Russian party will help launch new exhibition at air station

Montrose Air Heritage Station will welcome a party from Russia to launch a new exhibition tomorrow.

The attraction is relaunching an exhibition, The Russians In Scotland, which tells the story of Russian airmen who came to Scotland in 1943 to train to fly British aircraft that were to be supplied to the Russian Air Force.

Anna Belorusova, whose grandfather was one of the Russian pilots, will be accompanied by the son and grandchildren of the flight engineer, who later returned to Russia on an Arctic convoy.

The Russian presence was hush–hush at the time, and the exhibition begins by telling how this forgotten episode from the Second World War was rediscovered.

The Russians were stationed at RAF Errol.

They were experienced pilots who had survived great dangers but who got on well with their RAF counterparts, and liked to go dancing in Dundee.

The research, which has been carried out in Scotland and Russia, is a reminder of the alliance between Communist Russia and Britain and America, and the huge amount of aid sent to Russia, including thousands of British aircraft.

Many old photographs from the time will feature as part of the display.

Georgiana Osborne, Lord Lieutenant for Angus, will attend the opening along with Brigadier General Mel Jameson, Lord Lieutenant for Perthshire, and Andrey Pritsepov, the Russian Consul General for Scotland.

The guests will also tour the museum and see the many developments taking place there.