Latvian Army Aviation Regiment
I WW1, I Wars of Independence, Independence of the Baltic States, II WW2

VaiņodniekibūvēplanierikrmalāKrūzabērniblakus

Established as the Aviation Group on 7 June 1919, the regiment was known as the Aviation Park from September 1920 and Aviation Division from March 1921 to September 1926.

In 1939, the Aviation Regiment included the regiment’s headquarters in Riga, 8 operational squadrons (60 aircraft, 120 pilots and 80 specialists), a military aviation school, repair shops and a supply warehouse. Airfields and auxiliary airfields were located in Riga (at the Spilve Airport), in Rāmava, Jumpravmuiža (Rumbula Airport), Koknese, Gulbene and Krustpils (Krustpils Airport).

Maritime aviation bases were situated in Liepāja and Usma. After the occupation of Latvia, the Aviation Regiment was disbanded on 25 December 1940.

Related objects

Latvian military aviation aerodrome

Located in the territory of Vecgulbene manor - in the historical center.

In the interwar period, the garrison of the Latvian Army was located in Gulbene, where the 7th Sigulda Infantry Regiment Battalion was stationed. Aerodromes are especially important in places where important railway and road junctions have been established. In 1937, a newly established unit of the Aviation Regiment was stationed in Gulbene, which became the 6th Division of the Latgale Division Scouts, increasing the number of army units near the eastern border of Latvia.

The conservatory building is visible.

Gulbene County History and Art Museum

Located near Vecgulbene manor, Litenes street.

In the second half of the 1940s, the radar ornament of the Soviet army part No.75568 was deployed in the conservatory of Vecgulbene manor and in the adjacent manor house of the manor; In the late 1980s, they were transferred to Beļava Parish. The Soviet army left Gulbene in 1993.

There is a square with two artificial hills on Litenes Street.


Private collection of military objects and sewing machines

The only sewing machine collection in Latvia with more than 200 different sewing machines from the pre-war and Soviet periods, which played a direct role in the production of military clothing in the pre-war and war years. Collection creator - Juris Beloivans

Preiļi Museum of History and Applied Arts exhibition "Jāzeps Baško - air coachman"

It is located in Preiļi 1st primary school premises.

The exhibition "Jāzeps Baško - air driver" was created in 2014 and is dedicated to the 125th birthday of the outstanding local man, aviator, commander of the "Iļja Muromec" squadron, organizer of the Latvian Air Force, general Jāzeps Baško and the 100th anniversary of World War I. The exhibition of the museum's collection is designed as a design object - a 6-fold reduced model of the "Ilya Muromec" airplane, on which information can be found in the form of texts and images. The exhibition is enriched by deposits from the collections of the Latvian War Museum and newly acquired information from the Latvian State History Archive, the Spilve Aviation Museum and materials from the private archives of individual individuals.

Mandatory prior application by calling T. 65322731, T. 25640398. Tour in English and Russian is possible. You can go to the exhibition "Jāzeps Baško - Air Driver" from the Museum of History and Applied Arts.

Vaiņode air base

Vaiņode airfield still has 16 Soviet-era aircraft hangars and an 1800 m section of the once 2500 m long runway. The airfield can only be visited with a previous booking. Vaiņode airfield was established during the Latvian independence as one of the cradles of Latvian aviation and was later one of the largest military airfields in the Baltic States. In 1916, two hangars for German Army airships were built. Airships were used to gather intelligence and bomb the positions of the Russian Army. Later the city of Riga bought the airship hangars and used their roof structures to build the pavilions of the Riga Central Market. In May 1940, the 31st Fast Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Red Army moved to Vaiņode, and the construction of a standardized concrete slab runway began. At the end of the summer of 1944 the partially completed airfield was used by various German aviation units, however, at the end of World War II, the same airfield was used by the Red Army aviation units fighting the German Army group called ‘Kurzeme’. After World War II the Soviet Air Forces were stationed in Vaiņode until 1992.

Related stories

United Aviation Festival - a real national holiday

The narrator describes one of the most popular and widely attended events in Latvia - the Aviation Festival in Spilve. Describes the course and scope of the festival. The popularity of aviation in Latvia is emphasized.

The bombing of Rezekne in 1944

The bombing of Rēzekne took place at Easter 1944, and as a result a large part of the city's buildings were destroyed and dozens of civilians were killed, while several thousand more were left homeless. People who have experienced these events on their own skin and can tell us about them were children at the time. One of them is also the author of this story.