Litvjak, Lidija Vladimirovna

Ml. Lieutenant Lidia Vladimirovna Litvjak - the most successful fighter pilot of World War II

(1921 - 1943)

Heroine of the Soviet Union


Lidia "Lila" Vladimirovna Litvjak was born in Moscow in 1921. At the age of fourteen she became a member of the aeroclub, after graduating she became a student of the Kherson Aviation School. After graduating from school, she worked as an instructor in an aeroclub, and thanks to that she gained as much experience as a number of newly sent fighters did not have on the front line.

Lila got to the front in 1942. At that time, she illegally entered the women's 586th IAP, which operated in the vicinity of Saratov. Then she changed several departments. In the fall of 1942, he joined the elite 9th GIAP. At that time, she already had three victories. However, she did not stay in the 9th GIAP for long either ( Today we can only speculate why, whether the commanders did not trust the woman, or was it envious of her success?). He finally gained the trust of the commander of the 73rd GIAP N. I. Baranova. Lila already had 6 shot down German planes.

She shot down the first two aircraft on September 13, 1942, when she served in the 437th IAP. The victims were Bf 109 and Ju 88.
On September 27, 1942, another Ju 88 and a share in one Bf 109 were added to her account.
On February 11, 1943, she participated in the downing Fw 190 and shot down another Ju 88…

More victories were added. But Lila paid for the success. She was getting more and more exhausted and exhausted. After the battle in July 1943, she was wounded for the third time ( none of her injuries were properly healed). On August 1, 1943, she undertook four combat flights, during which she shot down two aircraft herself and participated in the destruction of the third. But she did not return from the fourth flight and no one knew anything about her fate.

It was not until 1979 that the remains of a woman were found near the village of Dmitrijevka in the wreckage of a fighter plane, and it was not until nine years later that the responsible authorities put an end to Lily's writings, identifying the most successful fighter of all time in these remains. It was not until 1990 that Lidia Vladimirivna Litvjakova was posthumously awarded the Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Lila Litvjak fell after destroying eleven enemy aircraft, one balloon and participated in the shooting down of three other aircraft, at the age of twenty-two ...

Source: Franz Kurowski - Cross against the Star (MUSTANG 1997)

Malá obrazová příloha

zdroj:
https://aces.boom.ru/woman/litvyk.htm
blog.safarikovi.org

Nejsem si jistý, jestli se na fotce výše opravdu jedná o LL. Na blůze je podle mě připnut řád Hrdiny SSSR, ten ale dostala až v roce 1990 i.m.

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