Ekaterina Mikhailova-Demina
Encyclopedia
Ekaterina Illarionovna Mikhailova-Demina ' onMouseout='HidePop("94050")' href="/topics/Leningrad">Leningrad
, Soviet Union
) is the only woman who served in front-line reconnaissance in the Soviet marines during World War II
. She carried hundreds of men off the battlefield and was seriously wounded three times during her career as a medic with the marines. Despite repeatedly being nominated she was denied high honours at the war's end, reflecting the Soviet Union's unequal approach to honouring its fighting men and women. However, she was belatedly honoured by President Mikhail Gorbachev
in May 1990 with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union
.
orphanage. She was aged just fifteen at the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War in June 1941 but promptly volunteered for military service in Smolensk
after a train she was travelling on was bombed en route to Brest
. Adding two years to her age, she was rejected by the recruitment office but was accepted by a military hospital. The patients soon had to be evacuated after the building was bombed but Mikhailova-Demina stayed behind to work as a field medic for the Red Army
, which was desperately short of medical personnel. She was kept busy as the German advanced towards Moscow
through the summer of 1941. When she suffered a serious injury to her leg in fighting near Gzhatsk she was sent to the Urals to recuperate.
On returning to duty she was posted to the Red Moscow, a hospital ship of the Soviet Navy
that was employed in transporting wounded soldiers from Stalingrad to Krasnoyarsk
. She was promoted to chief petty officer and commended for exemplary service. However, she became bored by the work and volunteered for front-line service with the Azov Flotilla
of the Soviet marine infantry. Although her request was initially denied, she appealed to the government in Moscow and was accepted for service in the 369th Independent Naval Infantry Battalion in February 1943. She first saw action with the marines on the Taman Peninsula
on the Azov Sea before moving on to battles elsewhere along the Black Sea
littoral and on the Dniester
. After her unit was transferred to the Danube Flotilla she fought her way through Romania
, Bulgaria
, Hungary
, Yugoslavia
and Austria
, and ended the war in Vienna
.
She was not welcomed at first by the men in her unit. However, she was soon accepted after she proved that she could handle herself well in the front line. As well as scouting enemy territory alongside her male colleagues, her work involved treating the wounded and evacuating them to safety. She won her first medal for valour for participating in the recapture of Temryuk
on the Taman Peninsula and was awarded the first of two Orders of the Patriotic War for taking part in the Battle of Kerch
.
In August 1944 Mikhailova-Demina participated in a commando
-style operation to recapture the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi
in Ukraine
. Her unit crossed the Dniester
estuary in rubber boats and climbed an enemy-held ridge. Mikhailova-Demina was in the first group to climb the ridge and joined in the charge to expel the enemy from the ridge. She single-handedly assaulted a fortified German position, taking 14 prisoners, and treated 17 wounded men and helped them get to safety. She earned an Order of the Red Banner
for her role in the assault.
Four months later, in December 1944, her unit had advanced to Yugoslavia
. During an attack on the fortress of Ilok
in Croatia she was one of 50 marines who carried out a diversionary attack from a small island in the Danube
below the fortress. The unit had to use trees as firing positions as the island was flooded. In the firefight that followed, Mikhailova-Demina was shot through the hand. Only 13 of her unit survived the intense gun battle and all were wounded. Some of the casualties fell out of their trees and into the freezing water but were saved by Mikhailova-Demina, who jumped in and used belts and rifle slings to tie the wounded men to the trees. Seven men were saved by her. The battle left her with double pneumonia
in addition to the wound to her hand and required her to be hospitalised. Despite this, she left hospital early without authorisation and returned to her unit. She was awarded a second Order of the Red Banner for her heroism.
by the International Committee of the Red Cross
for her work during the war; she is the only Russian woman to have received this award. In 1950 she graduated from the Second Leningrad Medical Institute
and worked as a doctor for 36 years, retiring in 1985.
She was nominated three times for the Hero of the Soviet Union, the country's highest distinction, but was turned down on each occasion. She finally received the medal along with the Order of Lenin
and Gold Star
by a decree issued by President Gorbachev on 5 May 1990 to mark the 45th anniversary of the end of the war. Mikhailova-Demina was one of the last thus honoured before the fall of the Soviet Union a few months later.
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
) is the only woman who served in front-line reconnaissance in the Soviet marines during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She carried hundreds of men off the battlefield and was seriously wounded three times during her career as a medic with the marines. Despite repeatedly being nominated she was denied high honours at the war's end, reflecting the Soviet Union's unequal approach to honouring its fighting men and women. However, she was belatedly honoured by President Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
in May 1990 with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
.
Wartime career
Mikhailova-Demina lost her parents at an early age and grew up in a LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
orphanage. She was aged just fifteen at the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War in June 1941 but promptly volunteered for military service in Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
after a train she was travelling on was bombed en route to Brest
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
. Adding two years to her age, she was rejected by the recruitment office but was accepted by a military hospital. The patients soon had to be evacuated after the building was bombed but Mikhailova-Demina stayed behind to work as a field medic for the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, which was desperately short of medical personnel. She was kept busy as the German advanced towards Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
through the summer of 1941. When she suffered a serious injury to her leg in fighting near Gzhatsk she was sent to the Urals to recuperate.
On returning to duty she was posted to the Red Moscow, a hospital ship of the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
that was employed in transporting wounded soldiers from Stalingrad to Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...
. She was promoted to chief petty officer and commended for exemplary service. However, she became bored by the work and volunteered for front-line service with the Azov Flotilla
Azov Flotilla
The Azov Flotilla or Azov Naval Flotilla was the name given to several Russian naval forces operated on the Sea of Azov as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, by both the Soviets and the White Russians during the Russian Civil War, and as part of the Soviet Navy during World War II.-Russo-Turkish...
of the Soviet marine infantry. Although her request was initially denied, she appealed to the government in Moscow and was accepted for service in the 369th Independent Naval Infantry Battalion in February 1943. She first saw action with the marines on the Taman Peninsula
Taman peninsula
The Taman Peninsula is a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Azov, on the west by the Strait of Kerch and on the south by the Black Sea. The peninsula has evolved over the past two millennia from a chain of islands into the peninsula it is...
on the Azov Sea before moving on to battles elsewhere along the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
littoral and on the Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
. After her unit was transferred to the Danube Flotilla she fought her way through Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and ended the war in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
She was not welcomed at first by the men in her unit. However, she was soon accepted after she proved that she could handle herself well in the front line. As well as scouting enemy territory alongside her male colleagues, her work involved treating the wounded and evacuating them to safety. She won her first medal for valour for participating in the recapture of Temryuk
Temryuk
Temryuk is the largest town and the administrative center of Temryuksky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Taman peninsula on the right bank of the Kuban River not far from its entry into the Temryuk Bay, amid a field of mud volcanoes. The seaport of Temryuk is situated from the...
on the Taman Peninsula and was awarded the first of two Orders of the Patriotic War for taking part in the Battle of Kerch
Kerch
Kerch is a city on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transport and tourist centre of Ukraine. Kerch, founded 2600 years ago, is considered as one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine.-Ancient times:...
.
In August 1944 Mikhailova-Demina participated in a commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
-style operation to recapture the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi is a city situated on the right bank of the Dniester Liman in the Odessa Oblast of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Bessarabia...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. Her unit crossed the Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
estuary in rubber boats and climbed an enemy-held ridge. Mikhailova-Demina was in the first group to climb the ridge and joined in the charge to expel the enemy from the ridge. She single-handedly assaulted a fortified German position, taking 14 prisoners, and treated 17 wounded men and helped them get to safety. She earned an Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Red Banner
The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
for her role in the assault.
Four months later, in December 1944, her unit had advanced to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. During an attack on the fortress of Ilok
Ilok
Ilok is the easternmost town and municipality in Croatia. Located in the Syrmia region, it lies on a hill overlooking the Danube river, which forms the border with the Vojvodina region of Serbia. The population of the town of Ilok is 5,036, while the total municipality population is 6,750...
in Croatia she was one of 50 marines who carried out a diversionary attack from a small island in the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
below the fortress. The unit had to use trees as firing positions as the island was flooded. In the firefight that followed, Mikhailova-Demina was shot through the hand. Only 13 of her unit survived the intense gun battle and all were wounded. Some of the casualties fell out of their trees and into the freezing water but were saved by Mikhailova-Demina, who jumped in and used belts and rifle slings to tie the wounded men to the trees. Seven men were saved by her. The battle left her with double pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in addition to the wound to her hand and required her to be hospitalised. Despite this, she left hospital early without authorisation and returned to her unit. She was awarded a second Order of the Red Banner for her heroism.
Post-war career and recognition
Mikhailova-Demina was demobilised in November 1945 but continued to work in the medical profession after the war, including stints with the Soviet Red Cross and Red Crescent Society. She was awarded the Florence Nightingale MedalFlorence Nightingale Medal
The Florence Nightingale Medal is a medal instituted in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross. It is the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve and is awarded to nurses or nursing aides for "exceptional courage and devotion to the wounded, sick or disabled or to...
by the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
for her work during the war; she is the only Russian woman to have received this award. In 1950 she graduated from the Second Leningrad Medical Institute
Saint Petersburg State Medical Academy
The St. Petersburg I. I. Mechnikov State Medical Academy is a public university located in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. The SPSMA is one of the oldest and largest Russian Higher Medical Schools. Over its 100 years of history, the Academy remains a leading institution of Russia in medicine...
and worked as a doctor for 36 years, retiring in 1985.
She was nominated three times for the Hero of the Soviet Union, the country's highest distinction, but was turned down on each occasion. She finally received the medal along with the Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
and Gold Star
Gold Star
The Gold Star medal is a special insignia that identifies recipients of the title "Hero" in the Soviet Union and its communist allies, and several post-Soviet states.-Soviet origin:...
by a decree issued by President Gorbachev on 5 May 1990 to mark the 45th anniversary of the end of the war. Mikhailova-Demina was one of the last thus honoured before the fall of the Soviet Union a few months later.