Akimova Alexandra Fedorovna - Soviet military pilot during the Great Patriotic War. Navigator of the 588th lightly bomber flight regiment. In the rank of captain left the military service.
Biography
Alexandra Fedorovna was born in May 1922 on the fifth in the small village of Petrushino, Ryazan Region. While still at school, she wanted to become a teacher, and after graduating from high school she went to Moscow. In 1940, she entered a pedagogical institute, and also enrolled in nursing education. When World War II approached the borders of the Soviet Union, Akimova firmly decided to join the army and repulse the Nazi invaders.
The Great Patriotic War
At first, Alexander was not included in the ranks of the Red Army; instead, she, among other volunteers, was sent to dig trenches and build defenses on the outskirts of Moscow. In September, she returned to college and continued her studies, but the idea of joining the ranks of the defenders of the Motherland did not leave her.
In October 1941, the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR issued a decree on the creation of women's aviation regiments. Akimova decided to take this opportunity and went to the city of Engels, where she was enlisted in the ranks of the Red Army. There she was trained in flight business. At the end of her studies, she received the military profession of an aircraft technician.
"Night Witches"
The 588th Bomber Regiment did not take an active part in the battles until 1942. The first sortie took place on June 12 of the same year in the region of the Sal River, Rostov Region. In 1943, for the invaluable contribution to the defeat of Nazi fortifications and the destruction of strategically important enemy targets, the 588 regiment was renamed the 46th Guards Bomber Night. The Germans, who witnessed the attacks of the bombers, called them "night witches."
Akimova all this time served at the base of the regiment in Engels. Only in the spring of 1943 she was transferred to the post of navigator and she began to take an active part in the bombing of enemy fortifications. Participated in the breakthrough of the Gotenkopf defense lines on the Tamansky Peninsula. Alexandra Fedorovna participated in all offensive military operations, up to the capture of Berlin.
In April 1945, just before the end of the war, was presented by General Vershinin and Marshal Rokossovsky to the Hero of the Soviet Union award, but never received it. During registration in Moscow, the documents were lost.
