Marina Raskova
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n navigator. She later became one of over 800,000 women in the military service, founding three female air regiments which would eventually fly over 30,000 sorties in 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...
.
Early life
Marina Raskova (née Malinina) was born to middle-class parents. Her father was a singing instructor and her mother a teacher. Unlike the majority of Soviet airwomen,Marina did not show any early interest in aviation.
She became pilot-navigator purely by accident. Her parents wanted her to become a musician.
, and her goal was to become an opera singer.
In October 1919, when she was seven, her father died from the injuries sustained when he was struck by a motorcycle. Nevertheless, she continued her drama and singing studies but, being very strict on herself, she started to suffer from stress. She decided to quit music and to devote herself to study chemistry in high school and after graduation in 1929, started to work in in a dye factory as a chemist, to help her family. She married an engineer, Sergey Raskov, so changing her name to Raskova. She had a child, Tanya, in 1930. The following year she started to work in the Aero Navigation Laboratory of the Air Force Academy as a draftswoman.
Raskova became a famous aviator as both a pilot and a navigator for Russia in the 1930s. She was the first woman to become a navigator in the Soviet Air Force
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
in 1933. A year later, she started teaching at the Zhukovskii Air Academy, also a first for a woman. In 1935, she divorced.
As significantly in the eyes of the Soviet Union, which gave its aviators celebrity status, she set a number of long distance records. Most of these record flights occurred in 1937 and 1938, while she was still teaching at the air academy.
The most famous of these records was the flight of the Rodina (Russian for "Motherland"), Ant-37 - a converted DB-2 long range bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
, on September 24–25, 1938. She was the navigator of the crew that also included Polina Osipenko and Valentina Grizodubova
Valentina Grizodubova
Valentina Stepanovna Grizodubova , 1993 in Moscow) was a one of the first female pilots in the Soviet Union and was awarded titles Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labour.-Early life and pre-war career:...
. From the start, the goal was to set an international women's record for a straight-line distance flight. The plan was to fly from 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...
to Komsomolsk
Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Komsomolsk-on-Amur is a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, situated on the left bank of Amur River. It is located on the BAM railway line, northeast of Khabarovsk. Population: -Geography and climate:...
(in the Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
). When finally completed, the flight took 26 hours and 29 minutes, over a straight line distance of 5,947 km (total distance of 6,450 km).
However, the ordeal took 10 days when the plane was unable to find an airfield due to poor visibility. Because the navigator's cockpit had no entrance to the rest of the plane and was vulnerable in a crash landing, Raskova parachuted out before they touched down. She had forgotten her emergency kit and was unable to find the plane for 10 days, with no water and almost no food. The rescue crew had found the aircraft 8 days after the landing, and was waiting when she found her way to it, after which all three women were taken to safety. On November 2, 1938, all three women were decorated with "The 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:...
" award, the first females ever to receive it and the only ones before World War II.
Great Patriotic War
When World War II broke out, there were numerous women who had training as pilots and many immediately volunteered. While there were no formal restrictions on women serving in combat roles, their applications tended to be blocked, run into red tape, etc. for as long as possible in order to discourage the applicants. Raskova is credited with using her personal connections with Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
to convince the military to form three combat regiments of women. Not only would the women be pilots, but also the support staff and engineers for these regiments. This military unit was initially called Aviation Group 122 while the three regiments received training. After their training, the three regiments received their formal designations as follows:
Yakovlev Yak-1
The Yakovlev Yak-1 was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft. Produced from early 1940, it was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings....
, Yak-7B and Yak-9, it flew 4,419 flights. destroying 38 enemy aircraft in 125 air battles. Commanders were Tamara Kazarinova and Aleksandr Gridnev.
Night Witches
"Night Witches" is the English translation of Nachthexen, a World War II German nickname , for the female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, of the Soviet Air Forces...
: This was the best known of the regiments and was commanded by Yevdokia Bershanskaya. It originally began service as the 588th Night Bomber Regiment (588 NBAP), but was redesignated in February 1943 as recognition for service which would tally 24,000+ combat missions by the end of the war. The regiment produced 24 Heroes of Soviet Union.
Their aircraft was the Polikarpov Po-2
Polikarpov Po-2
The Polikarpov Po-2 served as a general-purpose Soviet biplane, nicknamed Kukuruznik for maize; thus, 'maize duster' or 'crop duster'), NATO reporting name "Mule"...
, a very outdated biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
. The Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
were the ones however who gave them the name by which they are best known: The Night Witches (die Nachthexen). They were also the only one of the three regiments to remain solely female throughout the war, a distinction they went to some lengths to maintain.
The 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment: Marina Raskova commanded this unit until her death in a flying accident, while leading two other Petlyakovs to their first operative airfield, near Stalingrad, whereupon the unit was given to Valentin Markov. It started service as the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment (587 BAP) until it was given the Guards designation in September 1943. The unit was given the very best of the Soviet bombers, the Petlyakov Pe-2
Petlyakov Pe-2
The Petlyakov Pe-2 was a Soviet dive bomber aircraft used during World War II. It was regarded as one of the best ground attack aircraft of the war and it was extremely successful in the roles of heavy fighter, reconnaissance and night fighter...
, while many male units used obsolete aircraft, a factor which led to much resentment. The unit flew 1,134 missions, dropping over 980 tons of bombs. It produced five Heroes of Soviet Union.
She died on January 4, 1943, when her aircraft crashed attempting to make a forced landing on the Volga bank, while leading two other Pe-2s to first operative airfield near Stalingrad. The entire crew perished. She received the first state funeral of the war.
Legacy
Her ashes were immured in the Kremlin WallKremlin Wall
The Kremlin Wall is a defensive wall that surrounds the Moscow Kremlin, recognizable by the characteristic notches and its Kremlin towers. The original walls were likely a simple wooden fence with guard towers built in 1156.-History:...
, beside Polina Osipenko's, on Red Square
Red Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
.
She was posthumously awarded the Order of Patriotic War I Class.
She soon became the namesake of an American Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
, the SS Marina Raskova, launched in June 1943.
A street was named after her in Moscow and Kazan' respectively, as well as a square in Moscow, some schools and Young Pioneer detachments.
There was a bust of her at the "M.M. Raskova"" Higher Air Force School in Tambov
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
, but that school ceased to function in 1997.