Antonina Khudyakova
Antonina Fyodorovna Khudyakova | |
---|---|
Russian Federation) | |
Died | 17 December 1998 (aged 81) Oleksandriia, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine |
Allegiance | Soviet Union |
Service/ | Soviet Air Force |
Years of service | 1941–1945 |
Rank | Senior Lieutenant |
Unit | 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment |
Battles/wars | Eastern Front of World War II |
Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union |
Antonina Fyodorovna Khudyakova (Russian: Антонина Фёдоровна Худякова; 20 June [O.S. 7 June] 1917 – 17 December 1998) was a senior lieutenant and deputy squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, nicknamed the "Night Witches" during World War II. For successfully completing 926 sorties she was declared a Hero of the Soviet Union on 15 May 1946.
Early life
Khudyakova was born on 20 June [O.S. 7 June] 1917 in the town of Novaya Sloboda in the Oryol Governorate to a Russian peasant family.[1] After completing her seventh year of school in 1932 she went on to attend the Ordzhonikidzegrad Engineering College in Bryansk until becoming a welding technician in 1937. She began working in Dniprodzerzhynsk, where she was eventually promoted to teach welding at the rail car factory in October 1938. After graduating from the local Dneprodzerzhinsky aeroclub in December 1939 she was sent to the Kherson School of flight instructors, graduating in May 1940 before becoming a flight instructor at an aeroclub in Bryansk. Not long thereafter she relocated the Oryol aviation club, where she remained a flight instructor until the school had to be evacuated to Inzhavino due to the war. She continued to train cadets from the aeroclub until joining the military in December 1941.[2]
Military career
Upon enlisting in the military at the end of 1941 Khudyakova was sent to undergo training Engels Military Aviation School with the rest of the volunteers for the three women's aviation regiments founded by
Civilian life
After retiring from active duty, Khudyakova served as chairman of the Teykovsky District DOSAV Committee from April 1949 to October 1951; she was admitted to the Communist Party in 1952.[1] In 1957 she moved to the city of Oleksandriia in the Kirovohrad Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR and lived there until her death in 1998.[5]
Awards
- Hero of the Soviet Union (15 May 1946)
- Order of Lenin (15 May 1946)
- Two Order of the Red Banner (19 October 1942 and 5 November 1944)
- Three Order of the Patriotic War 1st class (25 October 1943, 22 May 1945, and 11 March 1985)
- campaign and jubilee medals
See also
References
- ^ OCLC 247400113.
- ^ Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 258.
- ^ Cottam 1998, p. 61.
- ^ Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 258-260.
- ^ a b Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 260.
Bibliography
- OCLC 1019634607.
- Cottam, Kazimiera (1998). Women in War and Resistance: Selected Biographies of Soviet Women Soldiers. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co. OCLC 228063546.