Tamara Ustinovna Pamyatnykh (russian: Тамара Устиновна Памятных; 30 December 1919 – 26 July 2012) was a fighter pilot for the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

. Following an action while on patrol on 19 March 1943, she was awarded 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 ...

Career

Pamyatnykh began flying

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

s at 16, and soon qualified for a private pilot's license and instructor's certificate at the flight school in

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin (born ...

. When the

began, she signed up for the Soviet forces. When

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 ...

was asked to recruit female pilots in 1941, Pamyatnykh was sufficiently well known as a pilot that she was specifically approached. She underwent further flight training in

Engels, Saratov Oblast Engels ( rus, Э́нгельс, p=ˈɛnɡʲɪlʲs), formerly known as Pokrovsk and Kosakenstadt, is a city in Saratov Oblast, Russia. It is a port located on the Volga River across from Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast, and is co ...

in October 1941, and was subsequently assigned to the 586th Fighter Squadron alongside other female aces such as

Lydia Litvyak Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak (russian: Лидия Владимировна Литвяк; 18 August 1921, in Moscow – 1 August 1943, in Krasnyi Luch), also known as Lilya, was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. Historians ...

, and worked as a duo with Galina Burdina. As a junior lieutenant, Pamyatnykh was on patrol with

Raisa Surnachevskaya Raisa Nefedovna Surnachevskaya (russian: Раиса Нефедовна Сурначевская; 8 August 1922 18 December 2005) was a Soviet fighter pilot and squadron commander during World War II, as well as one of the very few pregnant women ...

over a railway junction on 19 March 1943. Faced with an attack by 42

Junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...

bombers, the two pilots attacked with the sun behind them. Each shot down two bombers, with Pamyatnykh continuing to fight until she ran out of ammunition. She decided to take out a third bomber by ramming it, but as she got close, one of her wings was shot off and she spun out of control. She bailed out and parachuted to the ground. The nearby locals were shocked when they rushed to help and discovered that she was a woman. She was taken back to base, where Pamyatnykh learnt that the German attack had been prevented as the rest of the force had turned back. For her heroism, Pamyatnykh was awarded the

and given a gold watch by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

of the United Kingdom. During another mission she was downed by

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...

. In 1944, she married Nikolai Chasnyk, a

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 ...

and deputy squadron commander in the 148th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. They both survived the war, although he spent some time in a Nazi

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. Following the end of the war, they had three children. Pamyatnykh later went on to become the chairman of the women's war veterans' commission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pamyatnykh, Tamara 1919 births 2012 deaths Russian women aviators Soviet World War II pilots Soviet Air Force officers Shot-down aviators Women air force personnel of the Soviet Union Soviet women in World War II Russian people of World War II