Why Stalin opened a secret flying school for Luftwaffe pilots in Lipetsk

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

After the signing of the Versailles Treaty in June 1919, Germany lost the opportunity to have a regular army, including developing aviation and training professional personnel. In search of a way out, the German leadership turned to the authorities of Soviet Russia, proposing to create military centers on the territory of the country for training German officers. The resolution of the issue dragged on for five years, and finally, in the spring of 1925, a secret training and testing center for training foreign pilots was opened in provincial Lipetsk.

What attracted the creation of an aviation center in Lipetsk by the Soviet and German military leaders

The young, but already quite influential Soviet state in the world, agreed to cooperate with Germany, having its own interests. If the Germans wanted to find a foothold in order to improve flight training and flight technology, then the Bolsheviks planned to adopt the experience of military piloting and receive information about new Western aircraft models. Moreover, the USSR received such a right as the owner free of charge, along with funding and material support necessary for the construction of the infrastructure of the aviation center.

The military departments of both countries signed an agreement on the construction of the Lipetsk flight school in Moscow in mid-April 1925. The formal agreement provided for the training of German instructors for both German and Soviet officers. After the construction of the center, the German side had to pay for fuel costs, maintenance and additional construction work. For the use of the facilities of the center and the airfield, payment was not provided for from them.

The head of the aviation school was the German Walter Stahr, a major who commanded a fighter squadron on the German-French front during the First World War.

What did German and Soviet cadets study in Lipetsk

Initially, the pilots were engaged in training flights, but over time, the training program became more complicated: there appeared machine-gun shooting exercises at targets, which were towed by the aircraft itself; began night flights and training air battles with the participation of fighters.

Also, bombing and aerial shooting classes were held at a specially designated training ground for the Germans. In both cases, wooden models and multipurpose targets were used. New versions of sights and types of explosive devices were also tested here: so in 1932, incendiary bombs were tested, which were dropped on a specific target - a decommissioned barge located far from the pier. There was no doubt that in Germany, controlled by France and Great Britain, no one would have allowed such experiments with ammunition and new flight equipment to be tested.

What tests were carried out at the Lipetsk Aviation School

In addition to air training and developing the practice of handling new ammunition, the aircraft center tested aircraft that were illegally created in Germany on behalf of the Reichswehr Ministry. Since this direction became a priority five years later, in 1930 the aviation school was renamed into a test station.

From 1928 to 1931In Lipetsk, almost 20 types of German aerial vehicles were tested, which flew in from Germany under the guise of transport aircraft. Already in the workshops of the center, they were turned into combat vehicles, equipped with sights, the necessary small arms and bomb racks.

In 1931, German Heinkel fighters of the HD-38, HD-45, HD-46 modifications were tested at the experimental station; light multipurpose "Junkers" A 20/35, A48; single-seat fighter-biplanes of mixed design "Arado" A-64; four-engine heavy bombers "Dornier" Do-P. A year later, the Dornier Do11a twin-engine medium bomber and the Heinkel HD59 seaplane with the functions of a bomber and torpedo bomber entered the Lipetsk center for testing. Although some of the models remained among the experimental samples, many aircraft, having successfully passed tests on Soviet territory, later replenished the arsenal of German aviation technology.

Simultaneously with the aircraft tests, various aerial bombs, bomber sights, airborne radio equipment, photographic equipment for aerial photography, and navigation systems were tested.

Groups of Soviet specialists were sent specially from Moscow to Lipetsk for a detailed acquaintance with the new German technology. So, in 1931, an air group of eight people, led by commander A. Thomson, visited the station. According to the recollections of the latter, the Germans were not always willing to share their secrets, finding reasons to avoid talking about the details of the device of interest. Sometimes they referred to the plant's patent, sometimes they said that this equipment had already been acquired by Russia, and they kindly offered to get acquainted with the drawings and diagrams, after receiving the documents for it in an official way.

How many Luftwaffe pilots were trained at the Lipetsk Aviation Center

Over the years of its existence, the Lipetsk aviation center has trained and retrained 120 people. Of these, 30 were experienced fighter pilots who fought in the First World War; 20 are former civilian pilots. It should be borne in mind that due to a violation of flight safety, about 10 German pilots died in eight years.

In addition, for 1927-1930. the school released almost a hundred pilots - air reconnaissance specialists to adjust ground fire and fix the location of the enemy. Since 1931, such observer pilots have been trained directly in Germany.

Aviation specialists of the USSR underwent training together with the Germans. The total number of domestic graduates of the center is not known for certain, but according to the calculations of historians, both Germans and Russian pilots were approximately equal. True, the flights of Soviet pilots were limited to 8, 5 hours - the Germans trained them based on the flying abilities of the pilots. At the same time, classes with their compatriots were carried out according to the standard program, according to which all German aviators received the same, and much more, number of flight hours.

Later, yesterday's comrades turned into mortal enemies. Aces of the Luftwaffe fought everywhere, especially often their attacks were on the Volkhov front. During Operation "Iskra": how the blockade of Leningrad was broken.