Victor Fyodorov

Who was Victor Fyodorov?

Lieutenant Viktor Georgiyevich Fyodorov was a Russian World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories while flying with the French military air service. Having left Russia for Belgium in 1908, with a further move to France, Fyodorov was still living in the latter when World War I began. On 21 August 1914, he volunteered for the French Foreign Legion, and served with them until wounded and invalided from infantry service. After preliminary duty as a chauffeur, he became a pilot on 27 November 1915. After acquiring Pierre Lanero as his mechanic, aerial observer, and gunner, Fyodorov scored three aerial victories in March 1916 with Lanero manning the Caudron's guns.

They were shot down and wounded on 1 April 1916. Upon recovery, Fyodorov wangled an assignment to the Kingdom of Romania in October. While they were there, he managed a transfer in the Imperial Russian Air Service for the two of them by the end of 1916. However, Fydorov's stint in Russia during 1917 was unsuccessful; he fell ill without scoring any aerial victories. By the time he recovered, through Lanero's ministrations, the Russian Revolution had taken Russia out of the war. "The Air Cossack of Verdun" and his mechanic returned to France in March 1918. By June, Fyodorov returned to combat, flying for the French. He scored two more victories as the war roared to a close, and was wounded for the third time on 16 October 1918. It was the end of his war.