Khiuaz Qayrkyzy Dospanova (russian: Хиуаз Каировна Доспанова, kk, Хиуаз Қайырқызы Доспанова; 15 May 1922 – 20 May 2008) was a Kazakh pilot and navigator who served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, nicknamed the "Night Witches." In addition to being the first Kazakh woman officer in the Soviet Air Force, she was the only Kazakh woman to serve in the "Night Witches". Despite sustaining multiple fractures in her legs in a ground collision in 1943, she returned to active duty and continued to participate in sorties against doctor's recommendations; she was eventually awarded the title Hero of Kazakhstan in 2004 for her perseverance.

Early life

Born in Atyrau, present-day

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, from her early childhood she dreamed of becoming a pilot. After completing secondary school she became certified as a reserve pilot. When World War II started she applied to the

Zhukovsky Air Force Academy Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy () – is a higher military educational institution for training and retraining of engineers for the Russian Air Force. The academy trains specialists – engineers, research engineers in the following sp ...

in Moscow, but her application was denied because the academy was for males only; she entered a medical institute instead in 1941.

Military career

When she heard of the recently formed all-female aviation regiments commanded by

Marina Raskova Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova ( rus, Мари́на Миха́йловна Раско́ва, , mɐˈrʲinə mʲɪˈxajləvnə rɐˈskovə; née Malinina; 28 March 1912 – 4 January 1943) was the first woman in the Soviet Union to achieve the diploma ...

, she applied to the aviation college in Saratov. In 1942 she was placed in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment under the command of experienced pilot

Yevdokia Bershanskaya Yevdokiya Davidovna Bershanskaya ( Russian: Евдокия Давыдовна Бершанская; 6 February 1913, in Dobrovolnoye, Stavropol – 16 September 1982, in Moscow) was the regimental commander of the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber ...

; the unit was later awarded the Guards designation and renamed as the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. While landing after a mission on 1 April 1943, the

Polikarpov Po-2 The Polikarpov Po-2 (also U-2, for its initial ''uchebnyy'', 'training', role as a flight instruction aircraft) served as an all-weather multirole Soviet biplane, nicknamed ''Kukuruznik'' (russian: Кукурузник,Gunston 1995, p. 292. NA ...

Dospanova and pilot Yuliya Pashkova were flying was hit by the plane of Polina Makagon and Lydia Svistunova. Both pilots in the other plane were killed in the crash and Pashkova died during surgery; Dospanova was assumed to be dead after not moving for a while, but nurses eventually realized she was still alive because she was not showing signs of

pallor mortis __NOTOC__ Pallor mortis (Latin: ''pallor'' "paleness", ''mortis'' "of death"), the first stage of death, is an after-death paleness that occurs in those with light/white skin. An opto-electronical colour measurement device is used to measure pal ...

long after they assumed her to be dead, so she underwent a series of surgeries over several days. Her legs developed gangrene, but one doctor refused to amputate her legs, saying that she would need them. Dospanova had to wear casts on both of her legs for weeks and walked with a cane quite a while after the casts were removed. Six months later she returned to her unit, but was soon promoted to work as regiment's head of communications, since she continued to have difficulty using her legs, resulting in her needing assistance getting in and out of aircraft. Nevertheless, she still flew as navigator in combat missions, and tallied an estimated 300 sorties by the end of the war, taking part in the battles throughout Eastern Europe including in

the Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

, Kuban, Taman,

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Postwar

Initially Dospanova considered returning to medical school, but after meeting first secretary of the West Kazakhstan regional party committee Minaidar Salin, she decided to work for the

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

instead. She held a variety of positions in the government including secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR. After retiring early due to her poor health she lived in Almaty, where she died on 20 May 2008.

Awards

Hero of Kazakhstan The title of People's Hero of Kazakhstan ( kk, Халық қаһарманы, Halyq qaharmany) is the highest distinction conferred by the Republic of Kazakhstan, along with the Order of the Golden Eagle. Overview According to the Law on State Aw ...

(7 December 2004) *

Order of Otan The Order of Otan ( Kazakh: ''Отан ордені'', trans. ''Otan ordeni'', ''Order of the Fatherland'') is one of the highest orders of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The order is usually awarded to citizens for the following, but there have been ...

(7 December 2004) *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisa ...

1st class (11 March 1985) * Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class (22 February 1944) * Order of the Red Star (26 December 1942) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labor The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the ...

(28 October 1948) *

Medal "Veteran of Labour" The Medal "Veteran of Labour" (russian: медаль «Ветеран труда») was a civilian labour award of the Soviet Union established on January 18, 1974 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to honour workers ...

(1974) * campaign and jubilee medals

Recognition

An ice rink and

Embraer 190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...

Air Astana Air Astana ( kk, Эйр Астана, translit=Eir Astana; russian: Эйр Астана́, translit=) is an airline group based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It operates scheduled international and domestic services on 64 routes from its main hub, Alma ...

bear her name; Atyrau International Airport is named in her honor.

References