Lidiya Shulaykina

Lidiya Ivanovna Shulaykina (Russian: Лидия Ивановна Шулайкина; 28 March 1915 – 22 June 1995) was an Ilyushin Il-2 pilot during the Second World War. She was recognized as a Hero of the Russian Federation in 1993.[1]

Lidiya Shulaykina
Native name
Лидия Ивановна Шулайкина
Born28 March 1915
Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Russian Empire
Died22 June 1995
Moscow, Russian Federation
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service/branch Soviet Navy
RankSenior Lieutenant
Unit7th Guards Attack Aviation Regiment
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsHero of the Russian Federation

Life

Shulaykina was born in 1915 in Orekhovo-Zuyevo near Moscow and she became interested in flying. After learning to fly she went on to train others at the same aero-club. She was already successfully training military pilots when she applied for combat. There was no reason for her to not be accepted, so eventually, she was.[2]

She became a Guards Senior Lieutenant, and flew the well armed Ilyushin Il-2 on missions to fire rockets and bomb German transport vessels at sea.[3] She was the only female Russian naval pilot at the time.[4]

She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner twice. After the war she continued to fly and to train others on transport and combat aircraft.[2]

She was recognized as a Hero of the Russian Federation in 1993. Her citation noted that the award was for "...courage and heroism displayed in the fight against the German-fascist aggressors in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945".[5]

References
  1. "Шулайкина Лидия Ивановна". warheroes.ru. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  2. "Шулайкина Лидия Ивановна - женщина-летчик Великой Отечественной Герой Российской Федерации - Красные соколы: советские летчики-асы 1914-1953". airaces.narod.ru. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  3. Erickson, John (1993). "Soviet Women at War". In Garrard, John; Healicon, Alison (eds.). World War 2 and the Soviet People: Selected Papers from the Fourth World Congress for Soviet and East European Studies, Harrogate, 1990. Springer. p. 64. ISBN 9781349227969. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  4. Cook, Bernard A. (2006). Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present, Volume 2. ABC-Clio. p. 546. ISBN 9781851097708.
  5. "УКАЗ Президента РФ от 01.10.1993 N 1554" (in Russian). President of Russia. 1 October 1993. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
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