Valley, Maria Ivanovna (pilot)

She was born on December 18, 1920 in the village of Sharovka (now the Poltava district of the Omsk region ) in a family of Ukrainian peasant immigrants who came to Siberia to work ^{[2] [4]} . The Red Army father was disabled, lost his leg (according to the pilot herself - both legs ^[3] ) during the civil war . Maria was the eldest of ten children. By age 14, she graduated from five classes of the Isilkul school ^[4] .

In 1934, the Dolins family returned to the USSR in the village of Mikhailovka, Zaporizhzhya region ^{[3] [4]} . There, Mary graduated from eight high school classes. Undereducated, she was forced to get a job ^[5] :

Externally, she graduated from high school in the city of Dnepropetrovsk ^[2] . In 1939 she graduated from the Kherson Aviation School. She worked as a flight instructor at the Dnepropetrovsk, and then the Nikolaev aero clubs of Osoaviahim . Since 1941 in the Red Army.

Since July 1941 in the army. She began serving on July 14 on the Southern Front as part of the 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment as a communications pilot, flying over 150 hours on command orders ^[6] .

In October 1941, by order of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (order of the USSR NCO No. 0099 of 08.10.41) and with the support of the Komsomol Central Committee, the legendary Soviet pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova in Engels formed from pilots trained by flying clubs , schools of the Civil Air Fleet and Osoviahima , an air group of three women's air regiments ^[7] : the 586th fighter ( Yak-1 ), the 587th bomber ( Pe-2 ) and the 588th night bomber ( Po-2 ). Raskova herself became the commander of the Pe-2 heavy bombers regiment, which also included Maria Dolina.

In 1942, she graduated from the Engels Military Aviation School , having mastered piloting with a high-speed bomber in 4 months ^[6] . They said about the Pe-2 plane that strong pilots love him, and weak ones are afraid. Even a man to control this machine was not easy: the control tools were adapted to male growth, male power. To squeeze the pedals, uniform increasing pressure was required. Therefore, the girls from Raskova’s regiment adapted to take off “four hands”: the navigator supported the pilot’s back and arms. It was far from easy to tear off an airplane loaded with bombs from the ground in this way.

Since January 1943, the Pe-2 regiment, which received the new name of the 125th Bomber Aviation Regiment , entered the battles on the Don Front.

Brave and cold-blooded commander

Throughout the war, the Valley passed with one crew: navigator Galina Dzhunkovskaya and radio-shooter Ivan Solenov. On the ground, the aircraft was serviced by mechanics Vasily Litosh and Alexander Barsukov.

In the spring of 1943, after completing a mission over 121.4 altitude on the North Caucasus Front (later called the “Hero's Hill”), a group of Soviet aircraft entered battle with the German Messerschmidts . Cover fighters fought at high altitude, and the leader of the Pe-2 guard group, major Evgenia Timofeeva, ordered the crews of the bombers to stay in tight groups, and she opened fire on the attackers. She was supported by the Valley crew: with fire from a machine gun Ivan Solenov knocked out one of the “Messers." However, in the battle, the aircraft led by Tosya Skoblikova Valley and the Pe-2 Valley engine were damaged. Then the German pilot set fire to the machine gun and the second bomber engine. Trying to blow off the flame, Valley abruptly lost the helm: the "pawn" pecked and entered at the peak, which allowed him to deceive the attacker, who considered that he had killed the pilot. The valley ordered the crew to leave the sinking plane, however, both Dzhunkovskaya and Solyonov refused to do so. Dzhunkovskaya found the nearest airdrome on the map and helped the pilot reach him, just beyond the Kuban River. The valley landed the plane on a feather grass field, not calculating the height a little and “plopping” the fuselage upon landing. Solenov, wounded in the leg, managed to open a jammed cabin lamp, after which the crew was able to get out of the plane, which exploded a few minutes later. Already in the hospital, Dolina, Dzhunkovskaya and Solenov learned that due to a hard landing, the plane could brake ten meters from a deep ravine: if the landing had been regular, everyone would have died ^[7] .

For this feat - “supporting a comrade in battle and saving the crew”, as well as for performing 15 sorties, the guard's commander junior lieutenant Dolina was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on June 1, 1943.

Squadron led

Having begun her combat career as an ordinary pilot, the Valley soon became a flight commander, and in January 1944 she was appointed squadron commander ^[6] .

On June 23, 1944, the Dolina plane was severely damaged in battle during the mission in the area of ​​the village of Tsentralny and Zavolny. Without losing a place in the ranks, the Valley reached the car to the airfield and successfully landed it, saving the life of the crew and an expensive aircraft. The next day, the Valley at the head of the link made a successful combat flight to the Zhabyki area on the Orsha-Smolensk railway, and on June 26 destroyed the enemy train near the station of Orsha. For successfully completed missions and 36 successful sorties on July 1, 1944, an order for the troops of the 1st Air Army deputy commander of the guard squadron Senior Lieutenant Dolina was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner ^[8] .

During the Belarusian offensive operation, she participated in battles for Vitebsk , Orsha and Borisov . On June 26, 1944, with a well-aimed bombing she destroyed the railway at Orsha station, blew up a train with ammunition. On June 28, 1944, by bombing the enemy’s cluster in the village of Zembin , the Soviet troops helped force Berezina and liberate the city of Borisov .

She ended the war near Libava , where the Hitlerite forces that got into the Courland Cauldron fought fiercely since 1944, when most of the territory of the Latvian SSR was already liberated ^[7] .

Participant of the Victory Parade

Guard captain , deputy squadron commander of the 125th Guards Bomber Aircraft Borisov Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Regiment named after Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova ( 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Division , 1st Guards Bomber Aviation Corps , 3rd Air Army Baltic Front ) Maria Ivanovna Dolina completed 63 successful sorties on a Pe-2 plane, dropped 45,000 kilograms of bombs. The results of all successful sorties have been documented by photo circuits ^[6] . In 6 air battles, the crew of Maria Dolina shot down 3 enemy fighters (in the group).

Maria Dolina was honored to participate in the Victory Parade in Moscow, her portrait of 1945 went around many Soviet and foreign publications ^[7] and became one of the symbols of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Victory.

On August 18, 1945, for the courage and military valor shown in battles with enemies, she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war, Maria Ivanovna Dolina married the navigator of the 124th Air Regiment, Vasily Melnikov, whom she met during the war. She continued her service in the Air Force , was the deputy commander of a bomber aviation regiment.

Since 1950 - in stock. She lived in the city of Siauliai , then in Riga , where she graduated from a party school. She worked in the Riga City Party Committee of Latvia and in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia until 1975 .

She was a member of the board of the Republican Friendship Society " USSR - France ", the Committee for the Defense of Peace, and since 1975 - an honorary member of the Normandy-Niemen regiment.

Since 1991 , she lived in Kiev ^[9] . She was awarded the Orders of Lenin , Red Banner (twice), World War 1 degree, medals. Her name was given to the pipe plant brigade of the Volzhsky city ​​of the Volgograd region, the pioneer squad in the Omsk region and many pioneer squads of secondary schools. The author of the article “Leap from the Flame” (in the book “In the Front-Line Sky”).

Passed away on March 3, 2010 in Kiev , Ukraine ^[10] . She was buried at the Bike cemetery .

Order of the Red Banner (June 1, 1943).

Order of the Red Banner (July 1, 1944) ^[8] .

The Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin ^[6] .

•   Honorary Citizen of Kiev

• On the building of the flying club, which previously housed the Melitopol Aviation School, in which Maria Ivanovna studied, a memorial plaque was installed on August 17, 2013 ^[11] .

• Dolina Maria Ivanovna // Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1987.- T. 1 / Abaev - Lyubichev /. - S. 439. - 911 p. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN comp., Reg. RCP No. 87-95382.
• Mariinsky E. In a burning plane // Heroes: essays on women - Heroes of the Soviet Union / ed. L. F. Toropov; foreword E. Kononenko . - Vol. 1. - M .: Politizdat , 1969 .-- 447 p.

Valley, Maria Ivanovna (pilot) (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".

• Heroes: Essays on Women - Heroes of the Soviet Union / ed. L. F. Toropov; foreword E. Kononenko. - Vol. 1. - M .: Politizdat , 1969 .-- 447 p.
• Valley Maria Ivanovna .
• Valley Maria Ivanovna .
• Dnepropetrovsk, city portal: Dolina Maria Ivanovna .
• In a burning plane .
• Pam'yatі M. І. Dolіnoї . (Ukrainian)
• Dolina Mariya Ivanivna (inaccessible link) .
• The 85th anniversary was celebrated by the legendary aviator, Hero of the Soviet Union Maria Dolina (inaccessible link) .
• Girls Pilots .