734: Nadezhda Popova
Night Witch and Soviet Pilot in World War II
Born: 27 December 1921, Shabanokva, Ukraine (Present-day Dolgoye, Oryol Blast, Russia)
Died: 8 July 2013, Moscow, Russia
Nadezhda was a highly decorated officer and received various honors including the Hero of the Soviet Union commendation.
By her mid-teens, she was a solo flier who also learned parachute jumping.
Nadezhda volunteered as a bomber pilot after witnessing the Nazis murder her brother and take over her home to use as a police station. She flew over eight-hundred missions and survived being shot down during the war.
Nadezhda grew through the ranks all the way to be a lieutenant colonel.
After the war she raised a family and worked as a flight instructor.
Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked
Rejected Princess*
*The Night Witches as a whole are given an entry in the first Rejected Princesses book.
Located In My Personal Library:
Flying for Her Country: The American and Soviet Women Pilots of World War II by Amy Goodpaster Strebe
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/world/europe/nadezhda-popova-ww-ii-night-witch-dies-at-91.html
https://crimereads.com/nadezhda-popova-commander-of-the-night-witches/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nadezhda-Vasilyevna-Popova
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113618589/nadezhda-popova