They had brought a Russian pilot from the frontline in a medical cart. The guy looked badly maimed in his burned, torn flying suit. His face was covered with oil and blood. The soldiers who had transported him told me the pilot had bailed out of a burning plane and landed near their position. When they took off his helmet and flying suit, everyone was astounded: the pilot turned out to be a girl! All present were amazed even more by the behaviour of the Russian pilot who made no sound when pieces of skin were removed from her during treatment… How was it possible that such inhuman self-restraint had been fostered in a woman?
Thus, many years after the war, I found out a bit more about that tragic day of my life — and that was a view from the enemy’s side…
On 7 May 1965 a phone call resounded in our apartment. I took the receiver and quietly, so as not to awake my sleeping sons, said the usual: “Listening…”
“Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!” the excited voice of the poet Gilyardy flew through the lines.
I asked, laughing, “Why are you celebrating so early in the morning, Nikodim Fedorovich?”
I heard in reply: “Annoushka, turn on the radio! They’re broadcasting the Decree conferring on you the title of Hero…”
Then another call resounded… In a word, I was being congratulated by comrades-in-arms, public organizations, schools, editorial staff of newspapers and magazines, in which pieces about me and my brothers in arms had been published at different times. I will always remember the lines of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR conferring on me the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union: “For exemplary fulfilment of combat missions on the fronts of the struggle against the German-Fascist invaders during the years of the Great Patriotic War and for displays of valour and heroism during that…” I read the words of that document, and before my eyes I saw my regimental comrades who had gone forever into the inferno, roaring formations of Sturmoviks, the troubled years of my youth…
“What are they taking girls at the front for?” I heard the voice of Borya Strakhov, and it seemed that he stood in front of me on the aerodrome with field daisies in his hands and smiled boyishly, shyly and so brightly and joyfully. And after him the Sturmovik pilots rose in my memory: Pashkov, Andrianov, Usov, Stepochkin, Zinoviev, Tasets, Podynenogin, Pokrovskiy, Rzhevskiy, Mkrtoumov, Groudnyak, Balyabin…
The terrible years of the war have long gone. Our children have already become men and grandchildren have grown up. How fast the time goes by… Recalling the past battles and my frontline friends I think about their courage and nobility, their high sense of duty, contempt for death and the lofty feelings of frontline camaraderie, and more — their love for the motherland. There’s none better than her in the whole world!
I dedicate this book to those who didn’t return, and those who survived, and who passed away after the war — my dear comrades from the 805th Berlin Ground Attack Aviation Regiment. And forgive me, my comrades, that I didn’t see everything, haven’t remembered everything, haven’t written about everyone…
Photographs
Technical school, early 1930s — Anna is standing second from the right, rear row.
Anna as a cadet at a flying school.
Anna as a mechanic repairing pneumatic hammers and drills during the construction of the Moscow Metro, 1937.
Anna in the cockpit of a Po-2.
Glider school cadets — Anna is seated front left.
Anna receiving final instructions before a Po-2 flight.
Alexei Cherkasov, navigator in the 130th detached Aviation Signals Squadron.
Anna receiving orders alongside her Po-2.
Early single-seat Il-2s in flight.
German anti-tank guns viewed from the cockpit of an Il-2.
Pilot Vasili Baliabin, 805th Ground Attack Aviation Regiment (805 ShAP), killed in action 1942.
Squadron commander Vasily Rulkov, 805 ShAP, killed in action 1942.
Pilot Viktor Khukharev, 805 ShAP, killed in action 1942.
Il-2s taking off, 1943.
A destroyed Il-2, with the body of one of its crew lying on the wing.
Boris Strakhov, commander of the 1st Squadron in the 805th Ground Attack Aviation Regiment, killed in action in 1943.
Anna, summer 1943.
A member of Anna’s 197th Ground Attack Division receives an award.
Anna’s Il-2 mechanic Mikhail Korzhenko.
Pilots and heroes from the 805th Ground Attack Aviation Regiment — Victor Khoukhlin, Victor Gourkin and Andrey Konyakhin (left to right). Konyakhin daringly landed his Il-2 and rescued Khoukhlin and his rear gunner in the heat of battle.
Pilots from 805 ShAP — I. Sherstobitov, V. Khomyakov, N. Ternovskiy.
An enemy train burning after an Il-2 attack.
Il-2s lined up on an airfield.
A dramatic but blurred shot showing an enemy train under attack.
An Il-2 undergoing maintenance.
Some of Anna’s comrades from 805 ShAP photographed before embarking on a mission.
Commanders of 805 ShAP, from left to right: Regimental navigator Petr Karev, Regimental commander Michael Nikolaevich Kozin, political deputy Dmitriy Polikarpovich Shvidkiy.
Pilot Ivan Stepochkin, 805th Ground Attack Aviation Regiment, killed in action 1944.
805 ShAP Regimental commander Michael Nikolaevich Kozin, killed in action 1944.
Pilots from 805 ShAP after a combat sortie.
Mechanics and armourers from Anna’s Regiment, 805 ShAP.
A damaged Il-2 from the 820th Ground Attack Aviation Regiment (820 ShAP).
Wrecked German vehicles and equipment — the work of Soviet aviation.
The wreckage of destroyed German aircraft.
Two unknown members of 805 ShAP, c 1944.
Anna next to her Il-2, c 1944.
Doktor G. Sinyakov known as ‘The Russian Doctor’ (centre) and two POW pilots saved by him N. Maiorov (left) and D. Kashirin (right).
Anna proudly wearing her awards and decorations, 1960s.
Anna standing beside an Il-2.
Anna grasps the propeller blade of an Il-2 — machine and woman needed to work in unison to ensure both made it home safely after each mission.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Alexandrovna Timofeeva-Egorova was born on 23 September 1916. After attending school she had hoped to learn to fly but this wish was delayed due to one of her brother’s becoming a victim of the Communist security system, which deemed him an “enemy of the people”. After a number of setbacks Anna learned to fly, and during the first part of the Great Patriotic War flew Po-2 biplanes for the 130th Aviation Signals Squadron, being shot down three times. She then switched to flying the fearsome Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft with the 805th Ground Attack Regiment (805 ShAP), 197th Ground Attack Division. Anna flew approximately 270 combat missions before being shot down in the summer of 1944, being severely injured and taken prisoner by the Germans. Thanks to her determination, and the skill, dedication, care and kindness of numerous individuals, she made a remarkable recovery and was liberated when the Soviets overran her POW camp near Kustrin in 1945. However, her troubles were not over, as the Soviet authorities initially believed her to be a traitor and collaborator and subjected her to 11 days of continuous interrogations. She was released, although her injuries were such that was medically discharged from the Air Force in 1945. She continued to fight to clear her name after the war—she was eventually reinstated into the Communist Party and in 1965 finally received the award of “Hero of the Soviet Union”. She died in October 2009.
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Copyright
Soviet Memories of War series, edited by Artem Drabkin. Previous volumes in this series:
Volume 1: Penalty Strike. The Memoirs of a Red Army Penal Company Commander 1943 — 45 by Alexander V. Pyl’cyn
Volume 2: Red Star Airacobra: Memoirs of a Soviet Fighter Ace 1941-45 by Evgeniy Mariinskiy
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Published by Helion & Company 2010
eBook edition 2011
Designed and typeset by Farr out Publications, Wokingham, Berkshire
Cover designed by Farr out Publications, Wokingham, Berkshire
Printed by Gutenberg Press Limited, Tarxien, Malta
Text and photographs © Anna Timofeeva-Egorova 2008
Text edited by Sergey Anisimov, translated by Vladimir Kroupnik
Publication made possible by the I Remember website (http://www.iremember.ru/index_e.htm) and its director, Artem Drabkin.
Hardcover ISBN 978-1-906033-27-9
Digital ISBN 9781907677557
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Notes
1
Translator’s note — lit. ‘crown’.
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2
Translator’s note — Mediaeval warrior heroes comparable with West European knights-errant.
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3
Translator’s note — a common designation for people subjected to repression during Stalin’s purges.
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4
Translator’s note — Young Communist League.
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5
Translator’s note — felt boots.
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6
Translator’s note — a famous animal trainer.
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7
Country Youth School.
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8
Translator’s note — leatherette.
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9
Translator’s note — literally ‘little apple’ — a popular song in the Red Navy.
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10
Translator’s note — diminutive from ‘Vasiliy’.
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11
Translator’s note — abbreviation for Metro Construction.
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12
Translator’s note — FZU — Factory-Plant School — a common educational establishment for young industrial workers in the USSR in 1930s.
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13
Translator’s note — gumboots.
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14
Translator’s note — A historic site in Moscow.
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15
Translator’s note — local trade union.
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16
Editor’s note — literally, ‘Little Anna’.
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17
People’s commissar, or minister.
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18
Translator’s note — a set of sports and fitness tests.
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19
Translator’s note — a set of tests on primary medical skills.
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20
Translator’s note — shooting skills award for civilians.
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21
Translator’s note — a recreation park in Moscow.
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Over Fields of Fire Page 29