Family History: Grandfather WWII

I am constantly researching my family history, which is not easy from overseas. Below are the stories and biographies of my family members.

My Grandfather

Story of Waldemar

My grandfather Waldemar Konanovich Sheetik (picture above) was born on the Polish border in 1920 (?) in the family of Konan Ustinovish Sheetik, a doctor of the former Imperial Army and a peasant woman Maria. They had four children: Anatoliy, Iya, Tamara and Waldemar. They called themselves Russians, but I am not sure if their real nationality was Lithuanian Polish, or Polish Lithuanian. They moved a lot as Konan voted for LeoTrotskiy, who lost to Lenin, and the Red troops were ravaging the country side. Waldemar grew up on a farm, helping his father along with other children. They spent hours, doing the farm work and preparing pills and syrups. Konan moved to Leningrad, where he has an assignment as a factory doctor. Waldemar dreamed of flying. As the children turned into teenagers, they had to go   through a registration process in order to get a passport. They all declared themselves Russian. Waldemar became Vladimir (Russian version of this name), Iya became Ludmila. Vladimir also said that he was born on February 12, 1918, date that allowed him to enter the Air Force Academy two years earlier.In 1938 he was stationed in Estonia as a cadet, in 1939 as Stalin invaded Finland my grandfather went to war with the 24th Fighter Regiment. The picture above is dated before 1943, he was already a sergeant. Soon Vladimir was transferred to the 27th Fighter Regiment. I remember that he recalled being happy with his friends and comrades. He liked a Georgian commander of their eskadrilya.Then he was transferred to 28. Gv.IAP or 28th Guards Fighters Airforce Regiment, where he met his friend A. S. Smirnov , future Hero of the Soviet Union. The 28. Gv. IAP was a part of the 6th Air Army, formed in June of 1942 on North-West Front. It operated in the skies of Demyansk, Kalinin, Byelorussia and Poland.

Here the story darkens. Between 1943 and 1944 he served near Staraya Russa to the north east of Kalinin, and near Novgorod, when his plane was shut down. He jumped out and landed in German rear. 12 pieces of the shell were in his head and 2 were lodged in his chest near the heart. These two pieces in his chest were never removed. I remember how his chest hurt on bad weather days. One of those days he told me why. I probably was only eight.

He hid his parachute and all his documents and started a long trip to the Red Army positions. He was crawling for three days before he reached the Reds, where he was met by NKVD troops and accused in spending three days with the Germans. He did not expect a hero’s welcome, even though he deserved it. He was not a national figure, a living legend as A. Maresiev, a pilot who flew without legs. Ever since then his military ID book said that he was a mechanic, not a pilot in the regiments above.

He was awarded the Order of The great Patriotic War I degree. And he spent about 5 years in Siberia after the war was over. He did not like to talk about this period of his life. He often shared his memories about other experiences, meeting English and American Airforce, for example. I did not get all his stories, and now his generation is almost gone. I would give anything to sit with him on a bench on a sunny day in May, even for an hour.

My Grandfather had very fond memories of the American Airforce. He said they were simple and friendly people, not snobs, as  some Brittish pilots :)). He flew several different planes during his service years, one of his favourite was Airocobra.

“Lend lease” provided the Soviets with American equipment to help the war effort. Russians stripped P-38s of their armor in the cockpit, to make them faster and lighter. The pilots sat on a cast iron frying pan for protection.

I lost my Granddad on Christmas of 1998.

One of his favorite songs from “Nebesnyj Tihohod”

Grandfather with a friend

Vladimir Konanovich Sheetik, 1938