Gomel. The House of pilots (Sovetskaya Street, 99).

Even during the First World War, the first aeronautical parks began to appear in Gomel. And in the 20s, a military airfield grew up in a larger field on the northern outskirts of the city, where aviation training camps began to be constantly held. In the summer of 1928, a unit of the future Hero of the Soviet Union Valery Chkalov took part in such exercises.

It was at the Gomel airfield that the special purpose flight detachment stood, which became the prototype of the Soviet assault aviation. The initiative to create it was taken by the then brigade commander Alexander Turzhansky. He served in Gomel from 1932 to 1936, and during his command, Gomel was one of the best aviation units of the Red Army. Honored test pilot Mark Gallai also called Gomel the birthplace of assault aviation.

It was for these brave pilots that the red brick house was built. Presumably, the building materials for it were produced nearby — there was a brick (clinker) factory on Shilova Street (then Prudkovskoe Highway).

There is also a legend that in August 1941, the House of Pilots became a powerful defense hub on the northern outskirts of the city. There was indeed an important communication intersection here — Sovetskaya, Kirova, and Prudkovsky Shosse streets. And a well-fortified building could well serve as a blockhouse to delay the enemy's advance. In any case, the walls of the Pilots' House still contain potholes, traces of enemy fragments.…