Bocharova, Evdokia Davydovna

Pre-war years

Born in the village of Dobrovolnoe, Stavropol Territory. Parents died in the Civil War , brought up in the family of Uncle George Sereda ^[1] . She graduated from secondary school No. 1 of the city of Grateful .

In 1931 she entered the Batay school of pilots. From 1932 to 1939, she trained pilots as an instructor.

In September 1939, she was appointed commander of the air link of the 218th special-use squadron located in the village of Pashkovskaya (now the microdistrict of Krasnodar ). She was elected as a deputy of the Krasnodar City Council.

During the war

During the Great Patriotic War, at the age of 28, she headed the formed women's bomber regiment. Female air regiments were formed under the leadership of the famous female pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova , who led one of the three regiments created in October 1941 .

Evdokia Bershanskaya, as an experienced pilot with ten years of experience and good organizational skills, became the commander of the 588th night bomber regiment. Under her command, the regiment fought until the end of the war. Sometimes he was jokingly called: "Dunkin Regiment", with a hint of a completely female composition and making excuses in the name of the regiment commander. ^[2]

In 1943, the regiment was awarded the title of Guards and was renamed the 46th Guards Taman Night Bomber Regiment. He was later awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov .

The attacks of the female regiment led by Evdokia Davydovna were so successful, swift and accurate that the Germans called the female pilots "night witches." In 1981, in the USSR film studio to them. Gorky released the film “ In the Sky,“ Night Witches, ”directed by former regiment pilot Yevgeny Zhigulenko .

23 pilots of the regiment were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union , 2 - Hero of Russia , 1 - Hero of Kazakhstan . Prior to its disbandment in October 1945, the regiment remained fully female, with only women serving at all positions in the unit.

Post-war years

After the war, she moved to Moscow with her husband, where she worked in the committee of Soviet women, as well as in the committee of war veterans. She died of a heart attack on September 16, 1982. Buried at Novodevichy Cemetery ^[3]

She married Peter Bershansky, from whom she gave birth to a son. However, the marriage soon broke up. Under the surname Bershanskaya, Evdokia Davydovna went through the whole war, during which she met her second husband.

Combat routes of the 46th Guards and 889th night light bomber regiments were constantly nearby, they were part of the same air division, flew the same aircraft, and were often located at neighboring airfields. After the regiment was disbanded, weddings were played not only by regiment commanders Evdokia Bershanskaya and Konstantin Bocharov , but also by many of the pilots of both regiments (but not one of the regiment's military personnel left the regiment during the war during pregnancy). ^[2]

• 2 orders of the Red Banner ;
• Order of Suvorov 3rd degree;
• Order of Alexander Nevsky ;
• Order of the Patriotic War , 2nd degree;
• Order of the Badge of Honor ;
• Medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
• Medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus"
• Medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
• Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
• Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
• Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw"
• Medal "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal “In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow”
• Medal "Active fighter against fascism" ( GDR )

Evdokia Bershanskaya is the only woman awarded the Order of Suvorov .

In 1975, Evdokia Bocharova was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Krasnodar . ^[four]

• In the Pashkovsky microdistrict of the city ​​of Krasnodar (the former village of Pashkovskaya) there is Evdokia Bershanskaya street, and its museum has been established in school number 7 located on this street.
• On May 7, 1988, a monument was unveiled to her at the airport of Krasnodar ^[5]
• In 2005, the airline "Kuban" named one of its aircraft "Bershansk" ^[6] .
• Bershanskaya Street in the village of Assinovskaya , Sunzhensky District , Chechnya .
• There is Bershanskaya street in the city of Kerch, between the airport and the city center.
• In 2011, secondary school No. 1 of the city of Grateful Stavropol Territory, in which Dusya Karabut studied, celebrated her 100th birthday. They remembered her outstanding students. A memorial plaque of E. D. Bershansky was opened on the school building. In April 2017, a bust was placed in front of the school.
• In 2015, Evdokia Davydovna was awarded the title "Honorary Citizen of the city of Gratitude ."
• In 2017, a portrait of Evdokia Bershanskaya was painted on the facade of a five-story residential building in Krasnodar (41 Luzana St.).
• In 2017, the monument to E. D. Bershanskaya was opened in Stavropol , near the building of the former pedagogical college, where she studied (Morozova St., 8) ^[7] .

• Bershanskaya - regiment commander Night witches. Ch-1
• Bershanskaya Evdokia Davydovna (neopr.) . biografija.ru. Date of treatment June 18, 2008. Archived March 14, 2012.
• Awards of Evdokia Bershanskaya (neopr.) . Museum of school № 213 (Moscow). Date of treatment June 18, 2008. Archived March 14, 2012.
• Evdokia Davydovna Bershanskaya (neopr.) (Unavailable link) . Administration of Krasnodar (November 20, 2001). Date of treatment June 18, 2008. Archived March 17, 2007.

• SHORT BIOGRAPHY of the retired lieutenant colonel of the former commander of the 46th guards Red Banner Order of Suvorov 3rd degree Taman women’s aviation regiment of night bombers Evdokia Davydovna Bocharova-Bershansky. Circulation 100 copies. Printing house LLC Iskra, Stavropol.