Yevdokiya Borisovna Pasko (russian: Евдокия Борисовна Пасько; 30 December 1919 27 January 2017) was a squadron navigator in the Soviet all-female

46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment "Night Witches" (german: die Nachthexen; russian: Ночные ведьмы, ) was a World War II German nickname for the all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviat ...

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 opposin ...

. For her successes in the war, she was honored with the title of

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 ...

on 26 October 1944.

Early life

Pasko was born in Lipenko village,

Jeti-Ögüz District Jeti-Ögüz ( ky, Жети-Өгүз , ''seven bulls'') is a Districts of Kyrgyzstan, district of Issyk-Kul Region in north-eastern Kyrgyzstan. Its seat lies at Kyzyl-Suu. Its area is , and its resident population was 93,392 in 2021. It comprises m ...

, Semirechye Oblast on 30 December 1919 to family of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

peasant immigrants; she was the youngest of twelve children. Having demonstrated a talent for mathematics from a young age, she went on to attend secondary school in Barnaul from 1936 to 1937 before returning to her native village to complete her tenth grade of schooling in 1938. Her family then decided to send her to Moscow to continue her studies, and later that year she was enrolled in the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University. In October 1941 during her fourth semester at the school she and some of her classmates volunteered to join the women's aviation group founded by Marina Raskova.

Military career

After completing initial training at Engels Military Aviation School in February 1942 she was assigned to the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, with which she was deployed to the warfront in May 1942 initially as a shooter-bombardier. Soon after her arrival on the warfront she was promoted to the position of flight navigator, and eventually she became squadron navigator for squadron No.3, where she was tasked with navigating for squadron commander

Mariya Smirnova Mariya Vasilyevna Smirnova (russian: Мария Васильевна Смирнова; 31 March 1920 – 10 July 2002) was a squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (nicknamed the "Night Witches") of the Soviet A ...

. In February 1943 the regiment received the Guards designation and was renamed as the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. During the war, she flew bombing missions against the Axis in Belarus, Berlin, Crimea, the Caucasus, the Kerch peninsula, Kuban, and Poland, often though extreme weather and heavy anti-aircraft fire. In total, she made approximately 790 sorties on the Polikarpov Po-2 during the war. In addition to her flight duties she helped train seven new navigators in the regiment.

Civilian life

After the war, Pasko returned to her studies and graduated with a Ph.D. in mathematics and married her colleague Boris Malyshev. She taught for over forty years at

Bauman Moscow State Technical University The Bauman Moscow State Technical University, BMSTU (russian: link=no, Московский государственный технический университет им. Н. Э. Баумана (МГТУ им. Н. Э. Баумана)), some ...

. She died on 27 January 2017 in Moscow and was buried at the

Troyekurovskoye Cemetery The Troyekurovo Cemetery (russian: Троекуровское кладбище, Troyekurovskoye kladbishche), alternatively known as ''Novo-Kuntsevo Cemetery'' (russian: Ново-Кунцевское кладбище, Novo-Kuntsevskoye kladbishch ...

Awards and honors

(26 October 1944) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

(26 October 1944) *

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 ...

(5 May 1943) * Two

Orders 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 (30 October 1943 and 11 March 1985) *

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples (russian: oрден Дружбы народов, translit=orden Druzhby narodov) was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military unit ...

(27 November 1980) * Two Orders of the Red Star (9 September 1980 and 26 April 1944) * campaign and jubilee medals

References

Bibliography