Among the women who became Heroes of the Soviet Union, the name of Marina Raskova stands apart. She was one of the first to receive the Golden Star. In addition, this woman was awarded two Orders of Lenin, as well as the Order of the Patriotic War of the first degree (posthumously, in 1944).
Marina Raskova is a well-known navigator, flying more than 6 thousand km through the taiga. Her plane made a unique landing in the swamps. Marina Raskova is also a legendary major who worked in a special department of the NKVD. She formed an air group consisting of 3 women's air regiments: fighter (586th), bomber (587th) and night bomber (588th). The enemy was most afraid of the brave girls from the 588th regiment. He endowed them with the nickname "night witches." However, Marina Raskova was not able to see the Victory Day. So suddenly her life ended ...
Marina Raskova: biography
Marina Mikhailovna was born in Moscow on March 28, 1912. Her father is Mikhail Dmitrievich Malinin, entrepreneur, opera artist (baritone), and vocal teacher. Marina's mother is Anna Spiridonovna (maiden name Lyubatovich). She worked from 1905 to 1932 as a secondary school teacher in Vyazma, Torzhok and Moscow. After retiring, Anna Spiridonovna lived in the family of her daughter Marina Mikhailovna.
Studying at school, working as a laboratory assistant
The future great pilot and “godmother” of the USSR night bomber aviation graduated from a seven-year school, studying along the way in the conservatory (children's department). Marina inherited musical talent from her father, a teacher of singing. She predicted the future of an opera singer. However, Marina Mikhailovna was not destined to become an artist: her father died, and in order to feed her mother, brother and herself, Marina was forced to get a laboratory assistant at the age of 17. She worked at the Butyrsky Chemical Plant.
Family creation
The future pilot Marina Raskova in 1929 (in April) married - her husband was the engineer of the laboratory of this plant Sergey Ivanovich Raskov. A year later, a daughter, Tanya, was born into the family. Due to the birth of her daughter, Marina interrupted her work until October 1931. In October 1935, she divorced her husband.
Work in the aeronautical laboratory
In 1932, Marina Raskova changed her job, getting a job as a draftswoman in the air navigation laboratory (Air Force Academy of the Red Army named after Zhukovsky). Marina was here in a completely different world. Her additional responsibility was to bring complex instruments to lectures - sextants, aerothermometers, manometers. The names of all these devices alone were worth what, and the principles of their operation for a young girl were at first incomprehensible at all. However, Raskova eventually figured out the purpose of all these devices - for work, she had to attend many practical classes and lectures with the students of the academy.
Studying books, passing exams
Flight business in the 1930s became a fashionable hobby in the USSR, one might even say romantic. The exploits of Georgy Baidukov and Valery Chkalov have not yet been accomplished, however, young people are increasingly interested in aircraft models and gliders. Marina Mikhailovna was fascinated by air navigation, although at that time few could have imagined that this future 20-year-old girl was waiting for a flight-related future.
Marina Raskova, as a diligent student, studied books one after another about the skills of a navigator. Fueled by curiosity, she studied related sciences: physics, higher mathematics, astronomy, radio engineering, meteorology and many others. Alexander Vasilyevich Belyakov, a teacher at the academy, noticed a capable employee. At that time he already had the qualifications of a navigator. Alexander Vasilievich began to help Raskova. Based on the acquired knowledge, without its patronage, Raskova Marina Mikhailovna passed the exams with brilliance. She became a female navigator, the first in Russian military aviation. At the same time, Raskova, during training, carried out complex research work.
Taking photos and description of the coast
In the Black Sea, in those years, passenger hydro-lines were laid in the direction of Odessa - Batumi. Information about the conditions of this area was very necessary for the engineers. Marina Mikhailovna was instructed to conduct photography, as well as describe segments of the future route. Marina sometimes had to fly 7 hours a day, often in difficult conditions, when the sea was stormy. The girl carefully studied the Crimean and Caucasian coast, the waters of the Sea of Azov. The results obtained proved to everyone that Marina Raskova, a female pilot, became an excellent navigator. She was appointed instructor of the aeronautical laboratory after exams. And then the girl began to teach navigational science at her native academy. And this is at the age of 22 years.
Teacher job
Raskova Marina Mikhailovna, always neat, in an elegant form and a blue beret, conducted classes for senior officers. She taught the venerable land warriors the tactics of air combat and the basics of flying. Marina also led the practice, performing up to 50 hits on the target during one flight on a heavy bomber TB-3! The cadets were dizzy, but Marina felt great. It seemed that this brave girl called the sky, and once Marina had the chance to become a pilot. And what a chance! The head of the academy personally addressed her. He wanted to reward Raskov for preparing navigators. Then Marina Mikhailovna asked me to teach her how to fly a plane ...
Conducting May Day air parades
A dream come true! In Tushino, in the Central Aero Club, Marina graduated from the school of pilots. Soon she was entrusted with a very responsible business: training in the capital of May Day air parades. Needless to say that they were all carried out "excellently". Each time, Marina Raskova personally led a system of aircraft at the helm that solemnly passed over Moscow on a festive day.
Newspapers wrote about Marina Raskova, all of Moscow knew her name. Marina Mikhailovna became a consultant to the NKVD, and then authorized by a special department. She took part in long-distance flights, setting records and even generals of aviation surprising her flights. However, the main glory of Raskova, the All-Union, was still ahead.
World record
Marina Raskova in 1938 made a non-stop flight Moscow - Far East as part of the ANT-37 "Rodina" crew, leaving more than 6.4 thousand km under the wing. In addition to Marina Mikhailovna, there were Polina Osipenko and Valentina Grizodubova on board the plane. All of them were subsequently awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. This flight set a female world distance record: the plane covered 5908 km in a straight line, and following the course - all 6450 km. However, this unique flight did not end with a full-time landing ...
Arriving in the Far East, the ANT-37 plane crashed into forest swamps located near Khabarovsk, not far from the village of Kerby. At the same time, Raskova was forced to parachute into the autumn taiga. Left with a revolver, a knife and a small supply of food, overcoming the cold, the 26-year-old girl got to her companions for 10 days, scaring away bears and lynxes, eating berries and spending the night on trees.
Marina Mikhailovna Raskova survived, she managed to get there. All Soviet newspapers got this story. Moscow was greeted as heroes of brave girls, they began to take an example from them. Marina Raskova spent a short time in the hospital, writing a book there, which she called "Notes of the navigator." The Great Patriotic War began a few years later.
Creating a female warhead
Hero of the Soviet Union, navigator and pilot Marina Raskova in the summer of 1941 began to seek permission to create a female combat unit. She even had to use personal contacts with Stalin and her position in order to achieve this permission. Thousands of the fair sex of our country supported her. Many girls sought to get to the front and expel the German invaders from the homeland. With permission, Marina set about creating these squadrons. Marina Raskova across the country was looking for pupils of flying clubs and flying schools. And among non-pilots there were those who wanted to beat the Germans in the sky. Of course, not everyone became pilots, but the peculiarity of the regiments of Marina Mikhailovna was exclusively the female composition. All were women - from pilots and commanders to cooks and technicians.
Under the leadership of Marina Raskova, the 586th, 587th and 588th regiments were created. Major Raskova was soon appointed commander of the bomber regiment (587th). She personally completed many tasks. However, Marina Mikhailovna did not see the long-awaited victory. Two years before the end of the war Marina Mikhailovna Raskova died. The biography, awards and achievements of this woman - all of this are still of interest to many of our compatriots. Her memory is still alive. We can only talk about how Marina Raskova died and where she was buried.
The death of Marina Raskova
Marina Mikhailovna died near Saratov (near the village of Mikhailovka) on January 4, 1943. Her plane crashed, having fallen into difficult weather conditions when it flew to the front, to the place where the new squadron was stationed. Probably, Marina Mikhailovna would have done much more for our country if her biography had not ended in a sudden death.
Marina Raskova was first buried in the Saratov Lipki Park, on the playground. Then she was reburied here, on a flower alley, after which - at the Resurrection Cemetery in the city of Saratov. Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova after her death was cremated. The urn with its ashes was transported to Moscow. Today, the remains of this great aviator rest at the Kremlin wall on the Red Square of the capital. The exploits of Marina Raskova, committed in peacetime, have been an example for many pilots of our country for many years.