The White Rose of Stalingrad Lidya Litvak is considered by some to be the most famous woman fighter pilot of all time. She was a fighter ace during World War II, and shot down twelve German planes for the Soviet Union. Lidya, known as the ‘White Rose of Stalingrad’ was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for the bravery and honor she showed defending her country. Lidya Vladimirovna Litvak was born in Moscow in August 18, 1921. Her aviation adventure began when she was teenager. At 14 years old she joined Aeroclub, and one year later she took her first lone flight. She began her military service in the all-woman 586th IAP where she flew mostly defense missions from January to August 1942. In August she was posted, with Katiya Budianova, Masha Kuznietzova and Raya Bieliayeva to male squadrons. She had a white rose painted on her planes fuselage. She got her first 2 air victories in the battle at Stalingrad in September 13, 1943. It was her second combat sortie. In the first attack Lidya shot down a single Stuka bomber. A German fighter pilot, from the experienced ace, baron, of the Richthofen unit, a POW on the same day, met his adversary. He was very surprised seeing a young, beautiful, female pilot. On February 17, 1943, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Two days later she was promoted to Junior Lieutenant and soon after to Senior Lieutenant. On 22 March 6 Soviet fighters encountered a formation of Junker 88s. Lidya downed one of them. After a heavy, 15 minute combat,she returned to base, but her plane took several hits and Lidya was wounded. She went to Moscow with orders for a month of rehabilitation, but after a week, she arrived at her front unit. On 5 May 1943 Lidya, not fully healed from her injury, took part in an aerial combat, scoring 1 kill. Two days later a Messerschmitt 109 fell in her gun sight disappearing in dark smoke. She was wounded again in combat on July 16. In another dramatic combat, Lidya downed a Junker and Messerschmitt 109. She was forced to land in German-ocuppied territory, but managed to get back to her base on foot. Two months later, Lilya was back in the air. Unfortunately, the Nazis were determined to have their vengeance on this Jewish Russian woman who had defeated their comrades so many times before. On 21 July Lidya flew as a wingman for her unit commander, Ivan Golishev. The two Soviet fighters were attacked by 7 enemy Messerschmitt 109s. Lidya, covering her leader, and managed to shoot down a Messerschmitt 109 attacking Golishev, but her Yak was heavily hit. She belly-landed near Novikovka village. She was finally killed while escorting a unit of Shturmoviks returning from an attack in August 1, 1943. It was her third sortie that day. Because of her notoriety amongst the Germans, eight Messerschmitt 109s concentrated solely on Lilyas Yak-1 and her plane was finally shot down. Her body and aircraft were not found during the war, but a marble monument, with 12 gold stars, one for each enemy plane that she shot down was erected in her memory in Krasy Luch, in the Donetsk region. Litvak completed 168 missions, had 3 shared victories in addition to her personal twelve. She was 22 years old when she died. Her remains were found in 1979, buried under her fallen YaK-1s wing, near the village of Dmitriyevka. On May 5, 1990 she was posthumously conferred the title of Hero of the Soviet Union by then Premier Mikhail Gorbachov.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 18:38:50 +0000
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