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Galina Dzhunkovskaya

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Template:Eastern Slavic name

Galina Ivanovna Dzhunkovskaya
Native name
Галина Ивановна Джунковская
BornOctober 6, 1922
DiedSeptember 12, 1985
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service / branch Soviet Air Force
Years of service1941 — 1950
RankSenior lieutenant
Unit125th Guards Dive Bomber Regiment
Battles / warsWorld War II
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner Order of the Patriotic War (1st class)

Also campaign medals

Galina Ivanovna Dzhunkovskaya (Template:Lang-ru) Soviet Air Force navigator in 125th Guards Dive Bomber Regiment during the Second World War. She was honored with the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 18 August 1945.[1]

Early life

Galina Dzhunkovskaya was born in Yurkovka, Kiev Oblast to a Ukrainian peasant family. She graduated as a nurse from Grozny medical school in 1938. Then she changed her mind and went to Moscow to study aeronautical engineering in Moscow Aviation Institute.

Wartime career

When the war started she was recruited by Marina Raskova to the 122nd Special Aviation Group[2] and had her navigator's training at Engels Military Flying School. Then she was assigned to the 587th Bombardment Aviation Regiment which was later renamed the 125th Guards Dive Bomber Regiment in which she flew as navigator on a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber.[3]

On 6 June 1943 Dzhunkovskaya took part in a fierce aerial combat. Her squadron (9 aircraft), flying in V-formation, was attacked by 10 German fighters. The squadron is credited with 5 kills in that combat, one of which was the second shared kill of Dzhunkovskaya, while four Pe-2 aircraft were seriously damaged and made emergency landings on available soviet airfields near the frontline. One of these aircraft was the Dzhunkovskaya's, which had both engines aflame. Her pilot Klavdia Fomicheva commanded her and the gunner to bail out, but they disobeyed because German fighters persisted attacking the aircraft. Both the navigator and the gunner kept repelling the Germans.[4] When the navigator run out of ammunition she kept fighting off with aerial grenades (some sources claim that she used signal flares[5]). After the enemy fighters broke off, Dzhunkovskaya helped Fomicheva to find a suitable landing place, that happened to be an airfield, and to land the burning aircraft.[5][6]During the spring of 1944, Dzhunkovskaya and Fomicheva joined together for a long time. 23 June 1944 in the second sortie of the day their aircraft was hit by enemy flack when approaching the target with the left engine set aflame and the gunner killed. Fomicheva herself had her leg severely wounded but continued the mission and dropped the bombs on the target. Then she turned the burning aircraft to the frontline and to avoid capture by enemy kept flying until getting over the friendly territory. Fomicheva and Dzhunkovskaya bailed out at altitude about 200 meters; both suffered serious burns.[6]

By December 1944 Dzhunkovskaya completed 62 missions and took part in five aerial engagements and was credited with two shared kills.[6]

Later life

After the War she married Valentin Markov, the commander of her wartime regiment. On 18 August 1945 Dzhunkovskaya was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title. Later on, she and her husband served in the Russian Far East but due to illness she retired in 1950. In 1951 Dzhunkovskaya graduated from Kirovgrad Teacher's College and taught English to children for many years. She died on September 12, 1985.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sakaida, Henry (2012-04-20). Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941–45. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781780966922.
  2. ^ 122nd Aviation Group consisted of 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, 587th Bombardment Aviation Regiment (redesignated 125th Borisov Guards Bombardment Aviation regiment) and 588th Night Bomber Regiment (redesignated 46th Taman Guards Night Bombardment Aviation Regiment). All units initially had all-female personnel, but the first two eventually were mixed but with a preponderance of females. All three units become operational upon the integration into regular VVS divisions where other regiments had all-male aircrew.
  3. ^ a b Heroines of the Soviet Union (PDF). Osprey Publishing. p. 10.
  4. ^ In the Pe-2 aircraft navigator operated the dorsal (upper) machinegun and the gunner operated the ventral (belly) machinegun.
  5. ^ a b Mariinsky, Ye. (1969). "В горящем самолёте" [In the burning plane]. In Toropov, L. (ed.). Героини: очерки о женщинах — Героях Советского Союза [Heroines: Essays about Women - Heroes of the Soviet Union] (in Russian). Moscow: Politizdat.
  6. ^ a b c Hero of the Soviet Union Recommendation
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