Natalya Meklin

Natalya Fyodorovna Meklin (nee Kravtsova)
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Born	September 8, 1922(1922-09-08) Lubny, Ukraine
Died	June 5, 2005(2005-06-05) (aged 82) Moscow
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Air Force
Years of service	1941–1957
Rank	Major
Commands held	46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment
Battles/wars	World War II,
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin Order of the Red Star with sign of Honour Two Order of the Patriotic War Three Order of the Red Banner

Natalya Fyodorovna Meklin née Kravtsova (Russian: Наталья Фёдоровна Меклин, Ukrainian: Наталія Фёдорiвна Меклин; 1922–2005) was a much decorated World War II combat pilot in one of the three women-only Soviet air regiments. They were nicknamed the 'Night Witches' by their German opponents.

She was born on September 8, 1922, in Lubny, Ukraine. In 1940 she joined the glider school at the Kiev Young Pioneer Palace. When she was 19, in 1942 she joined the Night Witches, piloting a Polikarpov Po-2 light bomber, and by the end of the war had flown 980 night missions. In 1953 she graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages.^[1]

Subsequently she worked as a translator before retiring. She became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers. It is rewarded with the Order of Lenin, with three, with Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, of the Red Star, with medals. Several schools are named after her in Smolensk, Poltava, Stavropol' and other cities. She was entitled honorable citizen of the city of Gdansk (Poland). She died in Moscow on 5 June 2005.^[2]

Awards and honors

• Hero of the Soviet Union
• Order of Lenin
• Order of the Red Star with sign of Honour
• Two Order of the Patriotic War
• Three Order of the Red Banner

References

1. ^ http://it.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?lp=ru_en&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.warheroes.ru%2Fhero%2Fhero.asp%3FHero_id%3D1070
2. ^ http://it.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?lp=ru_en&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.warheroes.ru%2Fhero%2Fhero.asp%3FHero_id%3D1070

Bibliography

• Cottam, Kazimiera Janina. Women in War and Resistance – Selected Biographies of Soviet Women Soldiers. Newburyport MA, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co. 1998. ISBN 1-58510-160-5.
• Milanetti, Gian Piero (2011) (in Italian). Le Streghe della Notte: La storia non detta delle eroiche ragazze-pilota dell'Unione Sovietica nella Grande Guerra Patriottica. Istituto Bibliografico Napoleone, Roma, Italia. ISBN 88-7565-100-0. http://www.calameo.com/books/0007962970324ec79c522. 

External links

• «Les grandes heures de l'aviation féminine»
• Page in Russian
• [1]

Persondata
Name	Myeklin, Natalya
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 8, 1922
Place of birth	Lubny, Ukraine
Date of death	June 5, 2005
Place of death	Moscow