Lidiya Ivanovna Shulaykina (russian: Лидия Ивановна Шулайкина; 22 June 1995) was one of the few women

Ilyushin Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...

pilots and the only female ground-attack pilot in naval aviation during the Second World War. In 1993 she was awarded the title

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation (russian: Герой Российской Федерации, Geroy Rossiyskoy Federatsii), also unofficially Hero of Russia (russian: link=no, Герой России, Geroy Rossii), is the highest honorary title ...

Early life

Shulaykina was born in 1915 to a Russian family in

Orekhovo-Zuyevo Orekhovo-Zuyevo (russian: Оре́хово-Зу́ево, ) is an industrial city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east of Moscow in a forested area on the Klyazma River (a tributary of the Oka). Orekhovo (russian: Оре́хово), often prono ...

near Moscow. After completing her seventh grade of school in 1930 she went on to attend the Moscow Industrial and Pedagogical College, which she graduated from in 1933. From then she worked as a schoolteacher until 1939, having moved on to work as a flight instructor full time. While a teacher she trained at her local aeroclub, graduating in 1937 and then working as a flight instructor in addition to her teaching job. After her husband Sergey Kiryushkin graduated from the Kachin flying school and was sent to the Caucasus, she came with him and gave birth to their daughter Tamara in 1940. Until May 1941 she worked for the Civil Air Fleet in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

, after which she briefly taught pilots at an aeroclub in the Moscow area. However, she soon had to relocate again, when the flight school had to be moved to

Udmurtia Udmurtia (russian: Удму́ртия, r=Udmúrtiya, p=ʊˈdmurtʲɪjə; udm, Удмуртия, ''Udmurtija''), or the Udmurt Republic (russian: Удмуртская Республика, udm, Удмурт Республика, Удмурт � ...

after the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

World War II

Shortly after receiving a notice that her husband died in 1942, Shulaykina volunteered for the military and was originally posted as a flight instructor, but after repeated requests to be sent to the front lines she was sent to learn to fly the Il-2 at the 3rd Naval Aviation School, and graduated from training in August 1944. From then until May 1945 she served in the 7th Guards Attack Aviation Regiment under the command of twice Hero of the Soviet Union

Aleksey Mazurenko Aleksey Yefimovich Mazurenko (russian: Алексе́й Ефи́мович Мазуре́нко; – 11 March 2004) was the commander of the 7th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment in the Black Sea Fleet during World War II. He was twice awar ...

. She saw heavy combat in the

battle of Königsberg The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussia ...

; in total she flew 30 sorties on the Il-2, successfully destroying various vessels and inflicting damage on important targets. At the time she was the only female ground-attack pilot in Soviet naval aviation.

Postwar

Remaining in the air force for ten years after the war, Shulaykina became a

Li-2 The Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab), originally designated PS-84, was a license-built Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in Moscow-Khimki and, after evacuation in 1941, at TAPO in Tashkent. The proje ...

pilot, flying with the 81st Separate Transport Aviation Squadron from July 1947 to September 1951 and then the 65th Separate Transport Aviation Regiment until leaving the military in 1955. Living in Moscow with her husband, whom she married in 1949, she worked as a home economics teacher at a high school and later as an English teacher after graduating from the faculty of foreign languages of the Moscow Pedagogical Institute. In 1990 she retired from teaching before she died on 22 June 1995 and was buried in the Dolgoprudnensky Cemetery.

Awards

(1 October 1993) * Two

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

(1 November 1944 and 23 May 1945) * Medal "For Military Merit" (26 February 1953) *

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 partisan ...

1st class (11 March 1985) * campaign and jubilee medals

References

Bibliography