Pavel Argeyev


Pavel Vladimirovich Argeyev , also known as Paul d'Argueev and The Eagle of Crimea, was a Russian-born flying ace of World War I, serving the French Armée de l'Air and Imperial Russian Air Service. Initially a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Russian Army, he transferred to France where he became an aviator. He received a variety of decorations, both French and Russian, before dying in a flying accident in 1922.

Early life

Born in Yalta, Crimea in 1887 to an engineer of steamships named Vladimir Akimovich Argeyev and his wife, Argeyev graduated from the military academy in Odessa in 1907 and Odessa College in 1909 and joined the Imperial Russian Army as a sergeant in the 184th Reserve Infantry Regiment in Warsaw, Poland. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1912 and transferred to the 29th Chernigov Infantry Regiment, where he was made a lieutenant colonel.

Move to France

In 1914, on the outbreak of World War I, Argeyev resigned his Russian commission and moved to France, enlisting in the French Foreign Legion with the rank of lieutenant on September 12, 1914. As with many airmen, he chose first to enlist in the infantry. He was assigned to the 131st Infantry Regiment, and participated in the Battle of the Marne, in which he received a head injury but returned to the front in October. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre, followed by an appointment as a chevalier of the Legion d'honneur in May 1915. In the process of winning these honors, Argeyev was wounded thrice, on 23 September 1915, in April 1916, and again on 2 May 1916.

Career as a pilot

In January 1916, having been ruled unfit for infantry service due to his injuries, Argeyev requested a transfer to the Armée de l'Air. After training at Pau, he was enlisted as a pilot on January 30, 1916. After having accumulated flying hours on the Western Front with Escadrille N48, he returned to Russia and was made a Captain of the Imperial Russian Air Service, assigned to the 12th Fighter Detachment on October 20, 1916.
, as flown by Argeyev on the Eastern Front in 1917.
Argeyev's first victory came four months later, on the morning of January 10, 1917 where he downed an Albatros C.V. An uncredited victory came four months later, on the evening April 8, when he downed a Fokker near Mitau, in modern-day Latvia. His second official victory came at 9:45am on April 21, followed by his third on May 6, which he shared with Ernst Leman and Alexander Kazakov. He downed a Hansa-Brandenburg C.I near Berezhany, Ukraine in his Nieuport 17. He then scored three more victories in three months - an LVG C.II at Jēkabpils on May 17, another Hansa-Brandenburg C.I near Kozova on June 8, and finally a Rumpler C.I on June 20. Now he was a flying ace, having scored more than five victories.

Return to France

In May 1918, as the Russian Revolution raged on, Argeyev returned to France due to the hostile attitudes of the Bolsheviks towards the Tsar's officer corps. Enlisting once more in the Armée de l'Air, he was assigned to Escadrille SPA.124, where he would spend the rest of the war.
His first victory came only days after joining the squadron, when he downed an LVG C.II on June 1, 1918. Now flying a SPAD XIII, within the few months he spent in the French air force, he considerably expanded his victory score.
as flown by Argeyev in France in 1918.
Now sporting seven credited and one uncredited victory, he added two more on June 14 and 15 when he downed, respectively, a Rumpler C.I and another two-seater aircraft on successive days. He scored his tenth victory on June 26, another two-seater.
Despite downing no aircraft in July or August, in September 1918 he scored three victories, bringing his total to 13. Firstly, a Fokker D.VII north of Cerny on September 27, followed by two kills the day after, two two-seater aircraft near Séchault at 10:10am and 3:20pm. He again scored a double victory on October 5, albeit one of them uncredited - another two-seater north-east of Autry at 11:25am. However, he scored a credited victory in downing a Pfalz D.III at Orfeuil at 6:25pm.
His final victory of the war came on October 30, 1918, only 12 days before the end of the war. He scored a victory against a two-seater aircraft at 3.40pm near Quatre-Champs. By the end of hostilities, he had scored fifteen credited victories and two uncredited victories, making him Russia's third highest-scoring flying ace after Alexander Kazakov and Vasili Yanchenko.

Post-war and death

Reluctant to return to the USSR, he continued flying as a test pilot and was killed on October 20, 1922 near Trutnov, Czechoslovakia when his Potez aircraft crashed in the Sudetes mountains.

Honours and awards

"A Russian national who took command of a company in November. Has shown by his actions great alacrity and the highest energy. He has complete authority over his men. He was lightly wounded on 17 April 1915, but retained command of his company."

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I
Confirmed victories are numbered and listed chronologically. Unconfirmed victories are denoted by "u/c" and may or may not be listed by date.
No.Date/timeAircraftFoeResultLocationNotes
110 January 1917NieuportAlbatros reconnaissance craft
u/cMorning of 8 April 1917NieuportFokkerJelgava, present day Latvia
221 April 1917 past noonNieuportEnemy two-seater
36 May 1917 @ 0945 hoursNieuportHansa-Brandenburg C.IBerezhanyVictory shared with Alexander Kazakov, Ernst Leman, another pilot
417 May 1917NieuportLVG two-seaterJakobstadt, present day LatviaVictory shared with Alexander Kazakov
58 June 1917NieuportHansa-Brandenburg C.IVicinity of Kozova, UkraineVictory shared with Alexander Kazakov
620 June 1917NieuportRumpler reconnaissance craftVicinity of NejnokovVictory shared with Alexander Kazakov
71 June 1918Spad XIIILVG two-seaterBetween Puisieux and Beaumont, France
813 June 1918Spad XIIIRumpler two-seater
914 June 1918Spad XIIIEnemy two-seter
1026 June 1918Spad XIIIEnemy two-seater
1127 September 1918Spad XIIIFokker D.VIINorth of Cerny, France
1228 September 1918 @ 1010 hoursSpad XIIIEnemy two-seaterSéchault, France
1328 September 1918 @ 1520 hoursSpad XIIIEnemy two-seaterBetween Séchault and Laval
u/c5 October 1918 @ 1125 hoursSpad XIIIEnemy two-seaterNortheast of Autry
145 October 1918 @ 1815 hoursSpad XIIIPfalz fighterOrfeuil
1530 October 1918 @ 1540 hoursSpad XIIIEnemy two-seaterEast of Quatre-Champs, France

Endnotes