Sky of heroes

The only museum of fire and aerial rammings in Belarus in Radoshkovichi has become a place of inspiration for young patriots

Surely, when it comes to hero pilots, Gastello’s surname will sound one of the first. Of course, they will also remember the place of the iconic feat on Molodechno land. It is not surprising that this Hero of the Soviet Union in Radoshkovichi is treated with special trepidation. A majestic stele crowned with a sculptural portrait of the legendary captain, and a monument in the courtyard of secondary school No. 2, where a unique museum began to be created back in the mid-1960s, remind of this at the entrance to the township.

The circumstances of Gastello’s death hardly need retelling. For the first time, Soviet people learned about the self-sacrifice of the pilots on July 5th, 1941, from the evening summary of the Soviet Information Bureau. The brief message said, “The squadron commander, Captain Gastello, performed a heroic feat. A shell from an enemy anti-aircraft gun hit the gas tank of his aircraft. The fearless commander sent the plane engulfed in flames to the accumulation of vehicles and gasoline tanks of the enemy. Dozens of German vehicles and tanks exploded along with the hero’s plane.”

Nikolai Gastello

  The feat of the crew of Nikolai Gastello, consisting of lieutenants Anatoly Burdenok, Grigory Skorobogaty and senior sergeant Aleksei Kalinin, had two witnesses — the commander of the leading crew, senior lieutenant Vorobyov and navigator Lieutenant Rybas, who controlled the second bomber as part of the Gastello link. Before their eyes, Captain Gastello turned the wrecked plane, from which smoke was coming, towards the column. Then he sent the plane straight into the thick of German tanks and vehicles. Until the last, the crew fired at the enemy from the aircraft in flames: none of its members tried to leave the bomber. Then there was an explosion: the plane crashed into a convoy. A lot of German equipment burned down. The price of the feat was high: on June 26th, 1941, just four days after the start of the war, the entire crew of the DB-3F died.
A month after the feat, Captain Nikolai Gastello was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. His name has become a symbol of heroism and self-sacrifice. Gastello’s legendary feat — fire ramming — has been repeated hundreds of times. In total, during the Great Patriotic War, 14 sea rammings, 52 tank, 600 air and 506 ground rammings were made. All Soviet fire falcons of the times of the Great Patriotic War were later called Gastellites.

Feat of Nikolai Gastello by A.Sibirsky

 Nevertheless, in the early 1990s, there were attempts to debunk the feat of the pilot. There were publications claiming that the legendary fire aerial ramming was carried out by the crew of Captain Maslov. The museum also collected rich material about this hero. Among the arguments in favour of their version, the authors cited the fact that the wreckage of the Maslov bomber and the remains of the crew members of this aircraft were found at the scene. Nevertheless, this find is one more proof in favour of Gastello’s feat. Maslov’s plane was found because it crashed into the ground, and not into a convoy of vehicles. The explosion of Gastello’s plane after ramming a column of fuel and ammunition left no traces, except for eyewitness accounts.
A number of researchers, including the son of Nikolai Gastello Victor, reject the version with Maslov as untenable. By the way, in the school museum of fire and aerial rammings, among the exhibits are books by Victor Gastello with autographs, which were handed over by the sister of Nikolai Gastello.
“The personal belongings of hero pilots is, of course, our exclusive. For example, Gastello’s navigation bar or the original letter from Aleksei Kalinin, written four days before his death. The lines in which the pilot writes how he is bored, waiting for a vacation and meeting with the dearest person cannot but touch the reader,”  the young guide Yelizaveta Filistovich explains.


Through such things, everyone realises the tragedy of war and the sacrifice of the human choice that our defenders had to make. Moreover, of course, the figure of Nikolai Gastello is central, because it all started with him.
The history of the museum goes almost hand in hand with the school, opened in 1960. It was a boarding school for orphans. Its first director Mikhail Lukashevich organised a collection of materials about Nikolai Gastello. In 1965, the museum of the crew of the legendary commander was opened, and in 1973, the school began to officially bear his name. In 1987, the museum of the crew of Nikolai Gastello was awarded the title of Excellent School Museum, and already in 1991, it became a folk museum.
Teachers and schoolchildren launched a large-scale search work. They collected new facts and exhibits, corresponded with veterans and brother-soldiers of the fallen heroes, established co-operation with other educational institutions. The expositions were updated with new information about the crew members of Aleksandr Maslov, Isaac Preseizen and other pilots who performed feats on Molodechno land. The names of 18 crews who died in battles in the sky over their native land are known.
There are 1,633 exhibits in the school bastion of memory, 681 of which are the main fund. Zoya Moklyak, who has been running the museum for almost 15 years, specifies, 
“During the existence of the museum, guests from Germany, Poland, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Italy, Spain, France and other countries have visited it. We had more than a thousand people every year.”


This is a significant place for us. The lessons of history and literature on the topic of the Great Patriotic War are held here in a special atmosphere, the children realise at what cost we received peace and freedom, why people sacrificed the most precious things and how important it is for us to never forget our heroes.
Schoolgirl Anastasia Romanchik shared that her interest in the history of her native land prompted her to try herself as a guide, 
“The excitement immediately passes when you feel the feedback, the interest of our guests, regardless of age, to the life and feat of the heroes. What were these people, what memories they left — all this finds a lively response. However, thanks to them, our township is known not only in Belarus. The desire to comprehend those events prompted me to delve into the history of my family. I found out that my great-grandfather was a partisan, there was even an article about him in the newspaper. The war did not bypass anyone, every family should have its own heroes. Therefore, Victory Day is always special — our common and family holiday. I think this tradition will live on forever.”

Radoshkovichi local historians established 969 names of pilots, heroes of fire and aerial rammings, and also collected interesting materials related to these personalities

 By Andrei Zakharov
Photos by Aleksey Matyush