Monument to soldiers of the 18th Air Regiment «Normandie-Neman»
The 18th Guards Fighter Aviation Vitebsk twice Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov and the French Cross of the Legion of Honor regiment «Normandy-Neman» (18th Guards IAP) was a military unit of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the USSR, which took part in the fighting of the Great Patriotic War. The Normandy-Neman Aviation Regiment was the only military unit of another country that fought on the territory of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. Fifteen French pilots, thirty-nine aircraft technicians and four staff officers arrived at the airfield in the city of Ivanovo on November 29, 1942. An aviation squadron was already formed from them on December 4. The pilots named it «Normandy» in honor of one of the French provinces. Normandy-Niemen was a French aviation regiment that fought during World War II on the Soviet-German front from 1943 to 1945. The French Committee «Fighting France» sent a group of pilots and aviation mechanics of the USSR to fight Germany in 1942. This regiment has flown more than 5,000 combat sorties, conducted 900 air battles and shot down more than 270 German aircraft. The opening of the monument timed to the 65th anniversary of the creation of the 18th Guards Vitebsk twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov and the Legion of Honor of the joint regiment «Normandy-Neman».
Sculptor: A. N. Kovalchuk
Materials: granite, bronze
Year of installation: 2007
Address: Moscow, Krasnokursantskaya Square
