Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak: The White Lily of Stalingrad

     Striking a pose on the wing of her Yakovlev Yak-1 single-engine fighter, Mládshiy Leytenánt (Junior Lieutenant) Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak, the “White Lily of Stalingrad”, held an interest in aviation early in life. Born in Moscow on August 18, 1921, at the age of 14, she became involved with the Kirovsky District Flying Club of Moscow and by age 15, Litvyak had achieved her first solo flight. Soon, she was attending flight school at the Kherson Aviation School in Kherson, Ukraine and upon graduation, Litvyak became an instructor at the Kalinin Aero Club. By the time of the June 22, 1941 German invasion of Russia, Litvyak had trained and graduated 45 pilots.

     Seeking to do her part for Mother Russia, Litvyak sought to enlist in the military as an aviator but despite her credentials as a pilot and instructor, she was turned down because it was said she lacked the experience and did not have enough flight hours. Not to be denied, Litvyak went to the Moscow Komintern RVK in October 1941 and lied about her pre-war flight hours by increasing the amount by some 100 hours. Her flight hours, apparently, were not validated and so her purposeful exaggeration saw her admitted into the military and she was assigned to the all-female 586th. Fighter Aviation Regiment under the command of Stárshiy Leytenánt (Senior Lieutenant) Yevgeniya Filippovna Prokhorova. Litvyak commenced training in flying the Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter and in short order, she achieved mastery of the aircraft. Her first combat sorties occurred in the summer of 1942, flying over Saratov, a major port city along the Volga River, and around the region. While her flights encountered the enemy, Litvyak did not achieve any kills or assists.

     In September 1942, Litvyak (along with other female pilots) was transferred to the 437th. Fighter Regiment which was regular aviation unit flying Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighters. The 437th. Fighter Regiment flew sorties in and around the Stalingrad combat theater and it was here that Litvyak would finally draw blood and earned her “White Lily of Stalingrad” moniker in the Soviet press. Her Yak-1 emblazoned with the number “White 02”, on September 13, 1942, Litvyak was flying her third sortie over the Stalingrad area when her group attacked a flight of Ju 88 bombers escorted by Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. In the melee, Litvyak claimed one Ju 88 and shot down a Bf 109G-2 flown by Unterfeldwebel Erwin Meier of 2./Jagdgeschwader 53. Some sources claim Litvyak shot down another Bf 109G-2 on September 14 with the pilot thought to have been German ace Leutnant Hans Fuss of II.Stab/Jagdgeschwader 3. However, there remains some debate on if any of these victories belonged to Litvyak as some sources claim that a Junkers Ju 88 from 2./Kampfgeschwader 3 and flown by Oberleutnant Johann Wiesniewski which was downed by Litvyak on September 27, 1942 was her first kill.

     Because the 437th. Fighter Regiment flew LaGG-3 fighters, the ability of the unit to service the Yak-1 was diminished even though Litvyak and the other female pilots had brought mechanics with them. Thus, in very short order, the women were transferred to the 9th. Guards Fighter Regiment which also flew the Yak-1. From October 1942 to January 1943, Litvyak flew numerous missions but did not add to her kill tally. However, the 9th. Guards Fighter Regiment was converted to Lend-Lease Bell P-39 Airacobras and so once again, Litvyak was transferred, this time to the 296th. Fighter Regiment. Her Yak-1 renumbered to “Red 32” and later “Yellow 44”. Litvyak added four more kills to her score, including a Junkers Ju 87D-3 from 5./Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 and a Bf 109G-4 flown by Leutnant Franz Müller of 9./Jagdgeschwader 3. During this time, in February 1943, Litvyak was promoted to Mládshiy Leytenánt and awarded the Order of the Red Star. On March 22, she was wounded in combat for the first time. Litvyak had a romantic interest in ace pilot Kapitán Aleksey Solomatin with whom she often flew with as a wingman. However, she only realized this after his death in a crash on May 21. In the summer of 1943, the 296th. Fighter Regiment was re-designated to the 73rd. Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment and on June 13, 1943, Litvyak was appointed flight commander of the 3rd. Aviation Squadron. Her Yak-1 would be renumbered for the last time to “White 23” and while flying under the 73rd. Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, she would rack up another 9 kills. On July 22, 1943, Litvyak was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and she would also earn the Order of Lenin.

     On August 1, 1943, Litvyak took her Yak-1 up for the fourth time that day, meeting up with a flight of Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft to act as air cover. The sortie completed, the aircraft were returning to their bases when near the city of Orel, the flight of Yak-1 fighters spotted a group of German bombers and took them under attack with Litvyak in the lead. Litvyak was bounced by two escorting Bf 109 fighters which had been flying above the bombers. Initially, Litvyak had not seen the fighters but was able to turn in time to face the Bf 109s diving on her. Another Yak-1 pilot involved in the melee, Ivan Borisenko, was the last to see Litvyak, her Yak-1 trailing smoke and hounded by up to eight German fighters. Borisenko, once able to, dropped his altitude to see if he could find her but he found nothing, not even a plume of smoke from a crash. Sources claim that one of two German pilots downed Litvyak: Feldwebel Hans-Jörg Merkle of 1./Jagdgeschwader 52 or Leutnant Hans Schleef of 7./Jagdgeschwader 3. The debate remains as Merkle claimed a Yak-1 near Dmitryevka where Litvyak was last seen while Schleef, who claimed a LaGG-3 on the same day, may have mistaken Litvyak's Yak-1 for a LaGG-3 (which was not uncommon) as, many decades later, the wreck of Litvyak's aircraft was finally located in 1979 near where Schleef had made his claim.

     Litvyak's death is listed as August 1, 1943 at the age of 21. Today, some refute that she died in the crash and Litvyak had managed to crash land her Yak-1 and was taken prisoner by German troops. There was a female fighter pilot buried in the village of Dmitryevka and some reports stated the body was exhumed, examined, and determined that death came from a massive head wound and that the body was, indeed, that of Litvyak. Such a wound would make sense in a crash in that her head struck the dashboard on impact. However, at least one source refuted this autopsy ever took place. Just as her death is a point of controversy, so is her kill tally. With totals ranging from 5 to 14 solo kills, it was not at all unheard of for Russian aviators' kill counts to be inflated. In-depth research has confirmed that Litvyak achieved five kills on her own with two shared kills. While certainly less than the higher tallies, it still made her an ace.

     Posthumously, Litvyak was promoted to Stárshiy Leytenánt, received the Order of the Patriotic War 1st. Class on September 10, 1943, and was decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union title on May 5, 1990 by President Mikhail Gorbachev. The reason for the long delay was because at the time of her death, the commander of the 73rd. Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment had wanted to award Litvyak with the Hero of the Soviet Union but this was declined and the award changed to the Order of the Patriotic War and it was not until November 1971 that Litvyak's death was officially recorded as dying while performing a combat mission. This, then, paved the way for her to receive the 11,616th. Hero of the Soviet Union title and decoration.