Jump to content

Yevgeniya Zhigulenko

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tec15 (talk | contribs) at 18:28, 7 July 2018 (added Category:Soviet film directors using HotCat). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Yevgeniya Andreevna Zhigulenko
mid-war portrait photograph of Zhigulenko. On her military uniform she is wearing her guards pin, one Order of the Patriotic War, one Order of the Red Star, one Order of the Red Banner, and the Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus"
Native name
Евгения Андреевна Жигуленко
Born1 December 1920
Krasnodar, Russian SFSR
Died27 February 1994 (aged 73)
Moscow, Russian Federation
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service/branch Soviet Air Force
Years of service1941–1955
RankMajor
Unit46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment
Battles/warsEastern Front of World War II
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner Order of the Red Banner Order of the Patriotic War (1st class)
Order of the Patriotic War (1st class)
Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
Template:Medal Liberation of Warsaw

Yevgeniya Zhigulenko (Russian: Евгения Жигуленко; 1 December 1920 – 27 February 1994) was a pilot and navigator in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, 325th Night Bomber Aviation Division, 4th Air Army, 2nd Belorussian Front during World War II. For her service in the military she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1945.[1]

Civilian life

Zhigulenko was born on 1 December 1920 in Krasnodar to a working family. After graduating from secondary school in Tikhoretsk in 1939 she studied at the Moscow Aviation Technology Institute and then graduated from flight school at the Moscow Aeroclub. She became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1942.[2]

Military career in the Second World War

In October 1941 she joined the Soviet military and participated in battles on the Eastern Front starting in May 1942 after graduating from her military navigation courses. She worked as the regiment's director of communications and was later promoted to be a link commander. As a link commander in the "Night Witches", officially the 588th Night Bomber Regiment until it was renamed in 1943 to the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, she participated in bombing campaigns on the Southern, Caucasian, and Belarussian fronts as well as in Berlin, Crimea, Kerch, Kolberg, Kuban, Mlavsko-Elbing, Mogilev, and Osoweic. In total she performed a total of 968 combat sorties on the Polikarpov Po-2 and was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1945.[3]

After the war

Zhigulenko remained in the air force on active duty until she graduated the Lenin Military-Political Academy in 1955, when she then went into the reserve before eventually retiring from the military. In 1976 she graduated from the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography and worked as a film director, creating two major films: "In the Sky of the Night Witches" and "Without the Right to Fail", donating a copy of the film to the Poklonnaya Gora Museum of the Great Patriotic War. She passed away at the age of 73 on 27 February 1994 and was buried in the Troekurov cemetery.[1][2]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Жигуленко Евгения Андреевна". www.warheroes.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  2. ^ a b "Жигуленко Евгения Андреевна". airaces.narod.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  3. ^ "Биография Евгения Жигуленко". www.peoples.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  4. ^ a b "Жигуленко Евгения Андреевна, Герой Советского Союза (Орден Ленина и медаль «Золотая звезда»)". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. ^ "Жигуленко Евгения Андреевна, Орден Красного Знамени (1942)". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  6. ^ "Жигуленко Евгения Андреевна, Орден Красного Знамени (1945)". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  7. ^ "Жигуленко Евгения Андреевна, Орден Отечественной войны I степени (1943)". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ "Жигуленко Евгения Андреевна, Орден Отечественной войны I степени (1985)". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  9. ^ "Жигуленко Евгения Андреевна, Орден Красной Звезды (1944)". pamyat-naroda.ru. Retrieved 2018-04-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yevgeniya_Zhigulenko&oldid=849260363"