Pavel Martynov exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Azerbaijani scientists believe their military history is terra incognita – in the USSR they were forbidden to cross certain time limits and they had to pay attention only to the history of the Soviet army. Only now we discover names of the Azerbaijani people who fought for the Russian Empire. More than three thousand Azerbaijani soldiers, about two hundred officers and top commanders fought on battlefields of the First World War. One of them was young Farruh Gaibov.
Farruh’s father Mamed Kerim Aga served as a junker in the 4th Muslim troop in the Lifeguard of the Caucasus His Majesty Escort. Soon after his son was born (October 2nd, 1891) Mamed Kerim Aga died, and the boy was raised by his uncle, the prominent Azerbaijani social activist Samed Aga Gaibov.
After five years in the Russian-Azeri school, Farruh entered Tiflis Cadet Corps and later Konstantin Artillery College on Ali Aga Shikhlinsky’s advice.
When he graduated from the artillery college, Gaibov was sent to the artillery wing of a residence called Jelaus near Kars, where he was appointed officer of a squadron. When the First World War began, Farruh was sent to the Western front, to an airship squadron. He saw the Ilya Muromets biplane for the first time there. By the beginning of the war in August 1914 the Imperial Air Forces had only four such planes, but by New Year Emperor ordered to establish the squadron which became the first bomber aircraft unit in the world. The only aviator who could drive the Ilya Muromets was Igor Sikorsky; others were skeptical about the idea of heavy aviation. Gaibov was one of few who were enthusiastic about new aircrafts. He learned fast and began to attack enemy’s camps, depots, communications, and stations, being an artillery officer.
Farruh fulfilled such functions as bombing, gun firing, taking photos of the enemy’s dispositions. Gaibov destroyed a very important bridge across the Neman River in his very first flight.
On September 12, 1916, a group of Russian aircrafts, including Gaibov’s Ilya Muromets, attacked back areas of German positions where the headquarters of the 89th German Division was situated, as well as artillery depots and an aerodrome. Various targets were destroyed by precise strikes; railway stations, vehicles, and other important facilities were set on fire. But soon German Albatrosses flew toward the Russian squadron. There was an air fight. Germans separated the Ilya Muromets from other aircrafts. For an hour the crew of the Muromets fought against four German planes. Farruh’s gun damaged the Albatrosses significantly, but one of German aircrafts shot the Ilya Muromets which crashed. The crew died in the fire.
The Russian commend admitted that the first Azerbaijani artillerist aviator 25-year old Gaibov contributed a lot to the success of the operation and was awarded the Order of Saint George posthumously.
