Litvyak, Lidiya Vladimirovna
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[edit] Biography
Lidiya Litvyak was born on August 18, 1921, in Moscow. In 1935, she joined an aeroclub and began her association with aviation. She completed the Kherson Aviation School for Pilot-Instructors, and worked in the Kalinin aeroclub where she became one of the top instructors. By the start of World War II, she had trained 45 pilots[1].
In 1942, Litvyak was selected as a member of the newly formed all-female 586th Fighter Regiment, part of the 155th Fighter Division, Saratov-Balashovsk Divisional Area of the Air Defense Forces (PVO). She flew her first combat sortie in June, 1942, over the city of Saratov (858 km south-east of Moscow, on the Volga river)[1].
By August, 1942, Litvyak was credited with a shared kill of a Ju 88. In the beginning of September, she was transferred to the 437th Fighter Regiment of the 287th Fighter Division, 8th Air Army, South-Eastern Front, and began flying the La-5[1].
On September 13, 1942, during her second combat sortie over the skies of Stalingrad, she claimed her first victories: a Ju 88 and a Me 109. On September 27, 1942 she downed another Ju 88 from a distance of only 30 meters, and then had a shared kill of a Me 109[1].
Shortly after that, she was transferred to the "Regiment of Aces", the 9th Guards "Odessa" Fighter Regiment, commanded by Hero of the Soviet Union L. L. Shestakov. At the end of December, 1942, she downed a Do 217 not far from her airfield[1].
By February, 1943, Litvyak was flying the Yak-1 as part of the 296th Fighter Regiment. On February 11, 1943, she downed another Ju 88, and participated in a shared kill of a Fw 190. During the fighting, her Yak-1 was hit and she was forced to make an emergency landing behind German lines. An Il-2 "Shturmovik" came to her rescue, fighting off approaching German troops and then landing to pick Litvyak up and return her to friendly territory[1].
On February 23, 1943, Litvyak received her first combat award, the Order of the Red Star[1].
On March 22, 1943, in the region of Rostov-on-Don, Litvyak was part of an intercept of a group of Ju 88s. She downed one of the Ju 88s, but then was wounded during a fifteen minute fight with a group of six Me 109s that came to the aid of the Ju 88s. She spent time in the hospital recovering and was sent home to Moscow for a month of leave, but returned to her unit after only a week[1].
Litvyak downed an Me 109 during a bomber escort mission on May 5, 1943, followed by another one on May 7[1].
Towards the end of May, 1943, the Germans began to use balloons for observation and artillery correction duties. The balloons were heavily defended by anti-aircraft artillery and fighters. Litvyak successfully downed one of the balloons--a difficult task that nobody else had accomplished--by flying behind German lines, and approaching the balloon from behind, out of the sun. For her accomplishment, she was awarded an Order of the Red Banner[1].
On May 21, 1943, Hero of the Soviet Union Guards Captain Aleksei Frolovich Solomatin and a member of Lidiya's same Regiment, was killed in an aircraft accident. It is sometimes erroneously reported that Solomatin was Litvyak's husband, but that was not the case and in fact Litvyak reportedly transferred to another squadron to avoid him. It is reported that only after Solomatin's death did Litvyak realize that she had feelings for him[2].
While escorting a group of Il-2s on July 16, 1943, Litvyak downed another Ju 88 and shared a Me 109 kill, but was again wounded during the combat.
On August 1, 1943, Litvyak failed to return from a combat sortie. She completed three sorties that day and in one of them had a shared kill of a Me 109. During her fourth sortie of the day, her group of six Yak-1s tangled with a group of 30 Ju 88s and 12 Me 109s. On their way back to base, the Yaks were bounced by Me 109s out of the clouds, and Litvyak's Yak-1 was shot down[1].
Litvyak's body was never recovered. Recent evidence suggests that she may not have been killed in the crash, but was instead captured by the Germans[3].
In just eight months of combat, Lidiya Litvyak completed 168 combat sorties, participated in 89 air combat engagements, and downed eleven enemy aircraft, plus three shared victories and the destruction of an observation balloon[1].
On May 5, 1990, Litvyak was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, along with the Order of Lenin (No. 460056) and the Gold Star (No. 11616)[1].
[edit] Timeline
- August 18, 1921 Future Soviet female fighter ace Lidiya Litvyak is born in Moscow[4].
[edit] Sources
- Lidiya Litvyak at National Heroes (Geroi Strany) (in Russian)
- Lidya (Lily) Vladimirovna Litvyak at RedArmyOnline.org (2006) an article by Dr. Kazimiera J. Cottam with details of Litvyak's fate after her crash
- The Memorial to Soviet Ace Lydia Litvyak at soviet-awards.com
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=482
- ↑ Wings, Women & War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat, by Reina Pennington
- ↑ See http://www.redarmyonline.org/FI_Article_by_KJ_Cottam.html, for example. Additionally, it is reported that [Litvyak] was heard speaking on German radio by Alexander Gridnev, commanding officer of the 586th Fighter Regiment, in which Litvyak initially served. His handwritten note about this occurrence is preserved in the Monino Air Force Archives... Also, Litvyak was seen in a German PoW camp by Vladimir Lavrinenkov, a fighter pilot she knew. This was reported in Yekaterina Polunina's "Devchonki, Podruzhki, Letchitsy" (Girls, Girlfriends, Pilots), Moscow: OAO Izdatel'ski Dom Vestnik Vozdushnogo Flota, 2004, pg. 146. (from an e-mail sent by Dr. Kazimiera J. Cottam)
- ↑ http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=482
