| Mass grave in the village of Dmitrovka | ||
| Monument in the Red Beam | ||
| Gymnasium in Krasny Luch | ||
| Memorial sign in the Red Beam | ||
| Annotation board in the Red Beam |
Lidia Vladimirovna Litvyak - flight commander of the 3rd squadron of the 73rd Guards Stalingrad Fighter Aviation Regiment (6th Guards Don Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army, Southern Front), Guards Junior Lieutenant.
She was born on August 18, 1921 in Moscow. From the family of a railroad worker. Russian. Member of the Komsomol since 1939. She graduated from high school.
In 1935 she entered the Kirov flying club. After graduating from the Kherson Aviation School for Instructor Pilots, she worked at the Kalinin Aeroclub. Soon became one of the best instructors. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War trained 45 pilots.
In January 1942, having learned that a female fighter aviation regiment was being formed, Lydia attributed 100 hours to the available flight time and was drafted into the Red Army. From January 1942 - pilot of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment (144th Fighter Aviation Division, Saratov-Balashovsky air defense divisional area). In the sky, Saratov carried out 55 sorties, in the group she shot down 1 Ju-88 bomber.
In August 1942, she was transferred to the active army and enrolled in the 287th Fighter Aviation Division. In early September, she was transferred to the 437th Fighter Aviation Regiment (287th Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army, South-Eastern Front). Mastered the La-5 fighter. On September 13, in the second sortie in the sky of Stalingrad, she opened the account of her victories in the new regiment: she shot down a Ju-88 bomber and a Me-109 fighter. September 27 in an air battle from a distance of 30 meters hit the Ju-88. Then, together with R. Belyaeva, she shot down Me-109. At the end of the month, she was transferred to a separate women's unit organized at the division headquarters.
Soon she was transferred to the regiment of aces - the 9th Guards Odessa Fighter Aviation Regiment, commanded by the Hero of the Soviet Union. A short but noticeable stay in the regiment of Lily Litvyak, her technique of Inna Pasportnikova remained in the memory of the guards for a long time. The school of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment tempered the brave female pilots and improved their combat skills. So, at the end of December 1942, Litvyak destroyed a Do-217 bomber not far from her airfield. Their glory was crowned with new military victories even after being transferred to another regiment of the same division. By that time, Litvyak already had 6 air victories on his account.
On February 11, 1943, the commander of the 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Major N.I. Baranov, led four fighters into battle. And again, as in September, Lydia shot down 2 aircraft - personally Ju-88 and in the FW-190 group. In one of the battles, her Yak-1 was hit and Lydia made an emergency landing on enemy territory. Jumping out of the cab, she, shooting back, rushed to run from the approaching German soldiers. But the distance between them was rapidly shrinking. Now the last cartridge was left in the barrel ... And suddenly our attack aircraft swept over the heads of the enemy. Pouring fire on the German soldiers, he forced them to rush to the ground. Then, releasing the landing gear, he glided next to Lida and stopped. Without getting out of the plane, the pilot desperately waved his hands. The girl rushed towards the pilot, squeezed into the pilot's lap, the plane took off and soon Lydia was in the regiment.
In March, the situation in the air became even more complicated. On March 22, in the Rostov-on-Don region, Litvyak participated in the interception of a Ju-88 group. During a long and difficult battle, she managed to shoot down one Junkers. At this time, the six Me-109s, which came to the aid of the Junkers, went on the attack on the move. Lydia noticed them first and, in order to thwart a sudden blow, she stood alone in their path. The deadly carousel spun for 15 minutes. With great difficulty, the wounded pilot brought the crippled fighter home. Reporting that the task was completed, she lost consciousness ...
After treatment in the hospital, she went to Moscow, giving a receipt that she would be treated at home within a month. But a week later, Lydia returned to the regiment. On May 5, not yet fully strengthened, Litvyak flew out to escort a group of bombers. During the departure, an air battle ensued and Lydia shot down an enemy fighter. Two days later, she shot down another Messer.
At the end of May, on the sector of the front where the regiment operated, a balloon spotter of artillery fire appeared. Repeated attempts to shoot down this "sausage", covered by strong anti-aircraft fire and fighters, did not lead to anything. Lydia solved the problem. Having taken off, it passed along the front line to the side, then went deep into the rear of the enemy and entered the balloon from the depths of enemy territory, from the direction of the sun. The swift attack lasted less than one minute!.. For this brilliant victory, Junior Lieutenant Litvyak was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
On May 21, Lydia Litvyak's husband, a pilot of the same regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union, guard captain, died in a heavy battle. For Lydia, the death of her husband was a heavy blow.
On July 16, 1943, she flew out as part of a six to escort attack aircraft. In the area of the front line, our fighters entered into battle with 30 bombers, accompanied by 6 Messerschmitts, who tried to strike at our ground forces. In this battle, Litvyak personally shot down the Junkers and was paired with a Me-109 wingman, but she herself was wounded. On the demand to go to be treated, she answered with a categorical refusal.
By that time, the name of the brave pilot was already well known in the 8th Air Army. The command allowed Litvyak to fly for "free hunting". On the hood of her Yak-1, she painted a bright white lily, visible from afar. More than once she had to accompany our attack aircraft and bombers. In one of the sorties, she shot down a Me-109, a couple of days later - another fight. Fighting off 3 Me-109s, Lydia came to the aid of her commander I. Golyshev, who was attacked by four Messers. A well-aimed turn overtook the enemy car. But her plane was also shot down. Pursued to the very ground, she managed to land her "Yak" on the fuselage. The infantrymen watching the battle covered her landing with fire. They were delighted to learn that a girl turned out to be a fearless pilot.
August 1, 1943 Lydia Litvyak did not return from a combat mission. On this fateful day, she made 3 sorties. In one of them, paired with a wingman, she shot down a Me-109. On the fourth sortie, six Yak-1s, having entered into battle with a group of 30 Ju-88s and 12 Me-109s, started a deadly whirlwind. And now the Junkers is on fire, the Messer is falling apart. Coming out of another dive, Lydia saw that the enemy was leaving. Our six also gathered. Clinging to the upper edge of the clouds, they went home. Suddenly, a Messer jumped out of a white veil and, before diving back into the clouds, managed to fire a burst at the leader of the third pair with tail number 23. The Yak seemed to have failed, but the pilot apparently tried to level it near the ground ... In In any case, this is what Lydia's wingman in this battle, Alexander Evdokimov, told his comrades. This gave birth to the hope that she was alive.
A search for her was urgently organized. However, neither the plane nor the pilot could be found. After the death in one of the battles of Sergeant Evdokimov, who knew in which area Lidin "Yak" fell, the official search was stopped.
During the participation in hostilities since August 1942, she made 168 sorties, in 89 air battles she personally shot down 11 and as part of a group 3 enemy aircraft (according to other sources, 6 personal and 5 group victories), destroyed 2 spotter balloons.
Describing her as an air fighter, the former commander of the 273rd (31st Guards) Fighter Aviation Regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union, recalled: “She was a born pilot. She had a special talent as a fighter, she was bold and decisive, inventive and cautious. She could see the air...
Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak was presented by the command of the regiment to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. Soon one of the previously shot down pilots returned from enemy territory. He reported that, according to local residents, our fighter jet had landed on the road near the village of Marinovka. The pilot turned out to be a girl - blond, small in stature. A car with German officers approached the plane, and the girl left with them ... Most of the aviators did not believe the rumor and continued to try to find out the fate of Lydia. But the shadow of suspicion had already gone beyond the regiment and reached the higher headquarters. The command of the division, having shown "caution", did not approve Litvyak's submission to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, limiting himself to the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
Once, at the moment of revelation, Lydia said to the aircraft mechanic, her friend: “Most of all I am afraid of missing out. Anything but this." There were good reasons for such concern. Lida's father was arrested and shot as an "enemy of the people" in 1937. The girl perfectly understood what it means to her, the daughter of a repressed person, to go missing. No one and nothing will save her honest name. Fate played a cruel joke with her, preparing just such a fate.
But they searched for Lydia, they searched stubbornly. Back in the summer of 1946, the commander of the 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment I. Zapryagaev sent several people to the Marinovka area by car to search for her trace. Unfortunately, Litvyak's brother-soldiers were literally a few days late. The wreckage of the Lida "Yak" had already been destroyed ... In 1968, the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" made an attempt to restore the honest name of the pilot. In 1971, young pathfinders of school No. 1 of the city of Krasny Luch joined the search. In the summer of 1979, their search was crowned with success. Being in the area of the Kozhevnya farm, the guys learned that in the summer of 1943 a Soviet fighter plane crashed on its outskirts. The pilot wounded in the head was a woman. She was buried in the village of Dmitrovka, Shakhtyorsky district, Donetsk region, in a mass grave. It was Lydia Litvyak, which was confirmed by the course of further investigations.
In July 1988, in Litvyak's personal file, the entry "disappeared" was finally replaced by "died while performing a combat mission." The veterans of the regiment in which she fought renewed their petition to award her the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
By Decree of the President of the USSR of May 5, 1990, for the courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, Guards Senior Lieutenant Lidvyak Lydia Vladimirovna awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
Order of Lenin No. 460056 and medal " Golden Star» No. 11616 were handed over to the relatives of the deceased Hero for safekeeping.
She was awarded the Orders of Lenin (05/05/1990, posthumously), the Red Banner (07/22/1943), the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (09/10/1943, posthumously), the Red Star (02/17/1943), the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" (1943) .
In the city of Moscow, at house No. 14 on Novoslobodskaya Street, in which the Hero lived and from where she went to the front, a memorial plaque was erected. The memorial plate is installed on the memorial at the burial site, in the village of Dmitrovka, Shakhtyorsky district, Donetsk region. The name of L.V. Litvyak was given to the gymnasium No. 1 of the city of Krasny Luch, Luhansk region (Ukraine). a monument was erected in front of the gymnasium building.
At her request, a white lily was painted on the fuselage of the Litvyak aircraft. "White Lily-44" (according to the tail number of the aircraft) became her radio call sign. And from now on, she herself began to be called the "White Lily of Stalingrad." Soon Lydia was transferred to the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, where the best pilots served, then to the 296th IAP.
One day her own plane was shot down and she had to land in the territory occupied by the Germans. She miraculously escaped capture: one of the attack pilots opened fire on the Nazis, and when they lay down, hiding from the shelling, he went down to the ground and took the girl on board.
On February 23, 1943, Lydia Litvyak was awarded the Order of the Red Star for military merit. By that time, in addition to a white lily, eight bright red stars flaunted on the fuselage of her Yak - according to the number of aircraft shot down in battles.
On March 22, in the Rostov-on-Don region, during a group battle with German bombers, Lydia was seriously wounded in the leg, but still managed to land the damaged aircraft. She was sent home from the hospital to recover, but a week later she returned to the regiment. She flew in tandem with squadron commander Alexei Solomatin, covering him during attacks. A feeling arose between the comrades, and in April of the 43rd Lydia and Alexei signed.
In May 1943, Litvyak shot down several more enemy planes and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. But fate prepared two heavy blows for her at once. On May 21, her husband Alexei Solomatin was killed in battle. And July 18 - best friend Ekaterina Budanova.
But there was no time to mourn. In late July - early August, the 43rd Litvyak had to take part in heavy battles to break through the German defenses on the Mius River. On August 1, Lydia made four sorties. During the fourth flight, her plane was hit by a German fighter, but did not immediately fall to the ground, but disappeared into the clouds ...
Lydia Litvyak, the most productive woman- the fighter of the Second World War, according to the memoirs of colleagues, was a model of femininity and charm. A short blond girl was very reserved about the enthusiastic looks and words of fellow soldiers and, which especially impressed the pilots, did not give preference to anyone. The main thing for her was the fight against fascism, and she gave all her strength to this.
Lilia Litvyak was born on August 18, 1921 in Moscow. At the age of 14 she entered the flying club, at 15 she made her first solo flight. Then she studied at the courses of geologists, participated in an expedition to the Far North.
After graduating from the Kherson pilot school, she became one of the best instructors of the Kalinin flying club. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, she managed to "put on the wing" 45 cadets - future air fighters.
From the first days of the war, Litvyak tried to get to the front. And when she found out that the famous pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova began to form women's air regiments, she quickly achieved her goal. Having cheated, she managed to attribute 100 hours to the available flight time and get an appointment in Marina Raskova's air group.
Senior sergeant Inna Pasportnikova, who during the war years was an aircraft technician for Lydia Litvyak, recalls:
"In October 1941, when we were still training at the training base near Engels, during the construction, Lilya was ordered to go out of action. She was in winter form, and we all saw that she cut off the tops of her fur boots to make a fashionable collar for a flight suit. Our commander Marina Raskova asked when she did it, and Lilya answered: "At night..."
Raskova said that the next night Lilya, instead of sleeping, would open the collar and sew the fur back onto the high boots. In addition, they also arrested her, put her in a separate room, and she really did the reverse alteration of the fur all night.
This was the first time that other women paid attention to Lily, because no one had even noticed this short, petite girl before. At 20, she was so thin, pretty and very similar to the actress Serova, who was popular in those years. Strange thing: there was a war, and this little girl with blond hair was thinking about some kind of fur collar ... "
The brave pilot made her first sorties as part of the 586th female fighter aviation regiment in the spring of 1942 in the sky of Saratov, covering the Volga from enemy air raids. From April 15 to September 10, 1942, she performed 35 sorties to patrol and escort transport aircraft with important cargo.
September 10, 1942, as part of the same regiment, arrived at Stalingrad and in a short period of time made 10 sorties.
On September 13, in the second sortie to cover Stalingrad, she opened her combat account. First, she shot down a Ju-88 bomber, then, helping out her friend Raya Belyaeva, who ran out of ammunition, took her place and, after a stubborn duel, knocked out the Me-109.
At the end of September, she achieved a transfer as part of a group of female pilots to the 437th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which defended the sky of Stalingrad.
The female fighter unit did not last long. Its commander, senior lieutenant R. Belyaeva, was soon shot down and, after a forced parachute jump, was treated for a long time. Following her, M. Kuznetsova was out of action due to illness. Only 2 pilots remained in the regiment: L. Litvyak and E. Budanova. It was they who achieved the highest results in battles. Soon Lydia shot down another Junkers.
Since October 10, the female couple has been under operational control of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Already 3 downed German aircraft, of which one - she personally had when she came to the regiment Soviet aces. A short but noticeable stay in the regiment of Lily Litvyak, her technique of Inna Pasportnikova and Katya Budanova remained in the memory of the Guards for a long time.
In those days, the main task of the girls was to cover the strategically important front-line center (the city of Zhitvur), escorting transport aircraft. Litvyak flew 58 such sorties.
For the excellent performance of the tasks of the command, Lydia was enrolled in the group of "free hunters" for enemy aircraft. Arriving at the forward airfield, she completed 5 sorties and conducted 5 air battles. The school of the 9th Guards IAP tempered the brave female pilots and improved their combat skills.
Their glory was also crowned with new military victories after the transfer on January 8, 1943 to the 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment. By February, Litvyak had completed 16 sorties to escort attack aircraft, reconnaissance of enemy troops and cover our ground forces.
On February 5, 1943, the command of the 296th IAP, Sergeant L.V. Litvyak, was presented for the first award - the Order of the Red Star.
On February 11, 1943, the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel N. I. Baranov, led four fighters into battle. And again, as in September 1942, Lida won a double victory: she personally shot down a Ju-88 bomber and, in a group, an FW-190 fighter.
In one of the battles, her "Yak" was hit and Lydia made an emergency landing on enemy territory. Jumping out of the cab, she, shooting back, rushed to run from the German soldiers approaching her.
But the distance between them was rapidly shrinking. Now the last cartridge was left in the barrel ... And suddenly our attack aircraft swept over the heads of the enemy. Pouring fire on the German soldiers, he forced them to rush to the ground. Then, releasing the landing gear, he glided next to Lida and stopped. Without getting out of the plane, the pilot desperately waved his hands. The girl rushed to meet the pilot, squeezed into the pilot's lap, the plane took off and soon Lida was in the regiment...
February 23, 1943 Litvyak was awarded a new military award - the Order of the Red Star. A little earlier, on December 22, 1942, she was awarded the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad".
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In the spring, the situation in the air became even more complicated. On April 22, in the sky of Rostov, she participated in the interception of a group of 12 Ju-88s and shot down one of them. The six Me-109s, which came to the aid of the Junkers, immediately went on the attack. Lydia noticed them first and, in order to thwart a sudden blow, she stood alone in their path. The deadly carousel spun for 15 minutes. With great difficulty, the pilot, who was wounded in the leg, brought the crippled "Yak" home. Reporting that the task was completed, she lost consciousness ...
After a short treatment in the hospital, she went to Moscow, giving a receipt that she would be treated at home within a month. But a week later, Lydia returned to the regiment.
On May 5, not yet fully strengthened, Litvyak flew out to escort a group of Pe-2 bombers to the Stalino area. In the target area, our group was attacked by enemy fighters. In the ensuing battle, Lydia attacked and shot down a Me-109 fighter.
In April 1943, the very popular Ogonyok magazine placed on the first page (cover) a photo of fighting girlfriends - Lydia Litvyak and Ekaterina Budanova and a short explanation: "These brave girls shot down 12 enemy aircraft."
At the end of May, on the sector of the front where the regiment operated, the Germans effectively used a spotter balloon. Repeated attempts to shoot down this "sausage", covered by strong anti-aircraft fire and fighters, did not lead to anything.
Lydia solved the problem. On May 31, having risen into the air, she passed along the front line to the side, then deepened behind enemy lines and entered the balloon from the depths of enemy territory, from the side of the sun. The fleeting attack lasted less than one minute!.. For this brilliant victory, Junior Lieutenant Litvyak received gratitude from the Commander of the 44th Army.
By that time, the name of Lydia Litvyak was already well known not only in the 8th Air Army. The command allowed Lida to fly "free hunting". On the hood of her "Yak" Litvyak drew a bright, visible from afar, white lily.
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On July 16, 1943, escorting a group of IL-2s to the front line, six of our Yaks began a battle with the enemy. 30 "Junkers" and 6 "Messers" tried to strike at our troops, but their plan was thwarted. In this battle, Litvyak personally shot down one enemy Ju-88 bomber and knocked out a Me-109 fighter. But her plane was also shot down. Pursued by the enemy to the very ground, she managed to land her "Yak" on the fuselage. The infantrymen watching the battle covered her landing with fire. They were delighted to learn that a girl turned out to be a fearless pilot. Despite the slight shrapnel wounds to the leg and shoulder, she categorically refused the demand to go for treatment.
On July 20, 1943, the command of the 73rd Guards Stalingrad Fighter Aviation Regiment, the commander of the Guards, Junior Lieutenant L. V. Litvyak, was presented to the Order of the Red Banner. By that time, according to the award document, she had completed more than 140 sorties, shot down personally 5 and as part of a group of 4 enemy aircraft, as well as 1 observation balloon.
On August 1, 1943, the flight commander of the 3rd squadron of the 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Guards, junior lieutenant L.V. Litvyak did not return from a combat mission.
According to the last award document dated August 8, 1943, Lydia Litvyak made 150 sorties. In air battles, she personally shot down 6 enemy aircraft (1 Ju-87, 3 Ju-88, 2 Me-109) and 1 spotter balloon, as part of the group she shot down 6 more aircraft and 2 knocked out. [ M. Yu. Bykov in his research indicates 4 personal and 3 group victories. ]
The brave pilot was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Red Star.
Describing her as an air fighter, the former commander of the 273rd IAP, with whom Lida had to fight for some time, Boris Eremin recalled:
"She was a born pilot. She had a special talent as a fighter, she was bold and decisive, inventive and cautious. She knew how to see the air."
On that fateful day, she made 3 sorties. In one of them, paired with a wingman, she shot down a Me-109. On the 4th sortie, a group of 9 Yaks, having entered into battle with 30 Ju-88 bombers and 12 Me-109 fighters, started a deadly whirlwind. And now the Junkers shot down by someone is on fire, then the Messer is falling apart. Coming out of another dive, Lydia saw that the enemy was leaving. Our group also got together. Clinging to the upper edge of the clouds, the pilots flew home.
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Yak-1B L. V. Litvyak - her last car. 73rd Guards IAP, summer 1943.
Suddenly, the Messer jumped out of the white veil and, before diving back into the clouds, managed to fire a burst at the leader of the 3rd pair with tail number "23". Lidin "Yak" seemed to have failed, but the pilot, apparently, tried to level it near the ground ... In any case, Alexander Evdokimov, Lidia's wingman in this battle, told his comrades so. This gave birth to the hope that Lida remained alive.
A search for her was urgently organized. However, neither the pilot nor her aircraft could be found. After the death of Sergeant Evdokimov in one of the battles, who alone knew in which particular area Lidin "Yak" fell, the official search was stopped.
It was then that the pilot Lidia Vladimirovna Litvyak was posthumously presented by the command of the regiment to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The front-line newspaper "Red Banner" dated March 7, 1944 wrote about her as a fearless falcon, a pilot who was known to all the soldiers of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
Soon one of the previously shot down pilots returned from enemy territory. He reported that, according to local residents, our fighter jet had landed on the road near the village of Marinovka. The pilot turned out to be a girl - blond, small in stature. A car with German officers approached the plane, and the girl left with them...
Here is what fighter pilot Dmitry Panteleevich Panov writes in his memoirs:
"Women aviators were a real barbarity. Not only that, as you know, at airfields - open spaces, it is not so easy for a woman to go for a small or big need, which male pilots decide relatively simply. Moreover, there are no amenities on the planes. For pilots, they even sewed overalls of a special cut with a detachable lower part. And the monthly cycles, during which a woman should not even be allowed close to the plane, were of no interest to our fathers-commanders at all. Such was the real practice of women's participation in the aviation craft in peacetime.
It was no better in the war. We took a sip of grief, in particular, with Lily Litvyak, who had to be made a heroine and, God forbid, let the Messers devour her. It was not easy to achieve this if Lilya, judging by her maneuvers in the air, often had a poor idea of where and why she was flying. It ended up that Lilya was shot down in the Donetsk region and she jumped out with a parachute. Our pilots, who were captured along with Lily, said that they saw her driving around the city in a car with German officers ... "
Most of the aviators did not believe the rumor and continued to try to find out the fate of Lydia. But the shadow of suspicion had already gone beyond the regiment and reached the higher headquarters. The command, showing "caution", did not approve Litvyak's submission to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, limiting himself to the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
Once, at the moment of revelation, Lydia said to the aircraft mechanic, her friend: "Most of all I am afraid of missing out. Anything but this." There were good reasons for such concern. Lida's father was arrested and shot as an "enemy of the people" in 1937. The girl perfectly understood what it means to her, the daughter of a repressed person, to go missing. No one and nothing will save her honest name.
Fate played a cruel joke with her, preparing just such a fate. But they searched for Lydia, searched long and hard. Back in the summer of 1946, the commander of the 73rd Guards IAP, Ivan Zapryagaev, sent several people by car to the Marinovka area to search for her trace. Unfortunately, Litvyak's brother-soldiers were literally a few days late. The wreckage of Lida's "Yak" had already been destroyed...
In 1968, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper made an attempt to restore the honest name of the pilot. In 1971, young pathfinders of school No. 1 of the city of Krasny Luch joined the search. In the summer of 1979, their search was crowned with success!
Being in the area of the Kozhevnya farm, the guys learned that in the summer of 1943 a Soviet fighter plane crashed on its outskirts. The pilot wounded in the head was a woman. She was buried in the village of Dmitrievka, Mining District, in a mass grave. It was Lida, which was confirmed by the course of further investigations.
In July 1988, the name of Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak was immortalized at her burial place, and the veterans of the regiment in which she fought renewed their petition to award her the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. And justice triumphed - after almost half a century, by the Decree of the President of the USSR of May 5, 1990, this title was awarded to her! The Order of Lenin No. 460056 and the Gold Star medal No. 11616 were deposited with the relatives of the deceased Heroine.
In Moscow, at house number 14 on Novoslobodskaya Street, in which the Heroine lived and from where she went to the front, a memorial plaque was erected. The memorial plate is installed on the memorial at the burial site, in the village of Dmitrievka, Snezhnyansky district, Donetsk region.
At all times, war was considered the lot of men. And as for the fighting in the sky - even more so. And today on military fighters you can meet only representatives of the strong half of humanity. Overload here for a person is literally prohibitive. And the reaction of these professionals should be almost lightning fast, because the time allotted for making a decision is sometimes measured in fractions of seconds. In addition, the pilot must thoroughly study all specifications your car to know what it is capable of in critical situations.
That is why it is quite difficult to imagine that a sweet, fragile blond girl is sitting at the helm of a high-speed fighter. But nevertheless, given the experience of fighting in the Great Patriotic War, this is possible. During that harsh time, any exceptions were not surprising. One of them is fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak. It will be discussed in this article.
heroic girl
Looking at the black-and-white photographs of the war years with Lydia Litvyak, we see a miniature fair-haired beauty on them. A girl with such an appearance would not be difficult to become a popular actress. And then her fate would have been completely different. She would have been waiting for social events, glasses of cold champagne, crispy baskets with caviar and photographers for whom she would pose in fur boas and hung with diamonds. And this would be quite possible, because Lydia Litvyak outwardly resembled Valentina Serova, who was considered the “third great blonde” of the Soviet state after Lyubov Orlova and Marina Ladynina.
However, the fate of our heroine was completely different. She had her own list of victories, but not on the stage or on the movie screen. Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak during 8 months of her heroic service in Soviet aviation flew 168 sorties. At the same time, she fought enemy fighters 89 times, shot down 11 German aircraft and one spotter balloon. So impressive is the list of victories of the most charming and feminine pilot of the USSR, who defended the country during the Great Patriotic War. And this is when many men, being at the helm of their fighters, for the entire time of combat tests could not shoot down a single enemy aircraft, or at best only one or two.
Ace pilot from the USSR Lida Litvyak achieved several group and dozens of individual victories. The young girl, who looked like a fragile student, had a spectacular and aggressive air combat style. This allowed her to enter the lists of the elite combat aviation, which is part of the anti-Hitler coalition.
Biography
Lidia Vladimirovna Litvyak was born in Moscow on August 18, 1921. Subsequently, she was incredibly proud that her birthday coincided with the All-Union Aviation Day. For some reason, the girl did not like her name. That is why all the family, as well as close friends, called her Lily or Lily. Under this name, she later went down in history.
Lydia (Liliya) Litvyak was madly in love with airplanes and the sky. However, in those years, no one was surprised. On the contrary, the fact that a simple Soviet girl dreamed not of a career as a movie star, but of OSOAVIAKHIM was quite natural. After all, the party and the government of the USSR sought to attract young people to aviation.
Lydia Litvyak kept pace with her era. She easily and quite consciously exchanged the game of dolls for a flying circle, and dresses and high heels for a flying helmet and overalls. The girl was not only fond of the sky. She aspired to master. That is why at the age of 14 she became a member of the Central Aeroclub. Chkalov. At first, the parents did not know anything about it. But it was impossible to hide the intense interest in such an unusual profession for a woman for a long time. A year later, at the age of 15, the girl for the first time independently rose into the sky.
After graduating from school, Lydia Litvyak entered the courses of geologists, after which she was sent to the Far North, and then to the south. Here she returned to flying.
Lydia (Liliya) Litvyak became a cadet at the Kherson Flight School. it educational institution she graduated successfully. After that, she became an instructor pilot and, in the period before the start of the war with the Nazis, she managed to train 45 cadets. Colleagues said that she had the ability to see the air.
A family
Where the parents of Lydia Litvyak come from is not completely known. After civil war they moved from the village to Moscow. The girl's mother's name was Anna Vasilievna, but history is also silent about who and where she worked. It is only known that the woman was either a dressmaker or worked in a store. The father of the pilot Lydia Litvyak is briefly mentioned in all sources, as well as the mother. There is only evidence that his name was Vladimir Leontievich, and his place of work was Railway. In 1937, Lydia Litvyak's father was arrested on a false denunciation and then shot. Of course, the girl did not tell anyone about this. In those years, the status of the daughter of an enemy of the people could radically change her fate. And this was not at all what the 15-year-old girl, who was literally delirious about aviation, did not want.
fateful decision
The biography of the pilot Lydia Litvyak developed in such a way that she had to take part in the hostilities. After all, the enemy attacked her homeland. However, she did not get to the front immediately. Soviet authorities they did not want to allow young Komsomol girls into the ranks of the regular troops. They could only be there as nurses. However, life has made its own adjustments.
Many girls dreamed of being on the front line. This required the decision of the Commander-in-Chief himself. He was achieved. This pilot was one of the first three women awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Raskova flew to extreme conditions and set records in the sky. Qualification, experience and energy brought her prestige in the air force. Thanks to this, the famous pilot was able to personally ask Stalin for permission to form women's combat units. It was useless to resist the brave girls. In addition, the Soviet army suffered huge losses not only on the ground, but also in the air. That is why in October 1941 the formation of three women's air regiments began at once. From the very first days of the war, pilot Lydia Litvyak (her photo is posted below) tried to get to the front.
After she became aware that Marina Raskova began to form women's air regiments, she immediately achieved her goal. However, the girl had to cheat. By her flying time, she attributed 100 hours, thanks to which she was enlisted in the fighter regiment at number 586, which was headed by Marina Raskova herself.
Fighting character
An enterprising and energetic pilot appeared in Soviet aviation. At the same time, Lydia Litvyak was distinguished by a somewhat wayward character. For the first time, her tendency to take risks was noticed during training, when the women's air regiment was based near the city of Engels. Here one of the planes crashed. In order to take to the air, he needed a spare propeller. However, it was impossible to deliver this part. At this time, flights were prohibited due to a blizzard. But that didn't stop Lydia. She arbitrarily, without obtaining permission, flew to the scene of the accident. For this, she received a reprimand from the head of the aviation school. But Raskova said she was proud that she had such a brave student. Most likely, an experienced pilot saw traits of her own character in Litvyak.
But problems with discipline in Lida sometimes manifested themselves in a completely different area. So, once she made a fashionable collar for her jumpsuit. To do this, she had to cut the fur from the fur boots. In this case, she did not wait for Raskova's indulgence. Lydia had to change the fur back.
Nevertheless, the girl did not lose her love for various accessories even at the front. She cut scarves using parachute silk and altered balaclavas, which in her skillful hands became more elegant and comfortable. Even while under fire, Lida was not only an excellent fighter, but also managed to remain an attractive girl.
But as for the level of aerobatics, there were no complaints against Litvyak. Together with the rest of the girls, she perfectly maintained the accelerated pace of training, which included daily twelve-hour training. The rigidity of the preparation was explained quite simply. The pilots soon had to engage in battle with the enemy, who was smart and did not forgive mistakes. Upon graduation, Lydia Litvyak perfectly passed the piloting of the “hawk” (Yak aircraft), which allowed her to get into the war.
The beginning of the combat biography
Being part of the 586th air regiment, Lydia Litvyak (photo below) first took to the skies in the spring of 1942. At this time Soviet troops fought in Saratov. The task of our aviation was to protect the Volga from German bombers.
In 1942, pilot Lydia Litvyak made 35 sorties between April 15 and September 10, during which she patrolled and escorted transport aircraft carrying important cargo.
Battle of Stalingrad
The aviation regiment, which included fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak, was transferred to Stalingrad on September 10, 1942. In a short period of time, the brave girl rose into the sky 10 times. During her second combat flight, which took place on September 13, she was able to open a personal combat account. First, she shot down a Ju-88 bomber. After that, the girl rushed to the rescue of her friend Raya Belyaeva, who ran out of ammunition. Lydia Litvyak took her place in the battle and, as a result of a stubborn duel, destroyed the Me-109. The pilot on this plane was a German baron. By that time, he had already won 30 victories in the sky and was a holder of the Knight's Cross. Being captured and being interrogated, he wished to see the one who defeated him in the sky. A blue-eyed, fragile, tender blond girl came to the meeting. The German thought that the Russians were mocking him. But after Lydia, with the help of gestures, showed the details of the battle, known only to the two of them, the baron removed the gold watch from his hand and handed it to the girl who overthrew him from heaven.
On September 27, the brave pilot, being only thirty meters from Yu-88, was able to hit an enemy car.
And even participating in military operations, the pilot allowed herself to misbehave. Having made a successful sortie , in the presence of fuel in the tank, before landing at her native airfield, she twisted aerobatics over it. Such jokes were one of her calling cards. The regiment commander did not punish her for such entertainment, because the girl successfully completed combat missions, showing good pressure, tenacity of mind and excellent tactical thinking. After the Stalingrad battles, she became an experienced fighter pilot, having been hardened by fire. In addition, on December 22, 1942, the girl was awarded a government award. She became the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad".
White Lily
The biography of Lydia Litvyak is described in many books. In the same sources you can find interesting stories about a brave pilot. So, according to some statements, after she defeated the German ace, a large white lily was painted on her hood. They also say that some enemy pilots, seeing this flower, evaded the battle. They also say that after each battle in which she managed to shoot down an enemy car, Lydia Litvyak painted one white lily on the fuselage of her Yak. The name of her favorite flower became the pilot's call sign. In addition, many called Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak the White Lily of Stalingrad.
miraculous rescue
For the first time, the Germans managed to knock out the plane of Lydia Litvyak shortly after the end of Battle of Stalingrad. The girl almost died after making an emergency landing. Enemy soldiers immediately rushed towards her. Lydia jumped out of the cab and began to shoot back from the Germans. However, the distance between her and the enemies was steadily shrinking. Litvyak had the last bullet left in her barrel when the Soviet attack aircraft with which she was on a mission swept over her. The "Ilys" pressed the Germans with their fire, and one of them glided not far from the girl and, having released the landing gear, landed. Lydia quickly climbed into the cockpit to the pilot, and they safely escaped from the chase.
New appointment
Fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak - the White Lily of Stalingrad - at the end of September 1942 was transferred to the 437th Aviation Fighter Regiment. However, the female link, which is part of it, did not last long. Its commander, senior lieutenant R. Belyaeva, was soon shot down by the Germans, and she had to be treated for a long time after a parachute jump. After that, due to illness, M. Kuznetsova was out of action. Only two pilots remained in the regiment. This is L. Litvyak, as well as E. Budanova. They were able to achieve the highest results in the battles held. And soon the White Lily of Stalingrad, Lydia Litvyak, shot down another enemy plane. It turned out to be Junkers.
Starting from October 10, the pilots were transferred to the operational subordination of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Lydia Litvyak already had three destroyed enemy aircraft on her account. One of them was personally shot down by her from the period when she entered the regiment of Soviet aces pilots.
During this period, the girls had to cover the strategically important front-line center - the city of Zhitvur, as well as escort transport aircraft. In carrying out this task, Lydia made 58 sorties. For her courage and excellent execution of the orders of the command, the girl was enrolled in a group of "free hunters" who followed the enemy's planes. Being at the forward airfield, Litvyak took to the skies five times and carried out the same number of air battles. In the 9th Guards IAP, the girls significantly improved their skills.
New victories
On January 8, 1943, the girl was transferred to the 296th Aviation Fighter Regiment. Already in the same month, Lydia 16 times accompanied our attack aircraft and covered the ground forces of the Soviet army. On February 5, 1943, the command presented Sergeant L.V. Litvyak to the Order of the Red Star.
A new victory awaited Lydia on February 11th. On this day, Lieutenant Colonel N. Baranov led four fighters into battle. Litvyak distinguished herself by personally shooting down a Ju-88 bomber, and then, as part of a group, she managed to emerge victorious in a battle with an FW-190 fighter.
Wound
The spring of 1943 was marked by a lull on almost the entire front line. However, the pilots continued to make sorties, intercepting German aircraft and covering Soviet bombers and attack aircraft.
In April 1943, Lydia was seriously wounded. It happened during a rather difficult battle. On April 22, the brave pilot, being part of a group of Soviet aircraft, intercepted 12 enemy Ju-88s, one of which she managed to shoot down. Here, in the sky over Rostov, she was attacked by the Germans. The enemies managed to damage the girl's plane and wound her in the leg. After the battle, Lydia hardly flew to her native airfield, where she reported on the successfully completed task. After that, the girl lost consciousness, falling from blood loss and pain.
However, Lydia was not in the hospital for long. Having recovered a little after the injury, she wrote a receipt that she would go home to Moscow, where she would continue to be treated. However, the relatives did not wait for the girl. A week later, Lydia again arrived in her regiment.
On May 5, not having time to fully recover from her wound, Litvyak made another sortie. Her task was to escort bombers heading to the Stalino area. Our planes were spotted by enemy fighters and attacked by them. A battle ensued, in which Lydia was able to shoot down the Me-109 fighter.
The only love
In the spring of 1943, a new page was written in the biography of pilot Lydia Litvyak. During this period, fate brought the girl to Alexei Solomatin. He was also an excellent fighter pilot. During the war, romances often began. Acquaintances were quick, and feelings were stormy. However, most of these romances were understandably short-lived and had unhappy endings.
In the spring of 1943, there was a short break in the fighting. It was the calm before the battle near Kursk. And in these few weeks of rest, ordinary human happiness came to Lydia. Solomatin and Litvyak got along very well in character. Fellow soldiers noted that they were a wonderful couple. Senior Lieutenant Solomatin was at first the girl's mentor, and then became her husband. However, the happiness of the young was short-lived. May 21, 1943 Alexei died. He, being mortally wounded in battle, failed to land his plane and died in front of his beloved and everyone who was at the airfield. At her husband's funeral, Lydia swore an oath to avenge his death.
Soon Litvyak's best friend, Ekaterina Budanova, also died. The girl, who lost two of her closest people in just a few weeks, was left with only combat skills, a plane and a desire for revenge.
Continuation of hostilities
After some lull, the fighting was resumed. And the ace girl, who was only 21 years old, continued to actively participate in them.
At the end of May, on the sector of the front where her regiment operated, the Germans used a spotter balloon very effectively. This "sausage" was covered by fighters and anti-aircraft fire, which repelled all attempts to destroy it. Lydia managed to solve this problem. The girl took to the air on May 31 and, passing along the front line, went deep into the territory occupied by the enemy. She attacked the balloon from behind enemy lines, approaching it from the direction of the sun. The Litvyak attack lasted less than a minute. The brilliant victory of the pilot was marked by the gratitude of the Commander of the 44th Army.
Summer fights
July 16, 1943 Lydia Litvyak was on another combat mission. There were six Soviet Yaks in the sky. They got into a fight with 30 Junkers and 6 Messerschmitts, who tried to strike at the location of our troops. But Soviet fighter pilots thwarted the enemy's plan. In this battle, Lydia Litvyak shot down a Ju-88. She also shot down a Me-109 fighter. However, the Germans also knocked out Lydia's Yak. The fearless girl, pursued by the enemy, managed to land the plane on the ground. Soviet infantrymen, who were watching the battle, helped her to break away from the German pilots. Lydia was slightly wounded in the shoulder and leg, but categorically refused hospitalization.
On July 20, 1943, the command presented junior lieutenant L. V. Litvyak for another award. The heroic girl received the Order of the Red Banner. By this time, her track record indicated 140 sorties and 9 downed aircraft, 5 of which she personally destroyed, and 4 as part of a group. An observation balloon was also mentioned here.
Last Stand
In the summer of 1943, Soviet troops tried to break through the defenses of the enemy, who had entrenched themselves on the banks of the Mius River. This was necessary for the liberation of Donbass. Particularly heavy fighting was fought between the end of July and the beginning of August. Both ground and air forces were involved in them.
On August 1, Lydia Litvyak took to the skies 4 times. During these sorties, she shot down 3 enemy aircraft, two personally, and one - while in the group. Three times she returned to her native airfield. The girl did not return from her fourth sortie.
It is possible that his contribution to what happened was made emotional stress have a hard day or physical fatigue. Or maybe the weapon just failed? But be that as it may, the pilots were already returning to their home airfield when they were attacked by eight German fighters. A battle ensued, during which our pilots lost sight of each other, being in the clouds. As one of them later recalled, everything happened suddenly. The Messer emerged from the white veil of the cloud and fired a burst at our Yak with tail number 22. The plane immediately seemed to have failed. Apparently, near the ground, Lydia tried to level it.
Our fighters did not see any flashes either in the sky or on the ground. This is what gave them hope that the girl remained alive.
On the same day, the German fighter pilot Hans-Jörg Merkle also went missing. At the same time, there was no information about who shot down this ace. There is a possibility that his death was Lydia Litvyak's parting blow.
Both planes disappeared near Shakhtyorsk, not far from the village of Dmitrovka. There is a version that Lydia went on the attack purposefully, eager to avenge the death of her husband and girlfriend. How it really happened is not known for certain. However, such an act was quite in the spirit of this girl.
Two weeks later, Lydia Litvyak would have turned 22 years old. Later, relatives said that in one of her letters she told them about a dream in which her husband, who was standing on the opposite bank, called her fast river. This indicated that the girl foresaw her death.
But fellow soldiers, who did not lose hope of seeing the pilot alive, immediately organized a search for her. However, they could not find Lydia. And after Sergeant Evdokimov, the only one who knew the sector of the fall of her Yak, was killed in one of the battles, the official search was stopped. It was then that the command of the regiment posthumously presented fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, there was no posthumous award. The fact is that soon a previously downed pilot returned from the territory occupied by enemy troops. According to him, local residents told him that they saw a Soviet fighter plane land near the village of Marinovka. A small blond girl came out of it and got into a car with German officers that drove up to the plane. However, the aviators did not believe this story, continuing to find out the fate of Lydia. Nevertheless, rumors about the betrayal of the girl reached the higher headquarters. And here the command showed caution. It did not begin to approve Litvyak's presentation to the highest rank of the country, but limited itself to the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
However, the search continued for Lydia. In the summer of 1946, Ivan Zapryagaev, being the commander of the 73rd IAP, sent several people to the village of Marinovka. However, the girl's fellow soldiers did not manage to find out anything about her fate.
In 1971, the search for a brave pilot was resumed by young pathfinders from the city of Krasny Luch. And only in 1979 did they finally find traces of Lydia Litvyak. Residents of the Kozhevnya farm told the children that in the summer of 1943 our fighter plane crashed not far from it. The pilot, who was a woman, was shot in the head. She was buried in a mass grave. This pilot turned out to be Lydia Litvyak. This was confirmed during further investigation. The grave of Lydia Litvyak is located in the Shakhtyorsky district, in the village of Dmitrovka. Here the brave pilot is buried along with other unknown fighters.
In 1988, a monument to Lydia Litvyak was erected in this place. The veterans of the regiment, in which the brave pilot served, asked to renew the petition for posthumously conferring on her the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Years later, justice has prevailed. In May 1990, the President of the USSR signed a Decree, according to which Lydia Litvyak became a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Memory
The name of Lydia Litvyak can be found in the Guinness Book of Records. Here she was listed as a female pilot, who won the largest number of victories in her air battles. In addition, a monument to the brave pilot was erected in the central square of the city of Krasny Luch. It is located opposite the gymnasium number 1, which bears her name.
You can meet the name of Lydia Litvyak in "Assault Witches". This is an anime that tells the viewer about the fight against robot machines that are trying to take over our planet. It is quite difficult to destroy such an enemy. After all, any deadly weapon, fast missiles and even innovative technologies are powerless against robots. This allows insensitive and insidious machines to win victory after victory. Only girls endowed with magical abilities and using a vehicle that is a kind of hybrid of a combat aircraft and a witch's stupa can fight them. One of these girls is Sani Litvyak.
Anyone who wants to get acquainted with the biography of the heroic pilot is recommended to watch a documentary about her. It is called "Roads of Memory" and directed by E. Andrikanis. In addition, the film "Lily" is dedicated to the brave pilot. He was the first in the documentary series "Beautiful Regiment". It was filmed in 2014 by director A. Kapkov.
In 2013, the series "Fighters" was presented to the audience. This is the work of director A. Muradov. One of the heroines of the film is Lydia Litovchenko. The image, which is presented by actress E. Vilkova, is collective. An example for him was Lydia Litvyak. The movie was just amazing.
Lydia Litvyak, the most productive female fighter of the Second World War, according to the memoirs of her colleagues, was a model of femininity and charm. The main thing for her was the fight against fascism, and she gave all her strength to this.
A short blond girl was very reserved about the enthusiastic looks and words of fellow soldiers and, which especially impressed the pilots, did not give preference to anyone.
Lilia Litvyak was born on August 18, 1921 in Moscow. At the age of 14 she entered the flying club, at 15 she made her first solo flight. Then she studied at the courses of geologists, participated in an expedition to the Far North.
After graduating from the Kherson pilot school, she became one of the best instructors of the Kalinin flying club. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, she managed to "put on the wing" 45 cadets - future air fighters.
From the first days of the war, Litvyak tried to get to the front. And when she found out that the famous pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova began to form women's air regiments, she quickly achieved her goal. Having cheated, she managed to attribute 100 hours to the available flight time and get an appointment in Marina Raskova's air group.
Senior sergeant Inna Pasportnikova, who during the war years was an aircraft technician for Lydia Litvyak, recalls: 
“In October 1941, when we were still training at the training base near Engels, Lilya was ordered to go out of action during the construction. She was in her winter uniform, and we all saw that she had cut off the tops of her fur boots to make a fashionable collar for her flight suit. Our commander Marina Raskova asked when she did it, and Lilya replied: “At night...”
Raskova said that the next night Lilya, instead of sleeping, would open the collar and sew the fur back onto the high boots. In addition, they also arrested her, put her in a separate room, and she really did the reverse alteration of the fur all night.
This was the first time that other women paid attention to Lily, because no one had even noticed this short, petite girl before. At 20, she was so thin, pretty and very similar to the actress Serova, who was popular in those years. Strange thing: there was a war, and this little girl with blond hair was thinking about some kind of fur collar ... "
The brave pilot made her first sorties as part of the 586th female fighter aviation regiment in the spring of 1942 in the sky of Saratov, covering the Volga from enemy air raids. From April 15 to September 10, 1942, she performed 35 sorties to patrol and escort transport aircraft with important cargo.
September 10, 1942, as part of the same regiment, arrived at Stalingrad and in a short period of time made 10 sorties. 
On September 13, in the second sortie to cover Stalingrad, she opened her combat account. First, she shot down a Ju-88 bomber, then, helping out her friend Raya Belyaeva, who ran out of ammunition, took her place and, after a stubborn duel, knocked out the Me-109.
At the end of September, she achieved a transfer as part of a group of female pilots to the 437th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which defended the sky of Stalingrad.
The female fighter unit did not last long. Its commander, senior lieutenant R. Belyaeva, was soon shot down and, after a forced parachute jump, was treated for a long time. Following her, M. Kuznetsova was out of action due to illness. Only 2 pilots remained in the regiment: L. Litvyak and E. Budanova. It was they who achieved the highest results in battles. Soon Lydia shot down another Junkers.
Since October 10, the female couple has been under operational control of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Already 3 downed German aircraft, one of them - she personally had when she came to the regiment of Soviet aces. A short but noticeable stay in the regiment of Lily Litvyak, her technique of Inna Pasportnikova and Katya Budanova remained in the memory of the Guards for a long time.
In those days, the main task of the girls was to cover the strategically important front-line center (the city of Zhitvur), escorting transport aircraft. Litvyak flew 58 such sorties. 
For the excellent performance of the tasks of the command, Lydia was enrolled in the group of "free hunters" for enemy aircraft. Arriving at the forward airfield, she completed 5 sorties and conducted 5 air battles. The school of the 9th Guards IAP tempered the brave female pilots and improved their combat skills.
Their glory was also crowned with new military victories after the transfer on January 8, 1943 to the 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment. By February, Litvyak had completed 16 sorties to escort attack aircraft, reconnaissance of enemy troops and cover our ground forces.
On February 5, 1943, the command of the 296th IAP, Sergeant L.V. Litvyak, was presented for the first award - the Order of the Red Star.
On February 11, 1943, the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel N. I. Baranov, led four fighters into battle. And again, as in September 1942, Lida won a double victory: she personally shot down a Ju-88 bomber and, in a group, an FW-190 fighter.
In one of the battles, her Yak was hit and Lydia made an emergency landing in enemy territory. Jumping out of the cab, she, shooting back, rushed to run from the German soldiers approaching her.
But the distance between them was rapidly shrinking. Now the last cartridge was left in the barrel ... And suddenly our attack aircraft swept over the heads of the enemy. Pouring fire on the German soldiers, he forced them to rush to the ground. Then, releasing the landing gear, he glided next to Lida and stopped. Without getting out of the plane, the pilot desperately waved his hands. The girl rushed to meet the pilot, squeezed into the pilot's lap, the plane took off and soon Lida was in the regiment ...
February 23, 1943 Litvyak was awarded a new military award - the Order of the Red Star. A little earlier, on December 22, 1942, she was awarded the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad".
After a short treatment in the hospital, she went to Moscow, giving a receipt that she would be treated at home within a month. But a week later, Lydia returned to the regiment.
On May 5, not yet fully strengthened, Litvyak flew out to escort a group of Pe-2 bombers to the Stalino area. In the target area, our group was attacked by enemy fighters. In the ensuing battle, Lydia attacked and shot down a Me-109 fighter.
In April 1943, the very popular Ogonyok magazine placed on the first page (cover) a photo of fighting girlfriends - Lydia Litvyak and Ekaterina Budanova and a short explanation: "These brave girls shot down 12 enemy aircraft."
At the end of May, on the sector of the front where the regiment operated, the Germans effectively used a spotter balloon. Repeated attempts to shoot down this "sausage", covered by strong anti-aircraft fire and fighters, did not lead to anything.
Lydia solved the problem. On May 31, having risen into the air, she passed along the front line to the side, then deepened behind enemy lines and entered the balloon from the depths of enemy territory, from the side of the sun. The fleeting attack lasted less than one minute!.. For this brilliant victory, Junior Lieutenant Litvyak received gratitude from the Commander of the 44th Army.
By that time, the name of Lydia Litvyak was already well known not only in the 8th Air Army. The command allowed Lida to fly for "free hunting". On the hood of her Yak, Litvyak painted a bright white lily that could be seen from afar.
On July 16, 1943, escorting a group of IL-2s to the front line, six of our Yaks began a battle with the enemy. 30 "Junkers" and 6 "Messers" tried to strike at our troops, but their plan was thwarted. In this battle, Litvyak personally shot down one enemy Ju-88 bomber and knocked out a Me-109 fighter. But her plane was also shot down. Pursued by the enemy to the very ground, she managed to land her "Yak" on the fuselage. The infantrymen watching the battle covered her landing with fire. They were delighted to learn that a girl turned out to be a fearless pilot. Despite the slight shrapnel wounds to the leg and shoulder, she categorically refused the demand to go for treatment.
On July 20, 1943, the command of the 73rd Guards Stalingrad Fighter Aviation Regiment, the commander of the Guards, Junior Lieutenant L. V. Litvyak, was presented to the Order of the Red Banner. By that time, according to the award document, she had completed more than 140 sorties, shot down personally 5 and as part of a group of 4 enemy aircraft, as well as 1 observation balloon.
On August 1, 1943, the flight commander of the 3rd squadron of the 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Guards, junior lieutenant L.V. Litvyak did not return from a combat mission.
According to the last award document dated August 8, 1943, Lydia Litvyak made 150 sorties. In air battles, she personally shot down 6 enemy aircraft (1 Ju-87, 3 Ju-88, 2 Me-109) and 1 spotter balloon, as part of the group she shot down 6 more aircraft and 2 knocked out. [ M. Yu. Bykov in his research indicates 4 personal and 3 group victories. ]
The brave pilot was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Red Star.
Describing her as an air fighter, the former commander of the 273rd IAP, with whom Lida had to fight for some time, Boris Eremin recalled:
“She was a born pilot. She had a special talent as a fighter, she was bold and decisive, inventive and cautious. She could see the air."
On that fateful day, she made 3 sorties. In one of them, paired with a wingman, she shot down a Me-109. On the 4th sortie, a group of 9 Yaks, having entered into battle with 30 Ju-88 bombers and 12 Me-109 fighters, started a deadly whirlwind. And now the Junkers shot down by someone is on fire, then the Messer is falling apart. Coming out of another dive, Lydia saw that the enemy was leaving. Our group also got together. Clinging to the upper edge of the clouds, the pilots flew home.
Suddenly, the Messer jumped out of the white veil and, before diving back into the clouds, managed to fire a burst at the leader of the 3rd pair with tail number "23". Lidin "Yak" seemed to fail, but the pilot, apparently, tried to level it near the ground ... In any case, Alexander Evdokimov, Lidia's wingman in this battle, told his comrades so. This gave birth to the hope that Lida remained alive.
A search for her was urgently organized. However, neither the pilot nor her aircraft could be found. After the death of Sergeant Evdokimov in one of the battles, who alone knew in which particular area Lidin "Yak" fell, the official search was stopped.
It was then that the pilot Lidia Vladimirovna Litvyak was posthumously presented by the command of the regiment to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The front-line newspaper "Red Banner" dated March 7, 1944 wrote about her as a fearless falcon, a pilot who was known to all the soldiers of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
Soon one of the previously shot down pilots returned from enemy territory. He reported that, according to local residents, our fighter jet had landed on the road near the village of Marinovka. The pilot turned out to be a girl - blond, small in stature. A car with German officers approached the plane, and the girl left with them ...
Here is what fighter pilot Dmitry Panteleevich Panov writes in his memoirs:
“Women aviators were a real barbarism. Not only is it not so easy for a woman to go to airfields, as is known, in open spaces, for small or big needs, which male pilots decide relatively simply. Moreover, there are no amenities on the planes. For pilots, they even sewed overalls of a special cut with a detachable lower part. And the monthly cycles, during which a woman should not even be allowed close to the plane, were of no interest to our fathers-commanders at all. Such was the real practice of women's participation in the aviation craft in peacetime.
It was no better in the war. We took a sip of grief, in particular, with Lilya Litvyak, who had to be made a heroine and, God forbid, let the Messers devour her. It was not easy to achieve this if Lilya, judging by her maneuvers in the air, often had a poor idea of where and why she was flying. It ended up that Lilya was shot down in the Donetsk region and she jumped out with a parachute. Our pilots, who were captured along with Lily, said that they saw her driving around the city in a car with German officers ... "
Most of the aviators did not believe the rumor and continued to try to find out the fate of Lydia. But the shadow of suspicion had already gone beyond the regiment and reached the higher headquarters. The command, showing "caution", did not approve Litvyak's submission to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, limiting himself to the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
Once, at the moment of revelation, Lydia said to the aircraft mechanic, her friend: “Most of all I am afraid of missing out. Anything but this." There were good reasons for such concern. Lida's father was arrested and shot as an "enemy of the people" in 1937. The girl perfectly understood what it means to her, the daughter of a repressed person, to go missing. No one and nothing will save her honest name.
Fate played a cruel joke with her, preparing just such a fate. But they searched for Lydia, searched long and hard. Back in the summer of 1946, the commander of the 73rd Guards IAP, Ivan Zapryagaev, sent several people by car to the Marinovka area to search for her trace. Unfortunately, Litvyak's brother-soldiers were literally a few days late. The wreckage of Lida's Yak had already been destroyed...
In 1968, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper made an attempt to restore the honest name of the pilot. In 1971, young pathfinders of school No. 1 of the city of Krasny Luch joined the search. In the summer of 1979, their search was crowned with success!
Being in the area of the Kozhevnya farm, the guys learned that in the summer of 1943 a Soviet fighter plane crashed on its outskirts. The pilot wounded in the head was a woman. She was buried in the village of Dmitrievka, Mining District, in a mass grave. It was Lida, which was confirmed by the course of further investigations.
In July 1988, the name of Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak was immortalized at her burial place, and the veterans of the regiment in which she fought renewed their petition to award her the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. And justice triumphed - after almost half a century, by the Decree of the President of the USSR of May 5, 1990, this title was awarded to her! The Order of Lenin No. 460056 and the Gold Star medal No. 11616 were deposited with the relatives of the deceased Heroine.
In Moscow, at house number 14 on Novoslobodskaya Street, in which the Heroine lived and from where she went to the front, a memorial plaque was erected. The memorial plate is installed on the memorial at the burial site, in the village of Dmitrievka, Snezhnyansky district, Donetsk region.