Russia – Soviet: A fascinating Order of Lenin and Order of the Red Banner pair to Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Lukich Kaidan, a pilot serving in an aviation unit attached to the Ukhtpechlag, which was a part of the NKVD Gulag System, taking over the role from his predecessor who was killed in a flying accident, he would later go on to take part in the repelling of a prisoner revolt in the Ust-Usa region firing on 6 prisoners along with a Chinese Cook to repel them from taking the local airfield. He would subsequently be involved in the hunt for the German sabotage party which had been dropped behind the lines in the area of Pechora to destroy an important bridge used for transporting raw materials south to the Soviet industrial heartlands. However one of those who had parachuted pursued the remainder to change sides back to the Red Army, and they subsequently killed the German team leader and joined forces with the NKVD to entice and destroy a second squad dropped behind the lines for the same purpose.
Pair: Order of Lenin, numbered 196948; Order of the Red Banner, type 3, variation 4, numbered 354036 with their Order Booklet including a photograph of Kaidan in his uniform.
Condition: Order Booklet edited to exclude two false awards previously entered, otherwise Extremely fine
Konstantin Lukich Kaidan served in the aviation unit assigned to the Ukhtpechlag, which was the part of the NKVD Gulag system. Ukhtpechlag was tasked in developing the Vorkuta Arctic region and its coal deposits.
The Ukhtpechlag air line was organised in 1931. It was not tasked with cargo transportation, but rather with communication between camp divisions, aerial reconnaissance, mail and passenger transportation
The first aircraft of the airline were the Ju-2 seaplanes decommissioned from the Air Force (Naval Reconnaissance Aircraft ‘Junkers’. In spring, summer and autumn, they could touch down on floats on the surface of rivers and lakes, and in winter they replaced the floats with skis. By the end of 1931, there were 4 Ju-20 aircrafts in Ukhtpechlag, which were based in the village of Karpushovka (Ust-Tsilma district). Later, the airline was replenished with aircraft of other brands: Yu-21, Yu-13, K-5, U-2, Sh-2, P-12.’
The first pilot of the airline was a GULAG inmate V.A. Gintse. The infrastructure was gradually built by the GULAG prisoners. The airline did not have meteorological services and airfields. Lacking navigation instruments, the pilots were orientating, the pilots were orientating in the air by the visual features on the ground: along the rivers Pechora, Usa, Izhma, Vym, Vorkuta, Vychegda, Northern Dvina and along the road line Ust-Vym-Chibyu.
In 1936, the staff of the airline consistsed of 7 civilian employees, 7 colonists and 10 GULAG inmates. A civilian employee was a free man, who was freely employed by a GULAG camp. A colonist was a man convicted and sentenced to live in a specific location (normally remote), but his family could relocate and join him.
These men were, the Head and Chief Engineer of the Air Line P.V. Markus (employee), radio operator Oposhnyanksy (colonist), pilots V.A. Gintse and K.L. Kaidan (employee); senior technican I.V. Baishev (employee), aircraft technicians Karyshev (employee) and Santirovsky, motorboats mechanics Andreev and Grinevich (colonist); and others.
From 1932 to 1936 the airbase was led by the legendary pilot Kovalevsky, Lev Vladislavovich (born 1895) a hero fo the Civil War. After Kovalevsky’s death (16.04.1934), a new director was appointed – Markus, Pavel Vasilyevich (born 1897) who was killed in a plane crash on 4.10.1936. Kaidan, Konstantin Lukich became the new airline director. Kaidan remain on this position until 30.7.1937 when the new chief took over.
The intensity of the air traffic can be illustrated by these facts: At the central airbase of the airline: 114 landings and 114 take off per day. At the Ukhta airbase: 75 landings and 75 take-offs per days. At the Ust-Usa airbase: 72 landings and 72 take off per day.
The archives contain many documents about the participation of pilots from the NKVD squadrons in extreme events. Aviation personnel participated in the suppression of the Ust-Usi riot and uprising of prisoner in 1942. For transporting the officers, monitoring the movement of prisoner groups, transferring weapons and ammunition, all available of the republic was mobilised – 6 NKVD aircraft and 4 aircraft of the Syktyvkar civil aviation group
When the prisoners seized the regional centre of Ust-Usa, organised resistance was delivered by the airfield personnel. The uprising leader sent 6 prisoners on a cart to the capture the airfield, which at that time had two planes stationed. But the operation was unsuccessful, since the single airport guard and the pilot of Vorkutlag Kaidan, who was at the there, were warned about the impending raid by a Chinese prisoner cook. A group of insurgents on their way to the airfield was met with organised fire and retreated.
The pilots also took part in the operation to eliminate the German special task-force parachuted near the town Pechora 1943. On the night of June 6, 1943, two German four-engined Condor FW200C bombers took off from the Norwegian airfield at Narvik. On board was a sabotage group of Abwehr (12 people, mostly Red Army prisoners of war), which was dropped along with weapons and cargo. The goal was the demolition of the railway bridge across the Pechora River. The German mission failed, because one of the team member pursued the others to defect back to the USSR. After the landing, they killed the group leader and sent a message to the nearest NKVD post. But until all this was known, all the area troops were mobilised for interception of the German parachutists. The air units played the crucial role being able to move and transport across large distances and provide air reconnaissance.
Both the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Lenin have been issued for Long Service, and in his role, Kaidan is extremely unlikely to have seen any frontline wartime service that would have led to the issue of Campaign Medals.
