In the battle sequence of the Soviet Army in World War II, there were not only female snipers, but also excellent female pilots. Female pilots formed the Night Witch Bomber Regiment, and there were rare female fighter pilots in the world, although it is not uncommon to fly a female pilot of a fighter jet now. But at the time of World War II, it was an absolute feat. Today we will introduce the story of Lydia, the number one female pilot of World War II.
Born in 1921, when World War II broke out, When Delia turned 20, she signed up for a female-only flying brigade, and after more than half a year of special training, Lydia was already a skilled pilot. Lydia's technical performance in training even made her male coach admire the three points. Later, Lydia became a member of the 586 Fighter Group, when the Battle of Stalingrad had broken out, and Lydia was near the city, ready to attack. At that time, Lydia's fighter was a Yak-1 fighter.
Lydia looked like a young girl, she was only 1.52 meters tall, in the fighter cockpit, she could not even see the glass in front, so Lydia's fighters had to be improved before they could be used, and the Soviets did not trust female pilots at first, so at first they could only perform some anti-aircraft tasks. It wasn't until September 1942, when the Soviet Union was in a tight war, that Lydia ushered in her first bloody battle with German pilots. On September 13, Lydia finally shot down the first Bf-109 fighter. There was also a Junkers-88 bomber.
Lydia made history by becoming the first female pilot to achieve success, and Soviet soldiers called this petite girl "Lily". By January 1943, she had shot down five enemy planes, and the experience of being wounded in battle had made Lydia mature. In August 1943, Lydia's Jacques=1 fighter was besieged by several German pilots, and Lydia shot down two German fighters before being shot down. Lydia, 22, died as a result.
In her short life, she shot down 12 German fighters and was the number one female pilot of World War II. In 1990, Lydia was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and her body was never found until 1979. There was also a belated funeral.