Lydia Litvyak

[Jim O]

Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak, (Лидия Владимировна Литвяк, August 18, 1921 – August 1, 1943), also known as Lydia Litvak or Lily Litvak, was a female fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during Second World War. With 12 victories, she is one of the world's only two female fighter aces, along with Katya Budanova.

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Born in Moscow, she was keen on aviation from her youth. At 14 she entered an aeroclub, and at 15 flew an aircraft for the first time. In the late 1930s she received her flight instructor licence.

After the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, she tried to voluntarily join a military aviation unit, but was turned down for lack of experience. After deliberately exaggerating her pre-war flight time by 100 hours of flight, she joined the all-female 586th Fighter Regiment (586 IAP), which was formed by Marina Raskova. She trained there on the Yakovlev Yak-1 aircraft.

She flew her first combat flights in the summer of 1942 over Saratov. In September, she was assigned, along with other women (including Katya Budanova), to the 437th IAP, fighting over Stalingrad. She flew a Lavochkin La-5 fighter, and on September 13, 1942 she shot down her first aircraft — a Junkers Ju 88 bomber, and a fighter plane. In the following months she shot down several further aircraft.

In late 1942 she was moved to the 9th Guards Fighter Regiment (9 GIAP), and in January 1943 to the 296th IAP, renamed later into the 73rd Guards Fighter Regiment. On February 23, she was awarded with a Red Star order. Two times she was forced to land due to battle damage, and she was also twice injured (on March 22 and July 16, 1943). In early 1943 she was made a 2nd Lieutenant. In the beginning of 1943 she married fighter ace Aleksey Solomatin, flying in 73rd GIAP, who was killed in crash-landing of plane damaged in action on May 21, 1943. Lydia became a famous press hero, but she also was physically and mentally worn out.

On August 1, 1943, Lydia's Yak-1b fighter was shot down during combat, and she went missing. She was 21 years old at that time. The authorities suspected she might have been captured, therefore they decided not to award her with a title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Only in 1979 was it determined that her aircraft had come down near Dmitrovka, a village in Shakhterski district and she had been killed in action. After further verification, on May 6, 1990, USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev posthumously awarded her "Hero of the Soviet Union" and promoted her to a full lieutenant. It's unclear if reported circumstances of her death are accurate.

There are conflict claims as to Litvyak's victory score in different publications, with no official records. Most often 11 individual kills and 3 team kills are quoted, but also 8 individual and 4 team, or other numbers. She also shot down an observation balloon on May 31, 1943. She was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star, and Order of the Patriotic War (twice).

She was also known as the White Rose of Stalingrad (in other sources as White Lily of Stalingrad, white lily may also be translated from Russian as Madonna lily). A play about her, White Rose, was performed once in the Belgrade Studio Theatre in Coventry.

Source: Wikipedia

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