A Russian film crew is in Wellington researching a little-known Kiwi war hero awarded a rare medal by the former Soviet Union.
Wing Commander Henry Ramsbottom-Isherwood, who was born in Petone in 1905, led a RAF fighter wing from inside the Arctic circle at Murmansk after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.
Russian state television company Rossiya-1, which broadcasts to up to 140 million Russians, is making a documentary and book that will include his story as part of a section on how New Zealand helped the Soviet Union during World War II.
Correspondent Kirill Kiryanov said Mr Ramsbottom-Isherwood "did a lot" for Russia.
"Russians don't know about him ... He destroyed many German planes."
The wing's mission was to train Russian pilots and ground crew in how to fly and maintain British Hurricanes, the BBC has reported.
The Hurricanes, flown by both British and Russian pilots, engaged the Luftwaffe's Me 109s and JU 88s above Murmansk.
Most of the aircraft went on to fight in the defence of Leningrad.
Cousin David Ramsbottom-Isherwood, 85, from Christchurch, said his cousin was a good man.
He took him for his first flight above Blenheim when he was in his early teens. "That was great."
Mr Ramsbottom-Isherwood is one of only four non-Russians to receive the Order of Lenin medal.
His medal was found by his daughter when she was clearing out her house in England. It was later sold at auction, among other medals, for $95,000.
Mr Ramsbottom-Isherwood died in 1950 when his Gloster Meteor jet fighter crashed near Tonbridge in Kent in bad weather, the BBC said.