Lydia Litvyak. Heroines of the Soviet Union

Lydia (Lily) Vladimirovna Litvyak (August 18, 19212 August 1, 1943) was a Soviet fighter aviation ace, commander of an aviation flight, Guard junior lieutenant, the most productive female pilot of World War II, Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously). Member of the Komsomol. She died at the age of less than 22 in a battle over the Mius Front. She was posthumously promoted twice to lieutenant in 1943 and to senior lieutenant in 1990. In the postwar years, fellow soldiers continued to search for the missing pilot. It was found by chance in a mass grave in the village of Dmitrovka, Shakhtersky district of Donetsk region. Her remains were discovered by local boys at the Kozhevnya farm and buried on July 29, 1969 in a mass grave in the village of Dmitrovka as an unknown pilot.