White Lily. The life and death of Lydia Litvyak. Hero of the Soviet Union, "White Lily of Stalingrad" Lydia Litvyak

She made her first sortie in the sky over Saratov. In August 1942, the group shot down a German Yu-88 bomber. In September, she was transferred to the 437th Fighter Aviation Regiment (287th Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army, South-Eastern Front).

In November of the same year, by order of the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, a change was made to paragraph 22 of the order of the Main Personnel Directorate dated September 16, 1943 regarding the fate of Litvyak: “She went missing on August 1, 1943. It should be read: she died while performing a combat mission on August 1 1943"

Films

• .
• The first film "Lilya" in the series documentaries The Beautiful Regiment is dedicated to Lydia Litvyak, 2014. Directed by Alexander Kapkov.
• In 2013, the series "Fighters" was released (dir. A. Muradov). An example for the collective image of the heroine of the film, Lydia Litovchenko (actress E. Vilkova), was Lydia Litvyak.

Write a review on the article "Litvyak, Lydia Vladimirovna"

Literature

• // Cavaliers of the Order of Glory of three degrees: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. College D.S. Sukhorukov. - M .: Military Publishing House, 2000. - 703 p. - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-01883-9.
• Ovchinnikova L.P. Women in soldier's overcoats. - Volgograd: Nizh.-Volzh. book. publishing house, 1987. - 47 p.
• Golden Star Muscovite. M ., 1963.
• Soviet aces. - M .: "Eastern Front", 1996.
• Milanetti Gian Piero."Soviet Airwomen of the Great Patriotic War - A pictorial history". - Istituto Bibliografico Napoleone, Rome, Italy, 2013. - ISBN 9788875651466.
• Vinogradova L. Defending the Motherland. Pilots of the Great Patriotic War. - M .: Azbuka-Atticus, Hummingbird, 2015. - ISBN 978-5-389-09900-5

Works of art

• G. F. Kravtsova. Come back from flight. M., 1971; 1979.
• V. A. Agranovsky White Lily: A Documentary Tale. M., 1979 (Man among people).
• supplemented edition of the story "White Lily" in Agranovsky's collection "Persons: Tales and Essays" M., 1982.

Notes

Links

An excerpt characterizing Litvyak, Lidia Vladimirovna

Platon Karataev must have been over fifty years old, judging by his stories about the campaigns in which he participated as a longtime soldier. He himself did not know and could not in any way determine how old he was; but his teeth, bright white and strong, which all rolled out in their two semicircles when he laughed (as he often did), were all good and whole; no one gray hair was not in his beard and hair, and his whole body had the appearance of flexibility and especially hardness and endurance.
His face, despite the small round wrinkles, had an expression of innocence and youth; his voice was pleasant and melodious. But main feature his speech was immediacy and argumentative. He apparently never thought about what he said and what he would say; and from this there was a special irresistible persuasiveness in the speed and fidelity of his intonations.
His physical strength and agility were such during the first time of captivity that he did not seem to understand what fatigue and illness were. Every day in the morning and in the evening, when he lay down, he said: “Lord, put it down with a pebble, raise it with a ball”; in the morning, getting up, always shrugging his shoulders in the same way, he would say: “Lie down - curl up, get up - shake yourself.” And indeed, as soon as he lay down to immediately fall asleep like a stone, and as soon as he shook himself, in order to immediately, without a second of delay, take up some business, the children, having risen, take up toys. He knew how to do everything, not very well, but not badly either. He baked, steamed, sewed, planed, made boots. He was always busy and only at night allowed himself to talk, which he loved, and songs. He sang songs, not like songwriters sing, knowing that they are being listened to, but he sang like birds sing, obviously because it was just as necessary for him to make these sounds, as it is necessary to stretch or disperse; and these sounds were always subtle, tender, almost feminine, mournful, and his face was very serious at the same time.
Having been taken prisoner and overgrown with a beard, he, apparently, threw away everything that was put on him, alien, soldierly, and involuntarily returned to the former, peasant, people's warehouse.
“A soldier on leave is a shirt made of trousers,” he used to say. He reluctantly spoke about his time as a soldier, although he did not complain, and often repeated that he had never been beaten during his entire service. When he told, he mainly told from his old and, apparently, dear memories of the "Christian", as he pronounced, peasant life. The sayings that filled his speech were not those for the most part indecent and glib sayings that the soldiers say, but these were those popular sayings that seem so insignificant, taken separately, and which suddenly acquire the meaning of deep wisdom when they are said by the way.
Often he said the exact opposite of what he had said before, but both were true. He loved to talk and spoke well, embellishing his speech with endearing and proverbs, which, it seemed to Pierre, he himself invented; but the main charm of his stories was that in his speech the simplest events, sometimes the very ones that, without noticing them, Pierre saw, took on the character of solemn decorum. He liked to listen to the tales that one soldier told in the evenings (all the same), but most of all he liked to listen to stories about real life. He smiled joyfully as he listened to such stories, inserting words and asking questions that tended to make clear to himself the beauty of what was being told to him. Attachments, friendship, love, as Pierre understood them, Karataev did not have any; but he loved and lived lovingly with everything that life brought him, and especially with a person - not with some famous person, but with those people who were before his eyes. He loved his mutt, loved his comrades, the French, loved Pierre, who was his neighbor; but Pierre felt that Karataev, in spite of all his affectionate tenderness for him (which he involuntarily paid tribute to Pierre's spiritual life), would not have been upset for a minute by parting from him. And Pierre began to experience the same feeling for Karataev.
Platon Karataev was for all the other prisoners the most ordinary soldier; his name was falcon or Platosha, they good-naturedly mocked him, sent him for parcels. But for Pierre, as he presented himself on the first night, an incomprehensible, round and eternal personification of the spirit of simplicity and truth, he remained so forever.
Platon Karataev knew nothing by heart, except for his prayer. When he spoke his speeches, he, starting them, seemed not to know how he would end them.
When Pierre, sometimes struck by the meaning of his speech, asked to repeat what was said, Plato could not remember what he had said a minute ago, just as he could not in any way tell Pierre his favorite song with words. There it was: “dear, birch and I feel sick,” but the words did not make any sense. He did not understand and could not understand the meaning of words taken separately from the speech. Every word of his and every action was a manifestation of an activity unknown to him, which was his life. But his life, as he himself looked at it, had no meaning as a separate life. It only made sense as a part of the whole, which he constantly felt. His words and actions poured out of him as evenly, as necessary and immediately, as a scent separates from a flower. He could not understand either the price or the meaning of a single action or word.

Having received news from Nikolai that her brother was with the Rostovs in Yaroslavl, Princess Mary, despite her aunt's dissuades, immediately prepared to go, and not only alone, but with her nephew. Whether it was difficult, easy, possible or impossible, she did not ask and did not want to know: her duty was not only to be near, perhaps, her dying brother, but also to do everything possible to bring him a son, and she got up. drive. If Prince Andrei himself did not notify her, then Princess Mary explained that either by the fact that he was too weak to write, or by the fact that he considered this long journey too difficult and dangerous for her and his son.
In a few days, Princess Mary got ready for the journey. Her crews consisted of a huge princely carriage, in which she arrived in Voronezh, chaises and wagons. M lle Bourienne, Nikolushka with her tutor, an old nanny, three girls, Tikhon, a young footman and a haiduk, whom her aunt had let go with her, rode with her.
It was impossible to even think of going to Moscow in the usual way, and therefore the roundabout way that Princess Mary had to take: to Lipetsk, Ryazan, Vladimir, Shuya, was very long, due to the lack of post horses everywhere, it is very difficult and near Ryazan, where, as they said, the French showed up, even dangerous.
During this difficult journey m lle Bourienne, Dessalles and the servants of Princess Mary were surprised by her fortitude and activity. She went to bed later than everyone else, got up earlier than everyone else, and no difficulties could stop her. Thanks to her activity and energy, which aroused her companions, by the end of the second week they were approaching Yaroslavl.
AT recent times During her stay in Voronezh, Princess Marya experienced the best happiness in her life. Her love for Rostov no longer tormented her, did not excite her. This love filled her whole soul, became an indivisible part of herself, and she no longer fought against it. Of late, Princess Marya became convinced—although she never said this clearly to herself in words—she was convinced that she was loved and loved. She was convinced of this during her last meeting with Nikolai, when he came to her to announce that her brother was with the Rostovs. Nikolai did not hint in a single word that now (in the event of the recovery of Prince Andrei) the former relations between him and Natasha could be resumed, but Princess Marya saw from his face that he knew and thought this. And, despite the fact that his relationship to her - cautious, tender and loving - not only did not change, but he seemed to be glad that now the relationship between him and Princess Marya allowed him to more freely express his friendship to her love, as she sometimes thought Princess Mary. Princess Mary knew that she loved at first and last time in life, and felt that she was loved, and was happy, calm in this respect.
But this happiness of one side of her soul not only did not prevent her from feeling grief for her brother with all her might, but, on the contrary, it peace of mind in one respect gave her a great opportunity to give herself completely to her feelings for her brother. This feeling was so strong in the first minute of leaving Voronezh that those who saw her off were sure, looking at her exhausted, desperate face, that she would certainly fall ill on the way; but it was precisely the difficulties and worries of the journey, which Princess Marya undertook with such activity, saved her for a while from her grief and gave her strength.
As always happens during a trip, Princess Marya thought about only one trip, forgetting what was his goal. But, approaching Yaroslavl, when something that could await her again opened up, and not many days later, but this evening, Princess Mary's excitement reached its extreme limits.
When a haiduk sent ahead to find out in Yaroslavl where the Rostovs were and in what position Prince Andrei was, he met a large carriage driving in at the outpost, he was horrified to see the terribly pale face of the princess, which stuck out to him from the window.
- I found out everything, Your Excellency: the Rostov people are standing on the square, in the house of the merchant Bronnikov. Not far, above the Volga itself, - said the haiduk.
Princess Mary looked frightened and inquiringly at his face, not understanding what he was saying to her, not understanding why he did not answer main question: what brother? M lle Bourienne made this question for Princess Mary.
- What is the prince? she asked.
“Their excellencies are in the same house with them.
“So he is alive,” thought the princess, and quietly asked: what is he?
“People said they were all in the same position.
What did “everything in the same position” mean, the princess did not ask, and only briefly, glancing imperceptibly at the seven-year-old Nikolushka, who was sitting in front of her and rejoicing at the city, lowered her head and did not raise it until the heavy carriage, rattling, shaking and swaying, did not stop somewhere. The folding footboards rattled.
The doors opened. On the left was water - a big river, on the right was a porch; there were people on the porch, servants, and some sort of ruddy-faced girl with a big black plait, who smiled unpleasantly feignedly, as it seemed to Princess Marya (it was Sonya). The princess ran up the stairs, the smiling girl said: “Here, here!” - and the princess found herself in the front old woman with oriental type face, which with a touched expression quickly walked towards her. It was the Countess. She embraced Princess Mary and began to kiss her.
- Mon enfant! she said, je vous aime et vous connais depuis longtemps. [My child! I love you and have known you for a long time.]
Despite all her excitement, Princess Marya realized that it was the countess and that she had to say something. She, not knowing how herself, uttered some courteous French words, in the same tone as those that were spoken to her, and asked: what is he?

The girls who fought in the Great Patriotic War are a well-known topic. The Soviet Union turned out to be the only country where women acted not only in the usual role of signalmen and nurses, but also regularly fought on the front lines. Snipers of the Red Army became a world-famous phenomenon, medical instructors died in the thousands on the battlefield, but bore a colossal number of wounded, girls who fought even in tank troops. A kind of "brand" of Soviet aviation became "night witches" - female bomber units. However, the girls served not only in attack aircraft.

dream of heaven

Among the Soviet fighter pilots, one completely unusual character stands out. Seeing Lydia Litvyak without a uniform, one could hardly imagine that this is an air ace. A fragile blonde student of age, who took bouquets into the cockpit, looks strange among the stern faces of veterans of air battles. However, she did not just go behind the helm of the Yak. While the vast majority of fighter pilots did not manage to shoot down a single aircraft or shoot down 1-2 in their career, Litvyak achieved a dozen individual victories and several group victories. The young girl was distinguished by an aggressive, spectacular style of air combat and rightfully entered the elite of the combat aviation of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Lydia's parents moved from the village to Moscow after graduation. civil war. The future pilot was born in 1921. Ironically, August 18 - her birthday - soon began to be celebrated as the day of Soviet aviation. The stars converged successfully: young Litvyak was ill with the sky since childhood. Fortunately, the 20s and 30s were not only a time severe trials for the country, but also a short era of hope and reckless faith in progress. Many were fond of aviation, and when the fourteen-year-old Lydia entered the flying club, she horrified her mother, but did not surprise anyone.

The girl mastered the air rapidly: at 15 she was already piloting a U-2 maize machine on her own, and then she graduated from the instructor pilot school in Kherson. Still a high school student, but already a full-fledged airwoman: Litvyak not only flies herself, but also teaches others. The Soviet Union was in desperate need of personnel, the country was in dire need of any specialists, so an experienced pilot was always appreciated, even if underage girl. Even the typical tragedy of the era did not affect Litvyak's career: in 1937, her father fell under the rink of repression and died in prison, but this story did not affect the fate of Lydia herself.

Until the summer of 1941, Litvyak trained four dozen pilots. Then the war began, and she immediately asked to go to the front in combat units. At first, the enthusiasm of a twenty-year-old girl caused a sour reaction from the command. The use of women in combat aviation has not yet been planned. However, at that time, Lydia's personal file caught the eye of a living legend of domestic aviation - Marina Raskova.

Raskova herself was an extraordinary character. One of the first three women - Heroes Soviet Union, air navigator, pilot with experience in flying in extreme conditions, who set records in the sky. Experience, energy and qualifications brought Raskova considerable authority in air force, and her connections stretched very high, up to personal contacts with Stalin. With the outbreak of war, she proposed the creation of several women's aviation units. The energy and connections of Raskova allowed her to push through this idea, and in the fall of 1941, the formation of three women's air regiments began - the 587th bomber (future 125th guards), the 588th night bomber (the famous "night witches") and, finally, the 586th th fighter.

Lydia Litvyak aspired to get into fighter aircraft. Her desire to join this particular regiment was so keen that she secretly credited herself with a hundred hours of flight time. Perhaps this is not the most responsible behavior, but this trick paid off: Soviet aviation received an excellent fighter - energetic and enterprising. Sometimes even overly proactive. Lydia was distinguished by her wayward and even a little punkish character. For the first time, an inclination to take risks, even bypassing orders, was noted in her during training at an air base near Engels. An accident occurred with one of the planes, he needed to bring a spare propeller. Flights were banned due to the blizzard.

However, Lydia simply jumped into the cockpit and flew to the scene of the accident without orders or permission. The head of the aviation school reprimanded her, but Raskova said that she was proud of such a student. It seems that Raskova saw traits of her own character in Lydia. Sometimes, however, Lida's problems with discipline manifested themselves in a comical way. So, once she cut a piece of fur from high boots to make a fashionable collar for overalls out of it. Here Raskova no longer showed condescension: Litvyak had to alter the fur back. True, she will not lose her love for the small decoration of life even at the front, already being an experienced pilot. Scarves made of parachute silk, balaclavas altered for greater convenience and elegance - Lydia, even under fire, will remain a girl, and not just a fighter.

But there were no complaints about the level of aerobatics. Litvyak, like the rest of the girls, maintained a frantic pace of training with twelve hours of training every day. The ferocity of the preparation was explained simply: the pilots had to fight against an enemy that was smart, cruel and unforgiving. Piloting Yak Lydia passed perfectly and went to war.

Everything in the air is the enemy

In September 1942, the most grandiose and cruel battle in the history of mankind was fought on earth - Stalingrad. The stakes were higher than ever, and no one took the expression "at any cost" as mere rhetoric. The Luftwaffe began this battle with a grandiose aerial bombardment of Stalingrad, which immediately killed tens of thousands of inhabitants. Bombers brutally beat up reinforcements on their way to Stalingrad and ships carrying refugees and wounded across the river. It was in this battle that Lydia Litvyak became not just a girl on a fighter, but a fighter with a formidable reputation. She and several friends fought in the men's 437th air regiment on an equal footing with everyone else.

And fought brilliantly. In her first air battle, Lida destroyed a bomber, and then cut down a fighter that aimed at her partner Raisa Belyaeva. The plane returns to base with a victory ...

... And the pilot again hooligans. After successful sorties, Lida, if she had fuel left, did not deny herself the pleasure of spinning aerobatics over her native airfield. These jokes became one of her business cards. The regimental commander turned a blind eye to these entertainments. She performed combat missions successfully, and the number of stars on the fuselage slowly but steadily grew. The regiment suffered heavy losses, but Litvyak remained in the ranks, invariably showing tenacity, pressure and good tactical thinking. She left Stalingrad as a fire-hardened fighter pilot.

Soon after Battle of Stalingrad Litvyak was hit for the first time. She almost died going to forced landing in the neutral zone. Lydia was rescued by stormtroopers, with whom she went on a mission. The silts pinned down the Germans, who were trying to get to her on the ground, with fire, and then one of the "flying tanks" landed nearby. Litvyak climbed into the cockpit, and Ilyushin safely escaped the chase.

In the spring of 1943, there was a lull on almost the entire front, but it did not concern the pilots. Departures to cover attack aircraft and bombers, interception of German attack aircraft. In April, Litvyak was seriously wounded in an extremely difficult battle. Her Yak went out to intercept bombers over Rostov. The yaks attacked the Germans, Litvyak knocked down one of the Junkers, but during the dump a bullet hit her in the leg. German fighters began to enter the damaged aircraft. Lydia reacted in her own way - she launched a desperate counterattack and did not turn away. She managed to destroy one of the Messerschmitts who attacked her at the cost of a second wound and a battered own aircraft. After the battle, Yak barely made it to the airfield, Litvyak reported on the successful completion of the task - and immediately collapsed from pain and blood loss. She soon left the hospital in the most natural way for herself - she fled. Not yet recovered from her wound, she knocks down two Messers in a row. One of the pilots was captured and asked to meet with the pilot who shot him down. The German aviator did not believe that his plane was destroyed by a girl. Litvyak had to show on his fingers exactly how she went into his tail in order to dispel the doubts of the unlucky ace.

Then Lydia destroyed an unusual target - a spotter balloon. The Germans were careful to ensure that their precious aircraft they didn’t shoot down, and Litvyak managed the balloon with cunning - she dived on it from the side of the sun.

This stormy spring, Litvyak met another ace - Alexei Solomatin. War romances were often fast-paced, tumultuous - and understandably unhappy. But the risk was perceived as part of the profession, and there was a break in the battles on the eve of the battle near Kursk, and Lydia could grab a few weeks of peace and simple human happiness. Litvyak and Solomatin got along in character, and, according to fellow soldiers, they were an excellent couple. It is interesting that Solomatin served in the regiment, where Litvyak was not taken at one time: this unit often went on reconnaissance far beyond the front line, and the regimental commander, Major Eremin, refused female pilots - in case of captivity, they would have had it worse than men.

The military field romance did not last long: on May 21, 1943, Solomatin died in front of ground personnel and his beloved - mortally wounded in battle, he failed to land the damaged aircraft. At the funeral, Lydia shouted: "I will take revenge!" Soon her best friend Ekaterina Budanova was killed. In a few weeks, Litvyak lost two of her closest people. All she has left is a plane, air combat skills and a desire for revenge. In the coming weeks, she destroys two more planes, gets another wound, but refuses to be hospitalized. The fighting resumed with the same intensity, and the twenty-one-year-old ace is participating in them in the most active way.

On August 1, 1943, Lydia went missing during the fighting over the Mius Front in the Donbass. She was returning from an air battle with her partner.

Radio operator Anna Skorobogatova said:

Very often, ours literally died during landing: well, here’s our own airfield nearby ... Such relaxation ... And here because of a cloud or from the direction of the sun: zipper - and that’s it ... Therefore, they said: when landing, be to the limit, don’t relax ...

I kept in touch with them. They say:

- Everyone is here, everything is safe! But this is not her voice, but the leader. And she was led.

- I am Chaika-5, I am Chaika-5. Went on the attack!

What? Did I misheard? I started recording.

Quiet. Suddenly I hear a scream. You know - such a cry, anguish.

- Went!

And that's it. She didn't come back...

According to Litvyak's partner Ivan Borisenko, the eight Yakovs grappled with the Germans, and the pilots lost each other in the clouds. He managed to notice how a smoking Yak fell out of the clouds, and already at the base it turned out that Lydia had not returned to the base. On the German side that day, an ace fighter also died in this sector: Hans-Jörg Merkle did not return from the flight, he also went missing. Who killed him is unknown, but there is some possibility that it was Lydia Litvyak's farewell blow: both planes disappeared near the village of Dmitrovka near Shakhtyorsk. Later, Skorobogatova noted that, perhaps, Lydia purposefully went on the attack, simply out of a frenzied desire for revenge. Whether this is so, it is impossible to know, but such an act is quite in the spirit of this girl.

For several decades, Lydia was considered missing. Due to the fact that neither the wreckage of the plane nor the body was found, there was even a tale that the girl had escaped with a parachute - and she was allegedly seen in the German rear in the company of German officers. Given the circumstances of her life and character, this is frankly an insane rumor. However, there was no clarity in this matter until the end of the 1980s. An enthusiastic teacher from Krasny Luch V. I. Vashchenko, on her own initiative, began searching, and as a result, the remains were found. The body of the pilot was poorly preserved, but from the remnants of linen it became clear that it was a woman. After examining the remains, it was determined that they belonged to Lydia. Judging by the preserved bones, she died instantly from a wound in the forehead. This girl did not change herself and at the last moment of her life she went towards the one who killed her.

Lydia Litvyak lived for 21 years and shot down 11 planes and a balloon during the war. This makes her the best female fighter of all time. Of course, the fireball over the Mius steppe is not the finale she deserved. The fate of Lydia is the fate of her entire generation, superbly gifted by nature - and who sacrificed herself.

What is good about the Internet is that it is a wonderful opportunity to search for information and education. Today, children play more in tanks, and do not learn the history of the Great Patriotic War, although it is in this history that huge storehouses of educational and worldly wisdom are hidden. who knows, if the youth of Ukraine had been told more about the Great Patriotic War, then there would not have been those events that the soldiers of Victory could dream of only in a nightmare ...

Lydia Litvyak

Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak became a legend during the war years. She has shot down more enemy aircraft than any other female fighter in the history of air combat. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as a female pilot who won the most victories in aerial combat.

During her short combat career, she made 186 sorties, conducted 69 air combat, made two forced landings on enemy territory and was able to return to her regiment, was wounded three times, lost loved ones, but continued to fight. Lydia flew on the Yak-1 fighter and died, having 12 personal confirmed air victories on her combat account; She shot down 4 enemy planes in a group.

Pilot Marina Raskova, Hero of the Soviet Union, was entrusted with the formation of these regiments. At the beginning of 1942, having learned that a female fighter aviation regiment was being formed, Lydia attributed 100 missing hours to the existing raid and was enlisted in the 586th fighter regiment. And already in June she made her first sortie in the sky over Saratov.

In August 1942, having one group victory over Yu-88, Lydia achieved a transfer to the 268th Fighter Aviation Division. At the beginning of September 1942, the best combat pilots (including Lydia Litvyak and Katya Budanova in a different way) were sent to the Stalingrad Front in the "male" 437th Fighter Aviation Regiment for further service on La 5.

On September 13, during her second sortie, Lilia Litvyak shot down two Bf109 and Ju 88 aircraft. Two weeks later, she won her third victory, shooting down another Ju 88. Then, together with pilot R. Belyaeva, she shot down Bf109. Soon Lydia was transferred to a separate female unit organized at the headquarters of the division, and from there to the regiment of aces - the 9th Guards Odessa Fighter Aviation Regiment. February 23, 1943 Lydia Litvyak was awarded the first combat award - the Order of the Red Star. By that time, she already had 8 air victories on her account.

Lydia Litvyak was still a very young girl - she was barely 21 years old. Young and very romantic: according to the memories, Lydia wore long scarves made of parachute silk, and always kept a bunch of wildflowers in the cockpit of a fighter. She painted a bright white lily on the hood of her Yak-1.

In March, the situation in the air became much more difficult. On March 22, in the region of Rostov-on-Don, Lydia participates in the interception of a group of Ju 88s. During a long and difficult battle, she managed to shoot down one of the enemy bombers. But six Bf 109s came to the aid of the Junkers and immediately went on the attack. The battle continued for more than 15 minutes, in which the pilot was wounded and with great difficulty was able to bring the crippled fighter home.

It was after this battle that she was recognized as an ace. After treatment in the hospital, the pilot returned to the regiment. And already on May 5, not yet fully strengthened, she flew out to escort a group of bombers. During the departure, an air battle ensued, and Lydia shot down an enemy fighter. And two days later she shot down another Bf109. At the end of May, on the sector of the front, where the regiment operated, a balloon-spotter of artillery fire appeared. Repeated attempts to bring him down did not lead to anything. Litvyak was able to cope with this task. Taking off, it passed along the front line, then went deep behind enemy lines and entered the balloon from the territory occupied by the enemy, from the direction of the sun. The attack lasted less than a minute! For this victory, Junior Lieutenant Lydia Litvyak was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. The exploits of the pilot were written in the newspapers, her name became known throughout the country.

Lydia Litvyak became famous for two more of her exploits. Within a few weeks, her plane was shot down twice behind the front line, and both times Lida remained unharmed, avoided capture and returned home to take part in the battles again. For the first time, she managed to escape on her own and get there on foot. And the second time she was saved by a fellow pilot who made a desperate landing on enemy territory and took Lydia on board his plane.

In April 1943, the very popular Ogonyok magazine placed on the first page (cover) a photo of fighting girlfriends - Lydia Litvyak and Ekaterina Budanova and a short explanation: "These brave girls shot down 12 enemy aircraft."

On May 21, 1943, Lydia's husband, Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Captain Aleksey Frolovich Solomatin, died in a heavy battle.

Alexey Frolovich Solomatin

Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. The squadron commander of the 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment (later the 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment) of the 268th Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army, Southern Front - Senior Lieutenant Solomatin by February 1943 made 266 sorties, in 108 air battles personally shot down 12 and in a group of 15 enemy aircraft. At the beginning of 1943, Lydia Litvyak came to serve in the regiment and was assigned to lead Solomatin.

Captain Solomatin died on May 21, 1943 in a training air battle over the Pavlovka farm of the Krasnogvardeisky (now Krasnosulinsky) district Rostov region. The plane crashed in front of his comrades and his beloved. The funeral of Solomatin took place on the square x. Pavlovka. In total, on his combat account there were 17 enemy aircraft shot down personally and 22 in the group.

On July 19, the pilot experienced another tragedy - she died best friend Katya Budanova, who was considered the most successful of the Soviet aces pilots, had 11 enemy winged vehicles destroyed on her account (Lydia then had ten of them plus three shot down in a group).

Ekaterina Budanova

On August 1, 1943, Lydia Litvyak made her last sortie. As part of the Yak-1 link, she accompanied the Il-2 attack aircraft going on a mission. In the air, their planes met with big group German fighters. They say that several Messerschmites rushed to Yak with a white lily on board. It was the fourth flight of the day. On her last day of life, Lydia shot down two more enemy planes. The plane of the legendary pilot crashed near the village of Dmitrievka. She would have turned 22 in two weeks. Searches were urgently organized. However, neither the plane nor the pilot could be found. That is why she was never awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which was due for ten air victories.

In her short, just over a year, combat career, she completed 186 sorties, conducted 69 air battles and won 12 confirmed victories. Characterizing her as an air fighter, the former commander of the 273rd (31st Guards) Fighter Aviation Regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union B. N. Eremin recalled: She was a born pilot. She had a special talent as a fighter, she was bold and decisive, inventive and cautious. She could see the air...»

Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak was presented by the command of the regiment to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. Soon one of the previously shot down pilots returned from enemy territory. He reported that, according to local residents, our fighter jet had landed on the road near the village of Marinovka. The pilot turned out to be a girl - blond, small in stature. A car with German officers approached the plane, and the girl left with them ... Most of the aviators did not believe the rumor and continued to try to find out the fate of Lydia. But the shadow of suspicion had already gone beyond the regiment and reached the higher headquarters. The command of the division, having shown "caution", did not approve Litvyak's submission to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, limiting himself to the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.

Once, at the moment of revelation, Lydia said to the aircraft mechanic, her friend: “Most of all I am afraid of missing out. Anything but this." There were good reasons for such concern. Lida's father was arrested and shot as an "enemy of the people" in 1937. The girl perfectly understood what it means to her, the daughter of a repressed person, to go missing. No one and nothing will save her honest name. Fate played with her bad joke prepared for just such a fate.

In the summer of 1979, their search was crowned with success. Being in the area of ​​the Kozhevnya farm, the guys learned that in the summer of 1943 a soviet fighter. The pilot wounded in the head was a woman. It was established that the famous pilot Lydia Vladimirov-na Litvyak was buried in a mass grave in the village of Dmitrievka, Shakhtersky district, Donetsk region.

In July 1988, in Litvyak's personal file, the entry "disappeared" was finally replaced by "died while performing a combat mission." And the veterans of the regiment in which she fought renewed their petition to award the pilot the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

By the Decree of the President of the USSR of May 5, 1990, for the exemplary fulfillment of command assignments and the courage and heroism shown in battles with the Nazi invaders of the guard, Junior Lieutenant Lidia Vladimirovna Litvyak was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The Order of Lenin No. 460056 and the Gold Star medal No. 11616 were deposited with the relatives of the deceased Heroine.

She was awarded the Orders of Lenin (05/05/1990, posthumously), the Red Banner (07/22/1943), the Patriotic War 1st degree (09/10/1943, posthumously), the Red Star (02/17/1943), the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" (1943) . In the hero city of Moscow, at house number 14 on Novoslobodskaya Street, in which the Heroine lived and from where she went to the front, a memorial plaque was erected. The memorial plate is installed on the memorial at the burial site, in the village of Dmitrovka, Shakhtyorsky district, Donetsk region.

Thanks alex_serdyuk for the material used in the post, which he prepared earlier.

At her request, a white lily was painted on the fuselage of the Litvyak aircraft. "White Lily-44" (according to the tail number of the aircraft) became her radio call sign. And from now on, she herself began to be called the "White Lily of Stalingrad." Soon Lydia was transferred to the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, where the best pilots served, then to the 296th IAP.

One day her own plane was shot down and she had to land in the territory occupied by the Germans. She miraculously escaped capture: one of the attack pilots opened fire on the Nazis, and when they lay down, hiding from the shelling, he went down to the ground and took the girl on board.

On February 23, 1943, Lydia Litvyak was awarded the Order of the Red Star for military merit. By that time, in addition to a white lily, eight bright red stars flaunted on the fuselage of her Yak - according to the number of aircraft shot down in battles.

On March 22, in the Rostov-on-Don region, during a group battle with German bombers, Lydia was seriously wounded in the leg, but still managed to land the damaged aircraft. She was sent home from the hospital to recover, but a week later she returned to the regiment. She flew in tandem with squadron commander Alexei Solomatin, covering him during attacks. A feeling arose between the comrades, and in April of the 43rd Lydia and Alexei signed.

In May 1943, Litvyak shot down several more enemy planes and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. But fate prepared two heavy blows for her at once. On May 21, her husband Alexei Solomatin was killed in battle. And on July 18 - best friend Ekaterina Budanova.

But there was no time to mourn. In late July - early August, the 43rd Litvyak had to take part in heavy battles to break through the German defenses on the Mius River. On August 1, Lydia made four sorties. During the fourth sortie, her plane was shot down. German fighter, but did not immediately fall to the ground, but disappeared into the clouds ...

War is the prerogative of men. Military aviation- especially. But, as the experience of the Second World War shows, there were exceptions to the rule here. This story is about one of the most prominent female pilots - Lydia Litvyak.

The name of this brave pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Lydia Litvyak is the most productive Soviet female pilot of the Second World War. She shot down 14 aircraft and a spotter balloon. At the same time, Lydia Litvyak fought for only eight months. During this time, she made 168 sorties and conducted 89 air battles. At less than 22 years old, she died in battle.

girl and sky

Lydia Litvyak was born in 1921 in Moscow, on August 18, the All-Union Aviation Day. Fascinated by airplanes since childhood, the girl was incredibly proud of this fact. At the age of 14, she enrolled in the Chkalov Central Aeroclub, and a year later she made her first solo flight. Then she graduated from the Kherson Flight School, became an instructor pilot, and before the start of the war she managed to put 45 cadets on the wing.

And in 1937, Lydia's father was arrested as an "enemy of the people" and shot.

fighter pilot

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 19-year-old Lydia, in love with the sky, signed up as a volunteer pilot. But only a year later, in September 1942, the girl made her first sortie as part of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment. It was one of three women's aviation regiments under the leadership of the pilot Marina Raskova, which were formed on the orders of Stalin due to the large losses of professional pilots.

Pilots of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment.

Less than a year later, on February 23, 1943, Lydia Litvyak received one of her first combat awards - the Order of the Red Star. By that time, the fuselage of her faithful Yak-1 was decorated with eight bright red stars (a symbol of eight air victories) and a snow-white lily - a special sign of a pilot who is allowed "free hunting" - special kind combat operations, in which the fighter does not perform a specific task of covering bombers, but flies, tracking down enemy aircraft and "hunting" them.

air ace

In one of the first sorties over Stalingrad, Lydia managed to shoot down two enemy aircraft - a Ju-88 bomber and a Bf-109 fighter. The pilot of the Bf-109 turned out to be a German baron, holder of the Knight's Cross, who scored 30 air victories. The German was an experienced pilot and fought to the last. But in the end, his car flared up from a shell fired by Lydia and began to fall rapidly. The pilot bailed out and was taken prisoner. During the interrogation, he asked to show him the one who brought him down. Seeing a twenty-year-old girl, the German ace became furious: “Are you laughing at me? I am a pilot who shot down more than thirty aircraft. I am a holder of the Knight's Cross! It can't be that this girl hit me! That pilot fought masterfully.” Then Lydia showed with gestures the details of the battle known only to the two of them, he changed his face, took off his gold watch and handed it to her, the pilot who defeated him ...

It was there that Lydia Litvyak received the nickname "White Lily of Stalingrad", and "Lily" became her radio call sign.

"Different people"

Colleagues said that the sky literally transformed Litvyak: the steering wheel in her hands changed her beyond recognition and seemed to divide her into two completely different people.

"Earthly" Lydia was a silent, modest beauty with blond hair, pigtails and blue eyes. She loved to read books and dress elegantly: she wore unusual things - a white balaclava, a sleeveless jacket turned out with fluff, chrome boots, a collar for a flight uniform made of fur cut from fur boots - and walked with a special gait, causing quiet delight in those around her. At the same time, the blond girl was very reserved about the enthusiastic looks and words of fellow soldiers, and, which especially impressed the pilots, she did not give preference to anyone.

The “heavenly” Lydia, on the other hand, was distinguished by her determination, composure and endurance: she “could see the air,” as her commander said. Her special handwriting in piloting was compared with Chkalovsky, they admired her skill and marveled at her desperate courage.

Pilot of the 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Junior Lieutenant Lidia Litvyak (1921-1943) after a sortie on the wing of his Yak-1B fighter.

On March 22, near Rostov-on-Don, Lydia participated in the interception of a group of German bombers. During the battle, she managed to shoot down one plane. And then Lydia noticed Messerschmitts flying in the sky. Seeing the six Bf-109s, the girl joined them in unequal fight, allowing his comrades to complete the task assigned to them. During the battle, Lydia was seriously wounded in the leg, but managed to bring the damaged aircraft to the airfield. Having reported on the successful completion of the mission and two downed enemy aircraft, the girl lost consciousness. According to colleagues, her plane resembled a colander.

The pilot was credited with extraordinary luck. Once during the battle, Litvyak's plane was shot down, and she was forced to land on the territory occupied by the enemy. When the German soldiers tried to take the girl prisoner, one of the attack pilots came to her aid: with machine gun fire, he forced the Germans to lie down, and he landed and took Litvyak on board.

Love and friendship

At the beginning of 1943, Lydia Litvyak was transferred to the 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment and assigned to follow the squadron commander Alexei Solomatin (the lead pilot must go on the attack, and the wingman must cover him). After several months of joint flights, in April of the same year, literally in the break between battles, the couple signed.

All this time, the girl was friends and fought with the pilot Katya Budanova, with whom fate brought her together at the beginning combat way- in the Raskova women's air regiment - and no longer separated. Since then, they have always served together and have been best friends.

fatal year

On May 21, 1943, in a plane crash that occurred right in front of her comrades and Lydia herself, her husband, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Solomatin, died.

And less than a month later, Lydia's best friend Katya Budanova received many injuries and died without regaining consciousness. On July 18, in a fight with German fighters, Litvyak and Budanova were shot down. Litvyak managed to jump out with a parachute, and Budanova died.

This fateful year was the last for the White Lily herself. On August 1, 1943 Litvyak made her last flight. At the end of July, there were terrible battles to break through the German defenses at the turn of the Mius River, which closed the road to the Donbass. Fights on the ground were accompanied stubborn struggle for air superiority. Lydia Litvyak made four sorties, during which she personally shot down two enemy aircraft and one more in the group. She did not return from the fourth flight. Six "Yakovs" entered the battle with a group of 30 Ju-88 bombers and 12 Bf-109 fighters, a deadly whirl ensued. Lydia's plane was shot down by a German fighter… Lidia Litvyak was supposed to be 22 years old in two weeks.

A search for her was urgently organized. However, neither the pilot nor her aircraft could be found. Lydia Litvyak was posthumously presented by the command of the regiment to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The front-line newspaper "Red Banner" dated March 7, 1944 wrote about her as a fearless falcon, a pilot who was known to all the soldiers of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

Evil joke of fate

However, soon one of the previously shot down pilots returned from enemy territory. He reported that he heard locals they said that one day our fighter landed on the road near the village of Marinovka. The pilot was a blond girl. A car pulled up to the plane German soldiers and the girl left with them.

Most of the aviators did not believe the rumor, but the shadow of suspicion had already gone beyond the regiment and reached the higher headquarters. The command, showing "caution", did not approve Litvyak's submission to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, limiting himself to the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.

Once, at the moment of revelation, Lydia said to her friend: “Most of all I am afraid of missing out. Anything but this." There were good reasons for such concern. Lida's father was arrested and shot as an "enemy of the people" in 1937. The girl perfectly understood what it means to her, the daughter of a repressed person, to go missing. No one and nothing will save her honest name. Fate played a cruel joke with her, preparing just such a fate.

Fight, seek, find and never give up

But they searched for Lydia, searched long and hard. Caring fans organized their own investigations. In 1967, in the city of Krasny Luch, Lugansk region, a school teacher Valentina Ivanovna Vashchenko founded a search detachment of the RVS (scouts of military glory). Being in the area of ​​the Kozhevnya farm, the guys learned that in the summer of 1943 a Soviet fighter plane crashed on its outskirts. The pilot wounded in the head was a girl. She was buried in the village of Dmitrievka, Mining District, in a mass grave. The study of the remains made it possible to find out that the deceased was mortally wounded in the frontal part of the head. Further investigation established that it could only be Lydia Litvyak. The girl was identified by two white pigtails.

So 45 years after the death of the pilot, in 1988, an entry appeared in the personal file of Lydia Litvyak: “She died while performing a combat mission.” And in 1990, Lydia was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.