Postwar Activity
After World War I he served a little in the White Army of general Denikin, Wrangel and Kolchak and after its defeat he went back to the United Kingdom. Smirnov worked for airline companies such as SNETA in Belgium and KLM in The Netherlands during the 1920s and 1930s. Ivan Smirnov was soon naturalised as a Dutch citizen.
In 1933 he and his crew went world famous when they made their record breaking flight from Amsterdam to Batavia (Jakarta) on Java (Indonesia - formerly the Dutch East Indies) in 4 days each way. The journey took place from 18 December to 22 December and from 26 December to 30 December. In 1934 he and the crew was conferred upon the dignity of Chevalier (Knight) of Honour of Orange Nassau.
Read more about this topic: Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov
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