Larisa Nikolayevna Rozanova
Native name
Лариса Николаевна Розанова
Born6 December 1918
Kiev, Ukrainian People's Republic
Died5 October 1997 (aged 79)
Moscow, Russia
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service/branch Soviet Air Force
Years of service1942–1945
RankGuard Captain
Unit46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment
Battles/warsGreat Patriotic War
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Larisa Nikolayevna Rozanova (Russian: Лариса Николаевна Розанова; Litvinova after marriage; 6 December 1918 – 5 October 1997) was a Soviet pilot and later the senior navigator of the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, nicknamed the "Night Witches" during World War II. For successfully completing 793 sorties she was declared a Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1948.

Civilian life

Rozanova was born on 6 December 1918 in the city of Kiev, Ukrainian People's Republic to a Ukrainian family. Her father was employed at an aircraft plant; she would often visit the facility and observe the aircraft.[1][2]

After graduating from high school, she worked at a shoe factory before entering flight school at the Kiev aeroclub. She went on to graduate from the Kherson Aviation School to become a flight instructor; she went on to teach cadets in Feodosia and the Kirov flight club in Moscow.[3][4]

She became a member of the Communist Party in 1942.[5]

Military career

Not long after the start of World War II, Rozanova attempted to enlist in the military, but her request was denied. On 1 August 1941, the aviation school in Moscow where she worked was evacuated and relocated to Ryazan Oblast. Again she requested to join the military and fight on the front lines, which was again denied. In October, she and several friends who had also tried to enlist were summoned to the Osoaviahim council in Moscow, where they were informed of an all-female aviation regiment founded by Marina Raskova. The women who were admitted to the three regiments were trained at Engels.[6][7]

Upon arriving at Engels, she was assigned into the navigators group; she repeatedly appealed to be a pilot, not a navigator, but as her aviation background included some navigation training and given the lack of certified female navigators, Raskova wanted her to serve as a navigator. After having a conversation with Raskova, Rozanova eventually changed her mind and withdrew her appeals.[6] Before the war, navigation training took over a year but due to the state of the war at the time, it only lasted six months. She graduated from Engels in 1942 and was appointed a squadron navigator in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, which was renamed in October 1943 to the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment.[7]

On 27 May 1942, she was deployed to the Eastern front. During the regiment's first sortie she navigated for Serafima Amosova, following the plane with Yevdokia Bershanskaya and Sofya Burzayeva.[7] In December she was allowed to become a pilot and promoted to the rank of flight commander; in April 1943 she was assigned to ferry aircraft from the frontline to repair stations in Armavir, where she met her future husband Ilya Litvinov.[8][9][10]

Throughout March to September 1943, she participated in the operation to breach the Kuban bridgehead in the Taman Peninsula. In November 1943, after success in the Taman offensive, the regiment moved to the Kerch Peninsula and she participated in the Crimean and Sevastopol offensives. On 24 December 1943, a shell fragment hit the plane Rozanova was in, piloted by Maria Olkhovskaya. Despite losing altitude quickly, they managed to land safely. After the death of Senior Lieutenant Yevgeniya Rudneva in the battle of Crimea in April 1944, Rozanova became the senior navigator of the regiment.[8] She made a total of 793 sorties, having participated in bombing campaigns in the North Caucasus, Stavropol, Kuban, Novorossiysk, Crimea, Kuban, Kerch, Belorussia, Poland, and Germany.[11][12]

Rozanova was demobilized from active duty in 1945 after the end of the war and stayed in the reserve.[13]

Later life

Rozanova was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1945, but was initially awarded Order of Lenin instead in 1946. The nomination was reevaluated in 1948, and on 23 February 1948 she was officially declared a Hero of the Soviet Union.[11]

After the war, she and her husband, Ilya Litvinov, lived in Moscow and had a son, Sergey.[13] She worked as a senior engineer at the All-Russian Institute of Power Sources until she retired in 1979. On 5 October 1997 she died at the age of 79 and was buried in the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk cemetery.[11]

Awards

[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Литвинова (Розанова) Лариса Николаевна" [Litvinova (Rozanova) Larisa Nikolaevna]. www.airwar.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  2. ↑ Chechneva 2006, p. 171.
  3. ↑ Cottam 1998, p. 62.
  4. ↑ Chechneva 2006, p. 174.
  5. ↑ Shkadov, Ivan (1987). Герои Советского Союза: краткий биографический словарь I, Абаев - Любичев [Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary I, Abaev - Lyubichev]. Moscow: Voenizdat. p. 875. OCLC 313747315.
  6. 1 2 Chechneva, Marina (1975). Боевые подруги мои [My fighting friends]. Moscow: DOSAAF. OCLC 976865209.
  7. 1 2 3 Chechneva 2006, p. 175.
  8. 1 2 Magid 1960, p. 39.
  9. ↑ "Любовь на линии огня" [Love in the line of fire]. tamanskipolk46.narod.ru. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  10. ↑ Noggle 1994, p. 67.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 195.
  12. ↑ Noggle 1994, p. 64-65.
  13. 1 2 Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 194.

Bibliography

  • Cottam, Kazimiera (1998). Women in War and Resistance: Selected Biographies of Soviet Women Soldiers. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co. ISBN 1585101605. OCLC 228063546.
  • Magid, Aleksandr (1960). Гвардейский Таманский авиационный полк [Guards Taman Aviation Regiment] (in Russian). Moscow: DOSLAF. OCLC 881535802.
  • Noggle, Anne (1994). A Dance With Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0890966028.
  • Simonov, Andrey; Chudinova, Svetlana (2017). Женщины - Герои Советского Союза и России [Women - Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia]. Moscow: Russian Knights Foundation and Museum of Technology Vadim Zadorozhny. ISBN 9785990960701. OCLC 1019634607.
  • Chechneva, Marina (2006). Подруги мои воевые [My war friends]. Moscow: Patriot. ISBN 9785703009437. OCLC 75971740.
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