Lydia Litvyak

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Image:Lydia Litvyak.JPG Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak, (Лидия Владимировна Литвяк, August 18, 1921 – August 1, 1943), also known as Lydia Litvak or Lily Litvak, was a woman fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during Second World War. She was the best known woman fighter ace.

Biography

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 USSR in June 1941, she tried to voluntarily join a military aviation unit. At last, she managed to get enlisted in the 586th Fighter Regiment (586 IAP), formed by Marina Raskova from female pilots (to do so, Lydia exaggerated her pre-war flight time, to 100 hours of flight, which was a minimum limit to get enlisted).

She flew her first combat flights in the summer of 1942 over Saratov. In September, she was asigned, along with other women (among others, Katya Budanova), to the 437th IAP, fighting over Stalingrad. 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, all while flying Yak-1 fighters. 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). She was made a 2nd Lieutenant. In February 1943 she married a fighter ace Aleksey Solomatin, flying in 73rd GIAP, who was killed in June 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 22 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 it was found that her aircraft fell near Dmitrovka, a village in Shakhterski district. She had been killed by a head wound, and was burried anonymously in a common grave. After further verification, on May 6, 1990, USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev posthumously awarded her with the title "Hero of the Soviet Union" and promoted her to a full lieutenant.

There are different data as for Litvyak's victory score in different publications, with no official data. 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. A play about her, White Rose, was performed once in the Belgrade Studio Theatre in Coventry.