Romanian gift to the Soviet 161st air regiment in honor of its withdrawal from Romania in 1958

In 2008, on the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of Romania, the "Document" magazine of the Romanian Military Archive published documents dedicated to the organization of the ceremonial events of the Soviet troops' send-off. They were adopted and approved at the highest level of the Romanian military-political leadership of that time. Among other things, the Romanian military department adopted a plan and estimates of commemorative gifts for the Soviet side, ranging from sets of postcards for soldiers to special sets of gifts for the commander and his deputies.

Photo 1. Excerpt from a report to the Minister of War of the Romanian People's Republic proposing gifts for the Soviet side.

Source: Propuneri de cadouri / Ministerul Forţelor Armate ale R.P.R. – Raport №P.P.019041, 19.08.1958 // Document. Buletinul Arhivelor Militare Române. – 2008, №4 (42). – Р. 57-58. Archival source: Arhivele Militare Române. – Fond Microfilme. – Rola II 5.1232. – Cadrele 459-473.

In particular, they prepared:

- 4 sets of gifts for the command of Soviet troops in Romania (each set: a leather photo album about the Romanian People's Army, a leather album with gramophone records of Romanian songs, a photo album with views of Bucharest, a Romanian national costume for the wife, a basket with 6 bottles of wine and a collection of cigars);

- 10 sets for commanders of formations (each set contains: a leather photo album about the Romanian People's Army, a leather album with gramophone records of Romanian songs, a photo album with views of Bucharest, a basket with 3 bottles of wine and a collection of cigars);

- 25 sets for unit commanders (each set contains a leather photo album about the Romanian People's Army, a leather album with records of Romanian songs, a photo album with views of Bucharest);

- 100 sets of postcards for each military unit to be presented by Romanian soldiers to Soviet soldiers during the send-off ceremony.

In the Branch State Archive of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine we managed to find such a gift - a photo album about the Romanian People's Army. It was presented to the commander of the 161st Riga Order of Suvorov Fighter Aviation Regiment. This regiment was based at the Romanian airfield Baragan and in 1958 was withdrawn to the airfield Limanskoye (Odessa region), where it was stationed until its incorporation into the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 1992.

Photo 2. Standard-bearers of the 161st Fighter Aviation Regiment (from left to right: commanders of aviation units of the 1st squadron, lieutenants N. Gulyaev and A. Filipchenko, senior technicians of the regiment, lieutenants G. Dzyuba and N. Dyatkinsky). Baragan airfield, Romania.

Source: Branch State Archive of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. - Fund 2729. - Inventory A1P. - Case No. 10.

The photo album, donated by the Romanian side, is kept together with other photo albums from the history of the 161st air regiment in the archival fund 2729. Below we present photos of its pages. This publication is taking place for the first time.

Photo 3-17. Gift photo album about the Romanian People's Army in honor of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Romania, 1958.

Source: Branch State Archive of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. - Fund 2729. - Inventory A1P. - Case No. 5.

(Click on a photo will open large version)

N.Saichuk