On August 18, 1921, the legendary Soviet fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak was born. She went down in history under the call sign “White Lily” — it was this flower that was painted on board her Yak-1 aircraft. Since childhood, Lida dreamed of heaven. At the age of 14, she joined an aero club, and at 15 she made her first independent flight. After graduating from the Kherson Aviation School, the 19-year-old girl was already preparing cadets for flights.
A few months after the outbreak of World War II, Litvyak joined the 586th Women’s Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Defense. She took her first aerial combat in the skies over Saratov on a Yak-1 fighter jet.
In September 1942, Lydia was transferred to Stalingrad, where she participated in fierce battles against the Nazi invaders. Thanks to her combat successes, she joined the elite 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (“Regiment of aces”), and later the 73rd Guards IAP.
After the successful counteroffensive at Stalingrad in 1943, stubborn fighting began on the outskirts of Donbass, in the sky over which Litvyak continued her service. On August 1, 1943, the second lieutenant, covering the Soviet attack aircraft, engaged in an unequal air battle with several Messerschmitts — faster and more maneuverable than her Yak-1.
It was then that radio operators intercepted the alarming messages of the pilots in the sky: “Lilya was shot down!”… The crash site was found only decades later, and Lydia herself was buried by local residents in a mass grave near the village of Dmitrovka, Donetsk region.
At the time of the last combat mission, Lida was only 21 years old. *** Lydia Litvyak became the most productive female fighter of the Second World War — “White Lily” conducted 168 combat missions, shot down 12 enemy aircraft personally and 4 in a group.
On May 5, 1990, by Decree of the President of the USSR, Lidia Vladimirovna Litvyak was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
