Arkadije Popov (Russian: Аркадий Попов; 17 November 1906 – 16 October 1944) was a Yugoslav pilot of Russian descent.
Early life and service
Born in Russia to a Don cossack family, Popov emigrated with his parents to the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes following the bolshevik revolution. He learned to fly and was a pilot of the
naval aviation of the
Royal Yugoslav Air Force
The Royal Yugoslav Air Force ( sh-Latn, Jugoslovensko kraljevsko ratno vazduhoplovstvo, JKRV; sh-Cyrl, Југословенско краљевско ратно ваздухопловство, ЈКРВ; ( sl, Jugoslovansko kraljevo vojno letalstv ...
at the start of WWII in 1941. He first fled to Greece, but was captured by German forces during
operation Marita. Following his capture he joined the
NDH air force. During this time he displayed a nonchalantly anti-fascist attitude, greeting his comrades with the phrase “''Za slom spremni''” (Croatian: ''For collapse - ready!'') In late 1943, being hounded by the Gestapo, Popov managed to get a hold of a
Breguet XIX Breguet or Bréguet may refer to:
* Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer
**Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker
**Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work
* Bréguet ...
and fly over to the allies in Italy.
Allied service
In April 1944, Popov joined the newly formed
352 Squadron at the first Partisan air base in Benina, Libya where he was made commander of
Flight B with the rank of major. On August 16 the squadron was stationed at full combat readiness in
Cannae
Cannae (now Canne della Battaglia, ) is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a ''frazione'' (civil parish) of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Barletta. Cannae was formerly a bishopric, and is presently (2022) a Lati ...
, as part of the No. 281 Wing of the
Balkan Air Force.
In spite of his ancestry, Popov was remembered first and foremost as a Yugoslav patriot who, nevertheless, maintained a fondness for Russia. According to Pejčić, upon greeting a group of
Red Army pilots in
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
, they refused to speak with him on account of his
white émigré background.
In September 1944 Popov impressed an allied officer by performing four
strafing runs on a well defended enemy column on the Gospić–Otočac road.
Death
Popov was killed in action on the 16th of October by anti-aircraft fire over the
islet Bogutovac near
Doli, Croatia while on a combat air patrol of the
Dubrovnik–
Metković road. He was the sixth pilot of his squadron to be shot down and was memorialised by a monument consisting of a single bronze wing on the mainland near his crash site.
The monument was removed in the 1990s.
See also
*
352 Squadron RAF (Yugoslav)
*
Adriatic campaign of World War II
*
Balkan Air Force
Notes
References
{{reflist
Yugoslav Partisans
Yugoslav aviators
Yugoslav people of Russian descent