Mariya Dolina

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Mariya Dolina
Eastern Front of World War II
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Mariya Ivanovna Dolina (Ukrainian: Марія Іванівна Доліна, Russian: Мария Ивановна Долина; 18 December 1922 – 3 March 2010) was a Pe-2 pilot and deputy squadron commander in the women's 125th “Marina M. Raskova” Borisov Guards Bomber Regiment. She was active primarily on the 1st Baltic Front during World War II. On 18 August 1945 she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Early life

Born in the village of Sharovka (present-day Poltavsky District, Omsk Oblast in Siberia[1]), Dolina was the eldest daughter of Ukrainian peasants. She had nine siblings.[2][3]

In 1934, after Mariya's father lost his leg in the

Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv.[1]

World War II

In July 1941, she started her military service.[4] She initially flew the Polikarpov Po-2, liaising with infantry units.[1] Later she became a crew member of a Petlyakov Pe-2 twin-engine, medium-range bomber, in the 587th Dive Bomber Regiment.[2]

Dolina, who admitted to being restless,[5] nevertheless became a deputy squadron commander in her unit, which was later re-designated as the 125th “M.M. Raskova” Borisov Guards Dive Bomber Regiment.[6]

On 2 June 1943, Dolina's aircraft was hit by enemy

anti-aircraft artillery over Kuban prior to reaching her target, disabling an engine and causing a fire. Dolina's fighter escort had disappeared while pursuing enemy fighters, yet she continued flying and made the scheduled bomb-drop. On the way back, with no fighter escort, her flight was attacked by six German fighters (two Fw 190s and four Bf 109s). Dolina's tail gunner shot down one Fw 190 and one Bf 109. Altogether, Mariya flew seventy-two missions bombing enemy ammunition depots, strongholds, tanks, artillery batteries, rail and water transports, and supporting Soviet ground troops.[7]

Postwar life

After the war, Dolina continued to serve in the

Soviet Air Force as deputy squadron commander of a bomber aviation regiment. She lived in the city of Šiauliai (now Lithuania) and then in Riga (now Latvia) where she worked in the Latvian Communist Party Central Committee until 1975. She was married twice, both times to former Soviet Air Forces mechanics. After her first husband died in 1972, she married another from her former regiment.[8][9] She had two sons.[9]

On the 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II, Dolina was promoted to the rank of major by

pioneer
detachments were named after her.

Dolina lived in

Ukrainian independence.[11] The independence of Ukraine was lambaste by Dolina in a 1998 interview when she named the dissolution of the Soviet Union "The collapse of our country was a terrible event."[10]

Awards and honors

[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Cottam 1998, p. 128.
  2. ^ a b Sakaida 2003, p. 9.
  3. ^ a b Noggle 1994, p. 118.
  4. ^ Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 51.
  5. ^ Kazarinova & Polyantseva 1962, p. 77.
  6. ^ Cottam 1998, p. 128-130.
  7. ^ Cottam 1998, p. 129.
  8. ^ Noggle 1994, p. 122.
  9. ^ a b "Don of heaven. Winged fate of Mariya Dolina". Istorychna Pravda (in Ukrainian). 15 July 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. ^ a b c GUARDS MAJOR MARIYA DOLINA by Henry Sakaida, soviet-awards.com (2002)
  11. ISBN 1442610212
    (page 563/564 & 722/723)
  12. ^ Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 54.

Bibliography

External links
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