Guards

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Mariya Sergeyevna Borovichenko (October 21, 1925 – July 14, 1943) was a Soviet medical officer of the Soviet 32nd Guards Artillery Regiment, awarded the

Medal for Combat Service A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

, Medal For Courage,

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

and the

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 ...

. She was posthumously awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

in May 1965 for saving a lieutenant.

Biography

She was an orphan raised by her uncle near Mysholovka (translated as "Mousetrap") and she enrolled as a nurse when

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 opposin ...

started. While escaping from Kiev after the Germans attacked it, she collected valuable information and gave it to the

5th Airborne Brigade Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

of the

3rd Airborne Corps Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

, commanded by

Alexander Rodimtsev Alexander Ilich Rodimtsev (; 8 March 1905 13 April 1977) was a colonel general in the Red Army during World War II and who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1937 and 1945. Career Rodimtsev joined the Red Army in the 1920s. He fo ...

, which allowed the Soviets to defeat some of the German troops; this earned her a position in the service. On August 13 1941, she was wounded in a battle south of Kiev and, despite being wounded, she continued and saved her commander from German captivity. Later, she captured a high-ranking German officer and, with this deed, started attracting the attention of Rodimtsev, who closely followed her achievements. However, Borovichenko herself was captured near the village of Kazaktskoye but she soon escaped and notified her team. On September 5 1941, after the Germans were surrounding Kiev, Rodimtsev moved his troops to the

Seym River The Seim (also transcribed as Seym and Sejm, in ; ) is a west-flowing river in Russia and Ukraine. Its length is (250 km within Ukraine) and its basin area about . It is the largest tributary of the Desna. Places on the river are: Kursk, Kurch ...

near

Konotop Konotop ( uk, Конотоп ) is a city in Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine. Konotop serves as the administrative center of Konotop Raion. Konotop is located about 129 km from Sumy, the oblast administrative center. It is host to Ko ...

, but the Germans followed and attempted to coax them across a damaged railroad bridge. However, Borovichenko saw this coming and convinced her comrades to help set up a

Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most associated with imperial conquest" by historian M ...

and, as a spotter and loader, she cleared the way for the troops; Rodimtsev personally congratulated her. On September 17, she single-handedly captured ten German soldiers while scouting. She was prominently featured in newspapers as she carried on at the battlefront. At the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, her fiancé was hit by a bullet. Known to combatants as Mashenka from Myshelovka, Borovichenko was a companion of another medical attendant, Mikhail Kravchuk. Having noticed an enemy tank, Borovichenko threw a grenade and covered platoon lieutenant P. Korniyenko with her body. At this moment a shell exploded at her feet and she was killed by a shell splinter. Rodimtsev called her one of his favorite soldiers and she was buried near Mikhalskoyve. On May 6 1965, she was honored as a

. School N122, a school she attended in Kiev was named after her and a film was shot in 1965 (''Нет неизвестных солдат'') which was precisely produced and included newsreels.Soviet film
1966 A street in Ivnya,

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of Be ...

was also named for her.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borovichenko, Mariya Sergeyevna 1925 births 1943 deaths Heroes of the Soviet Union Military personnel from Kyiv Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Ukrainian women in World War II Ukrainian nurses Women in the Russian and Soviet military Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Medal "For Courage" (Russia) Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner

Biography

See also

Notes