Distinguished guests,

Dear Friends,

There is a saying: «Those who die without being forgotten get longevity». It is an honour and a privilege for me to be here today and take part in unveiling memorial to the four airmen who lost their lives here in 1943.

 

Performing my duties as the Russian Consul General, I have taken part in unveiling of several plaques and memorials across Scotland. Each of them, in its own way, is a vivid proof that in the darkest hours of their history our nations always stood together shoulder to shoulder. I am heartened to witness that one more memorial site with clear Russian link has been established in Scotland.

 

Here in Fearnan we gathered today to pay tribute to the heroic deeds of our fathers and grandfathers, but also in recognition and gratitude to four crew members of Moscow Special Assignment Airgroup who tragically lost their lives when their plane crash-landed at Fearnan on May 29 1943. In their final minutes they managed to save civilians in Fearnan by steering away from the houses. The names of three of my compatriots are: Aleksandr Gruzdin, Aleksandr Alexeev, Vasily Dryamin, alongside with them sacrificied his live Frantisek Drahovzal who came from occupied Czechoslovakia. I delighted that his relatives have managed to join us today on this important occasion.

 

It is a well-known fact that in the first few days of the invasion of the Soviet Union, some 2,000 Soviet aircraft were destroyed, most of them on the ground. Till the end of December 1941 total losses exceeded 21 thousand aircraft. While truly heroic efforts were made to increase manufacturing of aircraft within the country to maintain parity with the enemy in the air, constant supply of aircraft from the Allied countries had a strategic importance. The pilots whom we commemorate today were members of the Moscow Special Assignment Airgroup who arrived in Errol in January 1943 as part of a secret allied operation called Albemarle destined to accomplish this mission. Needless to say that  it didn’t promise safe return and nowadays would be considered impossible. We are here today to say that the war efforts of these airmen are not forgotten, that we will continue to work together to build up their legacy to make sure that their sacrifice will always be remembered.

 

I would like to use this opportunity to express our gratitude to the residents of Fearnan, the Provost Dennis Melloy, the Lord-Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross Mel Jamieson and Anna Belorusova who have put so much personal effort to make this all happen.

 

Let me conclude with a phrase of Russian Academic, himself a survivor of Leningrad siege Dmitry Likhachov, who said  “To preserve memory, to safeguard memory is our moral duty to our descendants. Memory is our wealth”.

 

Lest we forget.