting of 200 people, after temporary internment in the French city of Cherbourg, was transferred to the Soviet authorities in September 1945. Among them were the commander of the fighter squadron Major S. T. Bychkov (who received the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union during his service in the Red Army ) and the chief of the flight school staff, the commander of the transport squadron, major M. Tarnovsky ^[10] (the latter, being an old emigrant, was not subject to extradition, but he insisted on sharing the fate of his comrades) ^[10] .

The second group - about 1,600 people - spent some time in a prisoner of war camp near Regensburg . The third group - 3,000 people - had already been transferred from the Kama prisoner of war camp to Nirstein , south of Mainz — before the end of the war — this was obviously caused by the desire of Brigadier General Kenin to save the Russians from forced repatriation. Indeed, for the most part both of these groups escaped extradition, so the fate of the KONR air forces was not as tragic as the fate of the 1st and 2nd ROA divisions .

Air Force KONR

Chief of Staff - Aviation Colonel A. Vanyushin.

Adjutant of the headquarters - Captain N. Bashkov.

The officer for special assignments is aviation major B. Klimovich.

• Operations Department - Head: Major of Air A. Mettl.
• Security Department - Head: Major V. D. Tukholnikov.
• Human Resources Department - Head: Captain Naumenko.
• Propaganda Department - Head: Major A. P. Albov , Editor of the newspaper Our Wings: Ar. Usov, war correspondent: Second Lieutenant Junot.
• Legal Department - Head: Captain Kryzhanovsky.
• The Quarterly Service - Head: Second Lieutenant of the Quarterly Service G. M. Goleevsky.
• Sanitary service 6 chief: lieutenant colonel of the sanitary service Dr. V. A. Levitsky, captain of the sanitary service Dr. Dobasevich, captain of the sanitary service Dr. V. A. Mandrusov, sanitary sergeant major A. Mandrusov.

First Aviation Regiment

• The regiment commander is aviation colonel L. I. Baidak .
• The chief of staff is an aviation major S.K.Shebalin .
• Adjutant - lieutenant of aviation G. Shkolny.
• Fighter squadron named regiment. Kazakova .

The squadron commander is aviation major S. T. Bychkov .

• Assault squadron (later the squadron of night bombers)

The squadron commander is aviation captain B. R. Antilevsky .

• Reconnaissance squadron

Squadron Commander - Aviation Captain S. Artemov

• Transport squadron (under construction)

The squadron commander is aviation major M. Tarnovsky .

• School of Pilots

The head of the school is Aviation Colonel L. I. Baidak; Head of the training unit - Major of Aviation M. Tarnovsky

• Engineering service.
• Aerodrome service.

• Russian volunteers in the Luftwaffe
• CONR structure
• ROA Air Force
• Wings of the ROA Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces // Sergey Chuev “Vlasovites - stepsons of the Third Reich” M. Yauza EKSMO 2006, pp. 374–395