Dedicated to the preservation of the aviation heritage of atlantic canada
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- New Brunswick. The first settlers came to Miscou for it’s isolation. Today tour- ism is the main industry of the island.
- From Bathurst to Miscou
- Transporting the Aviators
- Iluyushin TsKB-30 or DB-3
- Iluyushin TsKB-30 or DB-3 Specifications: Engines
- From Moncton to New York
- R.C.M.P. Constable Theriault and Unidentified Person on the Ilyushin Bomber
- A postcard that was carried on the flight from Moscow to Miscou. Note that the postcard carries the Miscou island cancellation stamp in the center of the post
- (Postcards via http://66.96.244.85/nblight/miscouislandhistory.html website) The modern airplane creates a new geographic dimension. A navigable ocean of
- Sources Newspapers
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Miscou Island, N.B. Miscou Island is located 130 miles from Moncton, New Brunswick, as the crow flies. The lighthouse at Miscou Island was built in 1856 making it the second lighthouse constructed on the Gulf of St. Lawrence by the Government of New Brunswick. The first settlers came to Miscou for it’s isolation. Today tour- ism is the main industry of the island. The Atlantic Canada Aviation Musuem Newletter Nov / Dec 2002 Page 6 DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE AVIATION HERITAGE OF ATLANTIC CANADA exam by Dr. Specter concluded that Kokkinaki had no broken ribs; the avia- tors accepted the hospitality of Lawrence Vibert. They slept at his home Saturday night, awaiting transportation to Moncton the next day. Visiting the Site News of the crash had spread quickly over the island and on Saturday, people began visiting the site. The plane had landed on a plain near the coast between Lake Chenière and la Baie des Chaleurs, a bit north of the stream at Anguille where the lake flowed into the bay. It was there- fore between center Miscou and Miscou Plains. At about half a mile from the church, there was a passable route about a half-mile long, which led to the beach. From the moment the telegram from Madame Robichaud was sent, the mes- sage was received almost everywhere and the news had spread rapidly across Canada, the United States and even over- seas. For their part, the aviators had con- tacted their base in Moscow as soon as they were forced to land. From that mo- ment, Russian Ambassadors, Interna- tional Press, World’s Fair authorities, and emergency services had began trying to help the aviators, and trying to get more information. The closest RCMP detachment was in Shippagan, leading it was Constable Marcellin Theriault and his assistant Maurice Monette. Friday night, the Con- stables received a message from Moncton, asking that someone go out to check on the plane. Constable Theriault said he would be in Miscou Saturday morning at 5 o’clock with Dr.Ulysse Bourgeois. Marcellin Theriault and the doctor had to rent a small rowboat to get to Miscou, where they walked across the island to get to the plane. By the time they got there in the afternoon, a doctor from New York had already arrived.
In Bathurst, everyone was now aware of the situation. The Honorable
Dysart, Premier of New Brunswick, heard the news at home in Bouctouche and im- mediately telephoned MLA Clovis Rich- ard in Bathurst, telling him to help the Russian aviators in any way he could. At the same time, the major papers in Toronto and Montreal telephoned a journalist from Bathurst’s The Northern
to Miscou immediately with a photogra- pher and an interpreter to get them a story as soon as possible. After a difficult drive to Caraquet, and to Shippagan, then by boat and walk- ing over ice floes to Ile Lameque and Ile Miscou, they met Father Ernest Chaisson who drove them to near the crash site. The only available automobile on the is- land, belonging to Father Chaisson was used to transport visitors and journalists to the beach, from where one could walk to the crash site. Father Chaisson recalls: “I transported the people from Bathurst. When we arrived on the coast, we had to walk nearly a mile along it and over the plain. The mer- chant Moe Dingott, from Bathurst, who was supposed to be the interpreter, did not speak very good Russian. I was with him when the pilot asked him where they were and he responded, “in Miscou”. The pilot appeared frus- trated and said, “I know we came from Moscow, I want to know where we are now.” Moe reassured him saying, “That’s true, you departed from Mos- cow and landed in Miscou.” Air Rescue from Moncton By Friday evening, all the news people, mostly from eastern United States, were trying to get to New Brunswick. Since Moncton had the near- est commercial airport to Miscou, it was about to become quite busy. As soon as the sun rose on Saturday morning, two planes left Moncton airport. In a light plane, a Fox Moth from Canadian Air- ways, pilot Josiah “Joe” Anderson man- aged to set down on the island not far from the crash site. He was accompanied by Canadian Press journalist William Horne, photographer R.T. McCully and Thomas Gallant (an aircraft mechanic). The second plane, a twin-engine de Havilland Rapide, piloted by H.S. The Atlantic Canada Aviation Musuem Newletter Nov / Dec 2002 Page 7 DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE AVIATION HERITAGE OF ATLANTIC CANADA “Junior” Jones, arrived a short time later but could not land. He had to settle for flying over the scene to permit his com- panion Richard McCully to take photos before returning to Moncton. Saturday, April 30, a Waco biplane piloted by William Warner, and rented by the New York News arrived in Moncton at 9:45am after leaving New York at 2:30 that morning. He then traveled to Miscou where Charlie Hoff of the New York News took aerial photos. Two minutes later, about 9:47am, a large twin-engine plane, equipped with fourteen seats, a Lockheed 14 landed. Harold S. Vanderbilt,of America’s Cup yachting fame owned the plane. Piloted by Russell Thaw, the plane had left New York at 4 o’clock and had made stops in Boston and Bangor. Aboard were three members of the Russian embassy carry- ing passports for the stranded aviators. Also on board was Albert I. Lodwick, vice-president of the Aviation Corpora- tion, and a doctor from Brooklyn named O.E. Specter. They had planned to travel to Shippagan by train, but as the journey would have been difficult and long, they decided to rent a small, local plane. A short time later, an amphibian, a Grumman (Goose) of Gillies Aviation Corporation in Hicksville, N.Y. arrived. It had been rented by the Russian embassy to facilitate access to Miscou. Two more planes landed. A Beechcraft (Beech 17 Staggerwing) from New York and a Stearman from Boston arrived carrying journalists and photog- raphers from the Associated Press and the International News Service. The first plane to leave Moncton with photos for the International Press was the de Havilland Rapide, piloted by H.S. “Jun- ior” Jones, which took off at 10 o’clock for Bangor, Maine.
The first attempt to transport the aviators was made by Joe Anderson in his de Havilland Fox Moth, which left Moncton at 1:10 carrying Dr. Specter from Brooklyn Jewish Hospital, the Rus- sian officer from Washington, Peter Baranov, as well as H.B. Roberts. How- ever, the Russian aviators refused to leave Miscou, preferring instead to wait for the amphibian plane from New York. Less than two hours after the arrival of the Fox Moth, the amphibian piloted, by Ralph Bourdon, landed in Miscou Harbor, six miles from the crash site. However, because of ice floes and the ap- proaching darkness, they were forced to head back to Moncton without the Rus- sian aviators. Shearwater’s Royal Canadian Air Force Station (Nova Scotia) also sent an amphibian plane, carrying doctor D.A. Forsythe from Dartmouth and a customs agent from Halifax, Andrew Malaidack, who spoke good Russian. The plane landed at sea 3 miles from Miscou and its passengers got ashore in a small boat and then trekked through snow and mud to the crash site. Sunday morning, the Grumman Goose and two small planes from Cana- dian Airways departed again for Miscou. At 6:30am, the Stearman from Canadian Airways, piloted by H.S. “Junior” Jones took off from Moncton. At 8:30am, pilot Bourdon’s amphibian also left, but this time he was unable to land because of strong winds and rough seas. A bit after noon, “Junior” Jones took off from Miscou and at 2 o’clock, his plane landed in Moncton with doctor Specter and the Russian attaché Peter Baranov aboard. Immediately, Joe Anderson took off for Miscou in his Fox Moth and at 3:35pm, arrived back in Moncton with Godienko, the Russian navigator, and A.I. Lodwick, who brought back several pieces of the crashed plane. Hardly tak- ing a break, Anderson immediately flew back to Miscou and later returned with Kokkinaki, who was accompanied by V.P. Butusov from the Russian embassy in Washington. The Russians had brought back pieces and instruments from the crashed plane. These sophisticated instruments were carefully guarded and were trans- Iluyushin TsKB-30 or DB-3 The TsKB-26 long-range bomber prototype appeared in 1935, a twin- engined metal low-wing monoplane powered by 597-kW (800-hp) Gnome- Rhône K-14 radials. Demonstrated by test pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki on May Day 1936, the prototype went on to es- tablish two world altitude records dur- ing July 1936. A second prototype, the TsKB-30, had an enclosed instead of open position for the pilot, Soviet M-85 engines and a metal rear fuselage. The TsKB-30 also broke records and then at- tracted world interest by flying from Moscow to Canada, where pilot Kokkinaki had to make a wheels-up landing on 28 April 1939 after covering a distance of 8000 km (4,971 miles). By then the bomber had been in pro- duction for the Soviet air arm for more than two years. Under the military des- ignation 1131113-3 it served widely with the ADD (Long-Range Aviation) and the V-MF (Naval Aviation), remaining op- erational well into the war with Ger- many, DB-3s being credited with some of the earliest attacks on Berlin... DB-3 production terminated in 1940 with the 1,528th machine. (from The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft)
The Atlantic Canada Aviation Musuem Newletter Nov / Dec 2002 Page 8 DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE AVIATION HERITAGE OF ATLANTIC CANADA ported back to the Russian embassy in sealed containers. From Moncton to New York When they arrived in Moncton at 4:30 pm in Joe Anderson’s Fox Moth, the Russian aviators were greeted by R.C.M.P. Corporal A.D. Pelletier. Gordienko stopped for a few moments to give a military salute for the photogra- phers then the Corporal led them quickly to the Brunswick Hotel where they were to spend the night. Sunday morning, May 1 st , pilot Russell Thaw took off. On board the Lockheed were the two Russian aviators, also V.P. Butusov, Peter Kosolov, A.I. Lodwick and Dr. O.E. Specter. After a stop in Bangor, they landed in New York at 10:32 am. The Grumman Goose, piloted by Ralph Bourdon and his co-pilot/naviga- tor, Art Schwab, returned to New York as well with the following passengers: two Russian engineers from the Amtorg company, P. Koslov, I. Mitzner, and an embassy employee named P. Smirnov. The latter was no doubt a Russian secu- rity agent, as he didn’t leave the side of his companion, Molchanvsky. At their arrival at Floyd Bennett Field in New York, the aviators were greeted by the head of Russian affairs in Washington, Constantine Oumanski, who introduced them to G. Whalen, President of the New York World’s Fair Corpora- tion. Oumanski congratulated them on behalf of the Russian Communist Party’s Secretary General, Joseph Stalin, as well as, the President of the People’s Commissionership Council, Viacheslav Molotov.
For their part, the aviators submit- ted two separate letters to the President of the World’s Fair: one dated April 28 in Moscow and postmarked that same day in Miscou, the other coming from the head of American affairs in Moscow, Alexander Kirk. In his letter, Kokkinaki made it clear that from now on, planes would be making regular 24-hour trips non-stop from Moscow to New York. While all sides were attempting to contact the aviators, the only method of communication had been the telephone center in Shippagan. Antonine Robichaud remembers. They were calling from ev- erywhere: from London, Boston, New York, Toronto, Moscow: “Please get this wire through…Get General Kokkinaki on the phone…Can I speak to Major Gordienko…This is the National Broad- casting Company…Hurry!…” The order was given to maintain a 24-hour open line with Moscow. The communication with Moscow was done with ground and marine cables, passing through Poland, Germany and England. It was wireless from England to Yamachiche (Quebec), by cable from Yamachiche to Montreal to Shippagan, finally connecting with Miscou by under- water cable via la Pointe Brulée. Obviously, it was often impossible for the operators to understand Russian communications. Saturday afternoon, Major Gordienko had come with Father Ernest Chiasson to the “presbytere” in Miscou to make several calls. The opera- tor could only say “Major Gordienko?” and he would respond, “Da!” and then continue in Russian. When it came to Russian telegraphic messages from Mos- cow, it was necessary to receive them let- ter for letter, word for word, and then tele- phone them in to Miscou. The Russian embassy, through its attaché Oumanski, expressed gratitude and praise towards Antonine Robichaud on behalf of the Russian government. The press was equally grateful. The Toronto
erators, all expenses paid, to Toronto to tell their story. These were unforgettable souvenirs. Recovering the Plane Father Chiasson recalls: For more than a month, R.C.M.P. officers Marcellin Thériault and Maurice Monette ensured a constant surveillance of the plane. They stayed at the “presbytere”. Another visitor was Mr. James from the Ministry of National Defense, Ottawa, who ar- rived shortly after the departure of the aviators. For two weeks, he examined one of the plane’s motors, taking it apart piece by piece, examining and photographing each piece, and then carefully replacing it. The Russian aviators remained in New York for three weeks. In their absence, Russian technicians were exploring the possibility of repairing the damaged aircraft and flying it to Halifax. When they arrived, they knew this would be impossible. They rented a boat, the Banscot, which they sent to Miscou with the Foundation Masson, an 80-foot boat equipped with a “crane”. The plane was 300 feet from the beach. The fuselage was 48 feet long and the wingspan was 32 feet. On May 27, mechanics went to work dismantling the plane and on June 2 nd , the Banscot arrived in Halifax Harbor, where the plane was cleaned and then covered in a layer of protective oil to preserve it in the salt air. On June 3 rd , 1939, the Rus- sian steamer Alma Ata left the port of Halifax with the plane and the two avia- tors, en route to Leningrad. For Kokkinaki, it would be his last time on Canadian soil. However, in the future, the whole world was to bear wit- ness to his exploits. During the Second World War, he served as a test pilot and chief inspector for Russian aviation. Twice decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union (July 17 th 1938 and September 17, 1957), he was promoted to Major Gen- eral of Aviation in 1943. He received Sports Master in 1959, and the Lenin prize in 1960. He was a five-time recipient of the Order of Lenin, three-time recipient of the Order of the Red Banner, four-time recipient of the Red Star Order and also earned the Order of War for patriotism. He also earned nu- merous medals, among them the gold medal from the International Aeronautic Federation. Vice-President, and then President of the International Aeronau- tic Federation as of 1961, he then became an honorary President as of 1968. He was
The Atlantic Canada Aviation Musuem Newletter Nov / Dec 2002 Page 9 DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE AVIATION HERITAGE OF ATLANTIC CANADA R.C.M.P. Constable Theriault and Unidentified Person on the Ilyushin Bomber still alive and well in his last years, in 1985 he was still celebrating his birth- day.
Epilogue Of this episode, there remains prac- tically nothing. The telephone operators received small souvenirs, matchboxes and pieces of chocolate, in remembrance of the plane. Gordienko had given the plane’s first aid kit to Father Ernest Chiasson, and a pair of skies to Constable Monette. Most of these small trinkets have now been lost or have disappeared. Noth- ing remains except the memories. Who remembers now, (1989) fifty years later, that Miscou was once the center of world news; that it welcomed the hero of Rus- sian aviation; that all the journalists and photographers fought for the privilege to fly overhead or to visit? Nature quickly erased all traces of the crash landing. So today, as we try to find new ways to attract tourists to the islands, it would be a shame not to invoke the memory of the Russian plane and it’s important pi- lot Kokkinaki, who, for a few days, made A postcard that was carried on the flight from Moscow to Miscou. Note that the postcard carries the Miscou island cancellation stamp in the center of the post- card. The post office on Miscou Island was located at the Miscou Island light house. (Postcards via http://66.96.244.85/~nblight/miscouislandhistory.html website) The modern airplane creates a new geographic dimension. A navigable ocean of air blankets the whole surface of the globe. There are no distant places any longer: the world is small and the world is one. - Wendell Willkie. The Atlantic Canada Aviation Musuem Newletter Nov / Dec 2002 Page 10 DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE AVIATION HERITAGE OF ATLANTIC CANADA this island the center of interest for the world’s great newspapers. Editor’s Post Script Monsignor Robichaud, now retired from pastoral duties and living in Shippagan, kindly gave permission for the Museum to print this very interesting and well researched account of this event of 1939. He had interviewed the local people who were on the scene at the time. Robichaud has tried to raise interest in erecting a monument locally, possibly a model or pictorial of the plane, which would serve as a tourist attraction. ‘Maybe someday it will hap- pen.’
He also writes ‘It is good to see that you are helping to keep memories of the earlier aviation days in the Atlantic.’
The Boston Globe, 26.06.1984 Canadian National Magazine, June 1939 The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), 27.07.1989 Le Devoir (Montreal), 29.04.1939 L’Evangeline (Moncton), 4.05.1939 Gloucester Northern Light (Bathurst) 4.05.1939; 11.05.1939; 1.06.1939; 8.06.1939 The Moncton Times, 28.04.1939; 1.05.1939; 3.05.1939 Ottawa Journal,Toronto Star, London Times – non-dated clippings. Other newspaper clippings without ref- erences.
Articles: Shippagan News, by Jeannette Robichaud-Newton Kokkinaki in The Great Soviet Encyclo- pedia
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