Lydia Litvyak, Russia's first female fighter ace

A Photo of Lydia, recolored

Early life              

  Lydia was born in Moscow to Jewish parents in 1921, she was a petite figure. She was a determined pilot having started flying solo at the young age of 15 after only a year after of learning to fly. She trained fellow pilots before joining the Russian military’s air force as soon as the Germans declared war on Russia.

Involvement in WW2

An image of a contemporary news article 

Training with the 586th fighter aviation regiment

In 1941, She joined the women’s aviation force in the Soviet Union after some time of trying to prove herself worthy. She was trained with the women’s 586 aviation regiment on small one-person soviet fighter jets before joining a different regiment. Lydia was also a stylish pilot known for customizing her cabin with flowers inside her cockpit and even bleaching her hair. She was full on feminine despite doing a male job.

an image of a Yak-1d

Her first kill

A recolored image of Lydia and her jet

Her one of her first kills was Erwin Meier, a German staff sergeant fighter ace pilot, he managed to pull the emergency escape but was captured by the soviets when he landed. He asked to see the pilot who shot him down. When he found out that it was a female pilot who shot him down, he thought they were joking. When Lydia was brought in to see the pilot, she explained to him that she fired the kill at him.  

296^th regiment pilot

In January of 1943, Lydia was transferred to the 296^th regiment, this regiment was a frontline one. She found herself at home, there was another female pilot, with her known as Ekaterina Budanova, better known as Katya, in this regiment. 

An image of  Katya

Lydia’s regimental commander, Baranov was known as a father to the regiment, he fought in the war from the very start of the it. He was able to give Lydia and Katya an opportunity to test their skills further.

Wingman

a photo of Solomatin

One of the other well-known pilots was the squadron commander, Solomatin. He selected Lydia to be his personal wingman. Lydia and Katya happened to be flying together along with both the commanders, they advanced due to the experienced commanders

 Free hunter  

After a few successful shared kills, she became part of the elite free hunter team, a team dedicated to finding the enemy. They got sent up in pairs to scout out the enemy. She got the rank of junior commander sometime after. The group was then renamed the 73^rd guards fighter aviation regiment. Lydia had a few more kills in this time.

An image of a dogfight happening

Battle scars

In March of 1943, Lydia was badly wounded after fighting a bunch of Germans in a dogfight, she managed to make quick work of the Germans before landing. She lost conscious after landing during taxi, she was then sent to Moscow for surgery, Lydia recuperated at home and was determined to get back in the air. She made two kills in early May, sadly later that month tragedy struck. Her commander, Baranov plummeted to his death as he attempted to bail out of his cockpit which was on fire, the parachute also caught fire. A deeper tragedy was her other commander, Solomatin who got killed in front of the whole regiment two weeks after wining his Hero of the Soviet Union award.

Reckless and ready to fight

Lydia would soon complete her most well-known kill later that month, a German observation balloon, many others tried but could not as Lydia tried a new tactic that worked first time. In June Lydia was appointed 3^rd squadron commander of the same regiment, that being the 73^rd. She became the wingman for her other commander and was able to cover his emergency landing. She managed to sustain 10 holes before landing and more aid.

In July, she was once again injured however, she refused to go to the field hospital. July 19 was a rough day for her; despite taking down an enemy fighter, Katya sadly lost her life after sustaining a mortal wound, she was able land but by the time help came she was on her last legs. The next day went terrible, Lydia barely survived a fight, she bailed just at the nick of time; her commander sadly died that day. She was determined to avenge her fallen friends by the end of the month.     

Final mission

In August of 1943, just shy of her 22^nd birthday, Lydia failed to return to her base during one of her attacks on the German air force during the battle of Kursk. This was her fourth outing of the day; she made it back the other three times but sadly got shot down by the Germans. Her mission was to escort an airship and defend it against the Germans. She got shot down, crash-landed and died from some sort of head injury sustained during her crash.

Recovery of her body

An image of Lydia's headstone

About a couple of decades after her death, her body was discovered in an unmarked grave, thanks to the help of her mother. She was taken out of her grave to be identified, With the advanced DNA skills, they were able to discover it was her. She is then reburied in a proper grave and given all the accolades with her family name cleared.  

Legacy

She was the first of 2 female pilots to be awarded the fighter ace title in Russia. She gained the title of hero of the Soviet Union in 1990 by the Russian president. She had around 13 solo victories and around five shared kills in 66 missions. An upcoming biopic is made about her in Russia.