Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov

Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov
Ivan Smirnov after his military service, in his middle years.
Nickname(s)	"Earl of the Goodwins", "The Turk", "Iwan de Verschrikkelijke"
Born	(1895-01-30)January 30, 1895 Near Vladimir, Russian Empire
Died	October 28, 1956(1956-10-28) (aged 61) Majorca
Allegiance	Russian Empire; Netherlands
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Air Service; Royal Air Force; U.S. Army Air Forces
Years of service	1914-1917; 1919; 1942-1945
Rank	Captain
Unit	19th Corps Aviation Detachment
Battles/wars	World War I; World War II
Awards	Cross of St. George (all four classes), Order of St. Anna, 4th and 3rd classes, Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class with swords, Gold Sword for Bravery, Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class with swords, Serbian Order of the White Eagle, French Croix de Guerre, Dutch Airman's Cross Dutch Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Other work	25 years with KLM; service in World War II

Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov or Iwan Smirnoff (Russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич Смирно́в; January 30, 1895 – October 28, 1956) was a Russian World War I flying ace and naturalized Dutch aviator who pioneered the Europe to South East Asia routes. He was born to a poor peasant family, but through courage and good fortune managed to become an officer in the Imperial Russian Air Service. After surviving extremely dangerous infantry combat, he trained as a pilot, and was subsequently credited with 11 aerial victories during World War I. When the October Revolution ended his participation in the war, he deserted and became an itinerant pilot. He would serve short spells in the Royal Air Force, the Volunteer Army of Anton Denikin, Handley Page and SNETA. The Russian emigrant subsequently piloted for KLM for the next 25 years, pioneering air routes to the Dutch East Indies in the process. In December 1941, Smirnov returned to military flying during the frenzied air evacuation of Dutch nationals. After the Dutch East Indies were overrun by the Japanese, he joined the U.S. Air Transport Command. Despite official attempts to ground the aged and oft wounded pilot, he served through war's end. He then returned to KLM. After the inevitable grounding (after 30,000+ flying hours), he continued with the company as its chief advisor.

Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov was born on 30 January 1895. He was the fourth child born into a peasant family whose farm was near Vladimir. He received little schooling; his family existed in a state of near-serfdom. The peasantry to which he belonged could not even work in a local factory without continuing to farm the community's land. It was a situation with little chance for improving one's life.

At the outbreak of World War I Smirnov enrolled as a volunteer in the 96th Omsk Infantry Regiment. After a short spell of training, the unit went into ferocious combat in the Battle of Łódź; the barely-trained regiment suffered severe casualties both from its well-schooled German foe and from the foul weather. Concerning this period, Smirnov later remarked, "We were thrown in as mere gun fodder...." He also noted that his contingent of 90 soldiers was rapidly reduced to 19 by casualties.