In The South West Pacific During World War II
During World War II Smirnov worked as a pilot for KLM in the Dutch East Indies. In January 1942 he was mobilized as a captain in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. On Java he participated in many hazardous flights, and he also flew passengers and materiel between Java and Australia. On 3 March 1942, a Douglas DC-3 Dakota, PK-AFV or Pelikaan, piloted by Smirnov, left Bandung, Java for Broome, Australia, with a plane load of evacuees and a box of diamonds worth approximately £150,000-300,000 (now an approximate A$20-40 million). (The flight took off three days before the Japanese took the Bandung area.) They were attacked by three Japanese Zeroes about 80 km north of Broome. Captain Smirnov was wounded several times in his arms and hip. Smirnov managed to put the Dakota into a steep spiral dive with the Zeros in pursuit and made a forced landing on the beach. Four passengers were killed. The box of diamonds went missing after the crash and relatively few were recovered. Three local men were tried, but not convicted, of their theft.
After recovery from his injuries Smirnov worked as a captain in the US 317th Troop Carrier Group, responsible for flying supplies from Brisbane, Australia to Port Moresby, New Guinea. Late in 1943 he arrived in the USA and was introduced to the new Douglas DC-4 and the Lockheed Constellation. In the Autumn of 1944 he went back to Europe and flew on the Bristol-Lisbon-Gibraltar line to the end of war.
Read more about this topic: Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov
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