A DEADLY WHITE LILY

Arguably the best-known Soviet woman pilot in the war, who became famous for being a double “ace,” was Lidya (nicknamed “Lilya”) Litvyak. A senior lieutenant as well as a flight commander of the 73rd Guards Stalingrad-Vienna Fighter Regiment/6th Fighter Division/8th Air Army, she also served in the 586th as well as two other fighter regiments.

Litvyak was born August 18, 1922, in Moscow and learned to fly at a young age. Striking in appearance and small in stature, Litvyak made a powerful impression on everyone who came in contact with her. A lover of nature, she would decorate the inside of her cockpit with wild flowers found near the airfield. Legend has it that she even painted a white lily on the fuselage of her aircraft. No one could have predicted that this petite blonde pilot (she had to have the pedals of her plane adjusted so she could reach them) who liked to fashion colorful neck scarves out of parachutes, would prove to be such a deadly adversary in the skies.

On September 13, 1942 Litvyak became the first woman to shoot down an enemy aircraft. She actually downed two German fighters that day in an intense air battle over Stalingrad. One of her opponents was a German ace who was a three-time recipient of the Iron Cross and a member of the 4th Air Fleet. He had scored his 11th victory three days earlier. But in this case he was forced to bail out of his aircraft. Once captured on the ground, he asked to meet the Russian ace who had shot down his plane. When 20-year-old Litvyak stood before him, he stared in amazement. In disbelief, he demanded proof that she had indeed been the pilot. After Litvyak described in detail their dogfight (which had been her first), the German ace was forced to accept the truth. For a pilot of her limited experience to achieve two kills in a single day (especially one involving a fighter ace) was an amazing accomplishment.

After having been wounded on several occasions, Litvyak perished on August 1, 1943, in an air battle involving approximately nine Soviet and 40 enemy aircraft. It was believed at the time that Litvyak died instantly from a fatal bullet wound to the head while still in the air. However, her mechanic, Inna Pasportnikova, based on later evidence, maintains that Litvyak died on the ground, after she crashed behind enemy lines. Years later it was discovered that she had in fact belly-landed her aircraft near the village of Dmitriyevka of Shakhtersky district, Donetsk region and was buried there in a common grave.

Litvyak was not awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union until May 5, 1990, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the decree, 47 years after her death. In 268 combat missions, Litvyak shot down 12 enemy planes (which also included the downing of an artillery observation balloon), and had three shared kills to her credit. In Wings, Women, and War, male colleagues described Litvyak as “a remarkable girl, smart, with the true character of a fighter pilot and a daredevil.”