Natalya Meklin

Natalya Fyodorovna Kravtsova née Meklin
Portrait photograph of Meklin in uniform wearing her Hero of the Soviet Union medal, Order of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star and an order of the Patriotic War
Native name Ukrainian: Наталія Фёдорiвна Меклин Russian: Наталья Фёдоровна Меклин
Born (1922-09-08)8 September 1922
Lubny, Ukraine
Died 5 June 2005(2005-06-05) (aged 82)
Moscow, Russia
Allegiance  Soviet Union
 Russia
Service/branch Soviet Air Force
Years of service 1941–1957
Rank Major
Commands held 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Hero of the Soviet Union
Other work Author, translator

Natalya Fyodorovna Kravtsova née Meklin (Russian: Наталья Фёдоровна Меклин, Ukrainian: Наталія Фёдорiвна Меклин; 8 September 1922 – 5 June 2005) was a Russian World War II bomber pilot in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, one of the three women's aviation regiments founded by Marina Raskova at the start of the war. They were nicknamed the "Night Witches" by their German opponents.[1]

Early life

Meklin was born on 8 September 1922, in Lubny, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Her childhood and youth were spent in Smila, Kharkov, and Kiev. She graduated from tenth grade in Kiev in 1940.[2]

Aviation career

In 1940 she joined the glider school at the Kiev Young Pioneer Palace and later graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1941. In October she applied to join the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, founded by Marina Raskova. The regiment later became the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment.[3] In 1942, having graduated from the Engels Military School of Aviation, she was sent to the Eastern front of World War II. At the age of 19 that same year she was deployed as a squadron commander, carrying out bombing missions on the Southern, North Caucasian, 4th Ukrainian and 2nd Byelorussian Fronts in a Polikarpov Po-2 light bomber.

By the end of the war she had flown 982 night missions[4] and dropped an estimated 147 tons of bombs on enemy-controlled territory. As a Guard Lieutenant, she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union[5] on 23 February 1945. She became a reserve officer in October 1945.[2][6]

Later life

In 1947 she graduated from two courses at Moscow State University before re-enlisting in the military. From 1948 to 1957 she studied at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages and subsequently worked as a translator before retiring.[2] She became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers in 1972. For her service in the military she was awarded the Order of Lenin, Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, the Order of the Red Banner, and the Order of the Red Star among other medals. Several schools are named after her in Smolensk, Poltava, Stavropol and other cities. She was titled honorable citizen of Gdańsk, Poland[7] and co-authored a book with her colleague from the regiment Irina Rakobolskaya titled Нас называли ночными ведьмами (English:We Were Called Night Witches) about the regiment's experiences during the war.[8] On 5 June 2005, she died in Moscow and was buried in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.[2]

Awards and honors

See also

References

  1. ↑ Janina., Cottam, Kazimiera (1998). Women in war and resistance : selected biographies of Soviet women soldiers. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co. ISBN 1585101605. OCLC 228063546.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Simonov, Andrei. "Меклин (Кравцова) Наталия Фёдоровна" [Meklin (Kravtsova), Natalya Fyodorovna]. www.warheroes.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2017-12-23.
  3. ↑ Piero., Milanetti, Gian (2013). Soviet airwomen of the great patriotic war : a pictorial history. Roma: IBN. ISBN 9788875651466. OCLC 955303338.
  4. ↑ Henry Sakaida (2012). Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941–45. Bloomsbury.
  5. ↑ Piero., Milanetti, Gian. Le streghe della notte : la storia non detta delle eroiche ragazze-pilota dell'Unione Sovietica nella Grande Guerra Patriottica. Roma. ISBN 8875651000. OCLC 733222247.
  6. ↑ Rakobolskaya, Irina; Kravtsova, Natalya (2005). Нас называли ночными ведьмами : так воевал женский 46-й гвардейский полк ночных бомбардировщиков. Moscow: University of Moscow Press. ISBN 5211050088. OCLC 68044852.
  7. ↑ Ljubov - Jaščuk. Škadov, Ivan N. Moskva: Voennoe Izdat. 1988. ISBN 5203005362. OCLC 247400113.
  8. ↑ "Ракобольская Ирина". tamanskipolk46.narod.ru. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  9. 1 2 "Меклин Наталья Федоровна, Герой Советского Союза (Орден Ленина и медаль "Золотая звезда")". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  10. ↑ "Орден Красного Знамени (April 1944)". podvignaroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  11. ↑ "Орден Красного Знамени (December 1944)". podvignaroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  12. ↑ "Орден Красного Знамени (June 1945)". podvignaroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  13. ↑ "Меклина Наталья Федоровна, Орден Красной Звезды". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  14. ↑ "Меклин Наталья Федоровна, Орден Отечественной войны II степени". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
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