There was a nice Spring-like feeling in the village on Tuesday morning, and those who were able to attend the Coffee Morning were able to enjoy a delicious spread of sweet and savoury treats, and a friendly chin-wag with friends and neighbours.

Fly Past for the Russian Airmen

Recently we featured an article on The Fearnan Air Crash which told the story of the Russian pilots who were based at Errol Airfield for training during WW2, and of the crash that killed three of their number just outside Fearnan.

The airfield at Errol now has an area known as ‘The Russian Corner’ where the men of the Moscow Special Assignment Airgroup, including those who died at Fearnan, are commemorated with a monument.

The 9th May was V Day in Russia (similar to our V-E Day on the 8th May) marking the end of the WW2, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. To mark the occasion, a simple ceremony and informal fly past over the Russian Corner took place  at Errol.  At exactly the same time in Russia, the airmen were being remembered in a parallel ceremony at Vnukovo, their base after they returned to Russia from Scotland. What’s more, the poet Alexandra Provatorskaya has told the story of the Moscow Special Assignment Airgroup in a poem that includes mention of Fearnan!

At Errol, a wreath was laid at the monument in the Russian Corner. Those attending included the Consul General of Russia in Edinburgh, Andrey Pritsepov, and the Provost of Perth and Kinross, Liz Grant. This was followed by the fly past of over the airfield with some dare devil aerobatics from the civilian aviators.

The pictures below show the wreath laying (picture courtesy of The Courier), the fly past, and the aviators with their aircraft.

  Those laying the wreaths are (from the left) Bradley Borland (Errol Aerodrome Historian), Provost Liz Grant, and Andrey Pritsepov, Consul General of Russia in Edinburgh

In Russia the 9th May is a public holiday, and in recent years, millions of ordinary Russian people have chosen to celebrated it by joining local celebrations and simply walking through the streets of their town with photographs of their family members who fought in the War. It is a very personal form of commemoration, as these photos from Vnukovo show:

A picture of Aleksander Guzdin, the pilot who died in the crash at Fearnan, is being held aloft on the right hand side of the large picture.

And the poem! Could this be the first time Fearnan has been commemorated in verse? The poem tells the story of the Russian Airmen and their time in Scotland.  It describes the crash and how the people of Fearnan rushed to the site in the vain hope that they might  be able to help. We shall work on a translation for a future post on the blog.

Broadband News!

If you’re fed up with SuperSlow Broadband, and bored watching that little circle buffering round in the middle of your screen when you’d rather be browsing the internet or downloading something interesting, then help may be nearer than you think!

AB Internet have announced that the date for the Loch Tay Superfast Broadband launch is to be 1st June 2016.  If you want to find out more, there is an opportunity to do so on the 24th May at the Kenmore Hotel between 2 and 9pm. You can also find out more and register your interest at abinternet.co.uk The poster for the event is below:

And finally………….. don’t forget the Coffee Morning in the village hall on Tuesday 14th June at 10.30am.  See you there!