The 46th Aviation Regiment, nicknamed "Night Witches" by the Germans, was formed in October 1941. Marina Raskova led the formation. Evdokia Bershanskaya, a pilot with ten years of experience, was appointed commander of the regiment. Under her command, the regiment fought until the end of the war. Sometimes it was jokingly called: "Dunkin regiment", with a hint of a completely female composition and justified by the name of the regiment commander.

The Germans were surprised to learn that the Soviet troops had at their disposal an entire aviation regiment, formed only of women. It should be noted that the enemy's hatred of Soviet women was especially strong for some reason. After all, women fought in the troops not only as pilots or snipers, there were radio operators, machine gunners, nurses and drivers. According to the recollections of the front-line soldiers, if the girls were captured by the Germans, they were killed with special cruelty that would never have been applied to a male prisoner. For some reason, Soviet women aroused bestial horror and even greater cruelty among the Nazis. Many female fighters ended their days under the torture of the enemy, which amazed even seasoned male fighters. Those who found their mutilated corpses often could not hold back their tears. The creation of an aviation regiment only of women, where all women are aces of flying, was a very powerful act of demoralizing the enemy.

The Germans called the pilots of the regiment "night witches" because of the night raids; For some reason, they thought that all the women of this regiment smoke and drink, change men and do not at all look like women in the classical sense. They thought that these must be terrible masculine aunts, under-women, half-men, how else could they explain their courage and courage, so unusual in their understanding of the weaker sex. "Kirche-kurche-kinder" is how their leader described the ideal of a German woman, "church-kitchen-children", what kind of battles and planes there are.

They were wrong. They did not know that most of the "night witches" were young girls of 18-25 years old, unkissed by Amazons. Yes, the regiment was strict with that. The war does not have a woman's face, and the attitude towards women in the war was twofold. On the one hand, society encouraged the heroism of young girls who decided to give their lives for their Motherland, and on the other ...

Behind the scenes they were despised, there was gossip about the girls' presence in the troops, so ... behind their backs, in conversations in the kitchen between times. Men are always men, and in war they are also in the face of death, when you can die today or tomorrow. The feeling of the absence of "tomorrow" for some deprived of any remorse, which is a rare occurrence even in peacetime. According to the recollections of women at the front, many men then behaved according to the principle "the war will write off everything." The war took the fathers out of their families, leaving their wives and children in the rear. For these wives, every nurse, every girl-fighter was a potential homeless woman who could turn her husband around while he was away from his family. Some really did not return to their former families after the war, but started new ones. Others abandoned their front-line girlfriends, they were also called "field wife", sometimes in position, and returned to the family, or found a young, healthy, not beaten by the war girl, who was still a child during the war, and married her. Some of them were simply not destined to stay alive, and the war really "wrote off everything." According to the recollections of Valentina Sergeevna KARELINA (Yudakina), the gunsmith of the 966th Fighter Aviation Regiment, her husband once wrote an angry letter to her brother-soldier when he learned that she had volunteered for the front. He wrote her many offensive words and accusations of anything that is embarrassing to say aloud, and ended the letter like this: “There are people like you, ersatz-soldier, in bulk here! You don't have to write, I have another now. " She never wrote to him again.

The female fighter had to be at an unattainable height of moral qualities, so as not to cause confusion at her own expense. And communication with men did not contribute to this. Because the "night witches" avoided male communication. Navigators - girls, mechanics - girls, four of them hung up a hundred-kilogram bombs. We slept under the wings of planes, in canvas bags, two by two, in an embrace. They ignored the men: they thought they brought trouble, and the regiment was kept as a purely female unit.

Nadezhda Popova was born into a working class family in 1921. In 1936, after completing her studies at the secondary school in the city of Stalino, she entered the flying club, which she graduated with honors and was left there for further training as an instructor. In 1939, she came to Moscow in order to become a military pilot, where she met the legendary pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Polina Osipenko, who helped Nadezhda Popova be sent to the Kherson Aviation School. After graduating from which, in 1940, she continued her studies at the Donetsk Military Aviation School and received a diploma of a pilot-navigator. At the age of 19 in 1941, as soon as the war began, after the flight school, she wrote a report on being sent to the front and ended up in a regiment of night bombers. The nickname "night witches", which the Germans awarded, only flattered them.

In war, there is no place for feelings, but she waited for love - in the middle of the war.

In 1943, during the liberation of Novorossiysk, Popova was assigned the task of delivering drinking water, food and ammunition to the Marines cut off from our troops. Instead of bombs, a precious cargo was hung under the wings of the plane, and she flew into the unknown. She dropped the cargo and turned the plane back. Yes, only U-2 ("ducks", as the pilots lovingly called them) fly very low, and you can get them from the ground. The Germans opened a hurricane of fire, the plane received forty-two holes. Fortunately, the enemies did not hit the gas tank, and the engine worked properly. Popova turned the plane to the sea, but there was an enemy boat too. Flying very low over the waves, almost drawing water with its wing, the plane headed for our airfield in Gelendzhik. When U-2 landed safely, Nadezhda said to her navigator: "So, we'll wait ..." Before she had time to leave the plane, good news came - a radiogram from the marines: "Sending from heaven accepted." And then only Nadya gave up slack - she burst into tears ...

However, you cannot escape fate. On August 2, 1942, the plane of the squadron commander, Nadezhda Popova, was shot down. She brought the car as close to the ground as possible and ... jumped out without a parachute.
She joined another regiment to return to her unit. Sena Kharlamov, like she was 20 years old, and on that day - in the summer of 1942, somewhere near Rostov - he also touched the feat: he was knocked out, he burned, fell, but did not abandon the plane. She saw him wounded then, a bullet stuck in his cheek, a punctured thigh, a shrapnel cut off his nose. They operated on him, as they used to say "under the scream" - a recipe: a glass of alcohol and his own scream. They met quite by chance and exchanged a few words when she got to her unit. She recalled that she felt sorry for the young guy, whose face she hardly saw because of the bandages. She saw only the eyes, and she remembered them. Nadezhda Vasilievna recalls their meeting, and her voice rises a tone higher,
The Germans said about us: “Rusisch Schwein! Russian pig "So it was insulting! What kind of pig am I? I am a beauty! I have a tablet over my shoulder, a pistol, a rocket launcher in my belt; That day I was carrying a package to the command, accidentally found out: the wounded were being taken in the pilot's ambulance - and I went to look. But there was nothing to look at: the whole head was in bandages, only in a crack there were mischievous brown eyes and lips - plump, unkissed; So I felt sorry for him: how could he be like that, without a nose; We talked, I liked his eyes; I liked them - playful, but then there was no time for such thoughts: there was a retreat to the east. I said goodbye: "Senya, goodbye, write."

He didn't write. It was just that one day I found her on the roads of the war: their female regiment was flying from the “male” one; airfield - almost like in a movie, in which Masha (actress Evgenia Simonova) made an emergency landing at the airfield of the "singing squadron." - My mechanic comes running to me: "Comrade commander, a man asks you!" And my plane is already taking off. And it turns out really he, Senya, whose only top of my head I really had time to make out from under the bandages! .. And here he is entirely. “So you, it turns out, have a nose” - all that I managed to say to him.
There were apples in the cockpit of her "heavenly slug" - the regiment was standing in the gardens, a flask with combat hundred grams, which was given out after night flights: "I didn't drink, I gave everything to him - and flew away."

Masha and Romeo from the film died on the same day - maybe on the same apple day .. And Nadya Popova is the Captain of the Guard, 852 sorties during the whole war !!! - and Semyon Kharlamov more than once met each other's names on the pages of newspapers, as if they were saying hello to each other, until one day, on February 23, 1945, they agreed on the front page, in the decree on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: in the column of their names shared only the sequence of letters of the alphabet - and it was already clear to the heart that this was fate.

And the day of our wedding we always considered May 10, 1945, when we signed one after another at the Reichstag: “Semyon Kharlamov, Saratov; and Nadia Popova from Donbass "- this was our marriage registration

With her son under her heart, she flew until the 9th month, after going over to serve with her husband in the regiment after the Victory. Semyon Kharlamov grew up to a general, a big rank, was the deputy air marshal Pokryshkin. Consulted Leonid Bykov during the filming of "Only" old men "go into battle. Bykov, short, looked at Semyon as if he were a god, and Senya was joking all the time. " They lived together for 45 years.

The war was their best years. Nadezhda Popova still lives in Moscow, attends meetings of veterans, who are less and less every year. Still holding the blow. Night witch.

Nadezhda (Anastasia) Vasilyevna Popova (December 27, 1921 - July 6, 2013) - veteran of the Great Patriotic War, deputy squadron commander of the 46th Guards Women's Night Bomber Regiment of the 4th Air Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, Hero of the Soviet Union (1945 ), retired guard colonel. Born into a working class family on December 17, 1921 in the village of Shabanovka, Livensky district of the Oryol province (now Dolzhansky district, Oryol region) In 1936, after completing her studies at the secondary school in the city of Stalino (now Donetsk, Ukraine), she entered the flying club, from which she graduated in 1937 year, and was left there for further training as an instructor. In 1939, she came to Moscow to become a military pilot, where she met the legendary pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Polina Osipenko, who helped Nadezhda Popova be sent to the OSOAVIAKHIM Kherson Aviation School. After graduating from which, in 1940 she continued her studies at the Donetsk Military Aviation School and received a diploma of a pilot-navigator. Serving as an aero club instructor, she trained 2 groups of pilots - 15 people each. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the instructor of primary training of the military aviation school, Nadezhda Popova, was evacuated from the educational institution to the city of Kattakurgan, Samarkand region of Uzbekistan, where she trained fighter pilots for front-line aviation, and wrote reports about being sent to the front. Upon learning that a female aviation unit was being formed in Moscow, she sent a telegram to the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union. She was summoned to the capital, admitted to the "group 122", which was recruited by the Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova. From Moscow, the girls were sent to the city of Engels, Saratov Region, where Raskova formed three female air regiments: fighter, dive bombers and night bombers. Nadezhda Popova asked to join the regiment of light-engine night bombers.

In May 1942, upon completion of an abbreviated training program, Sergeant Major Popov flew to the front as part of the 588th Bomber Night Women's Aviation Regiment. Flight commander Popova led the flight to the night bombing in the Taganrog region, Rostov-on-Don. Often flew out for daytime reconnaissance. Was knocked down, burned. During the fighting in the North Caucasus, Popova's link flew out on combat missions several times per night. Skillfully maneuvering, they avoided searchlights and anti-aircraft guns, bombed the crossings on the Terek and Sunzha. For exemplary performance of tasks, Lieutenant Popova was awarded the first Order of the Red Banner. Female crews of Po-2 night bombers, the enemy called "night witches" (German Nachthexen). Celebrating the military merits of Soviet pilots, in the winter of 1943, at the height of the fighting in the Kuban, the 588th regiment was awarded the rank of Guards. The pilots, now the 46th Guards Women's Regiment of Night Bombers, fought in the Ukraine, Crimea, Belarus, Poland and on the territory of Nazi Germany. In 1944 N. Popova became a member of the CPSU (b) / KPSS.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 23, 1945, the deputy squadron commander of the guard, Senior Lieutenant Popova Nadezhda (Anastasia) Vasilievna "for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time" was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 4858). By the same decree, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to her future husband, Guard Senior Lieutenant Kharlamov, Semyon Ilyich. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, it flew 852 sorties. The award list, signed by the regiment commander on November 18, 1944, read: “Guard Senior Lieutenant Popova<…>during the period of hostilities made 737 combat sorties at night on a PO-2 aircraft. Combat flight time of 1025 hours. Has a total flight time of 2141 hours. Dropped for the destruction of manpower and enemy fortifications 96.5 tons of bomb load. As a result of precise bombing strikes in the enemy camp, 148 fires and 95 violent explosions were caused. 3 enemy ferries, 1 railway echelon, 1 artillery battery, 2 searchlights were destroyed and damaged. 600 thousand leaflets were scattered on the enemy's territory. ”At the end of the war, she married the Hero of the Soviet Union, fighter pilot S. I. Kharlamov, and until 1952 served in the USSR Armed Forces, retiring to the reserve with the rank of major. Honorary Citizen of the city of Donetsk, Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR, member of the Presidium of the Council for Interaction with Public Associations of Veterans under the President of the Russian Federation, since 1975 she has permanently headed the public commission for work among youth under the Russian Committee of War and Military Service Veterans, member of the committee bureau. For many years she was elected to local authorities, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. She lived in Moscow. Died on July 6, 2013. Nadezhda Popova was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, next to her husband's grave (section 11).

Nadezhda (Anastasia) Vasilievna Popova(December 27, 1921 - July 6, 2013) - participant of the Great Patriotic War, deputy squadron commander of the 46th Guards Women's Night Bomber Regiment of the 4th Air Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, Hero of the Soviet Union (1945), retired guard colonel ...

Biography

She was born into a working class family on December 17, 1921 in the village of Shabanovka, Livensky district, Oryol province (now Dolzhansky district, Oryol region).

In 1936, after completing her studies at the secondary school in the city of Stalino (now Donetsk, Ukraine), she entered the flying club, which she graduated from in 1937, and was left there for further training as an instructor.

In 1939, she came to Moscow to become a military pilot, where she met the legendary pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Polina Osipenko, who helped Nadezhda Popova be sent to the OSOAVIAKHIM Kherson Aviation School. After graduating from which, in 1940 she continued her studies at the Donetsk Military Aviation School and received a diploma of a pilot-navigator. Serving as an aero club instructor, she trained 2 groups of pilots - 15 people each.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the instructor of primary training of the military aviation school, Nadezhda Popova, was evacuated from the educational institution to the city of Kattakurgan, Samarkand region of Uzbekistan, where she trained fighter pilots for front-line aviation, and wrote reports about being sent to the front.

Upon learning that a female aviation unit was being formed in Moscow, she sent a telegram to the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union. She was summoned to the capital, admitted to the "group 122", which was recruited by the Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova. From Moscow, the girls were sent to the city of Engels, Saratov Region, where Raskova formed three female air regiments: fighter, dive bombers and night bombers. Nadezhda Popova asked to join the regiment of light-engine night bombers.

In May 1942, upon completion of an abbreviated training program, Sergeant Major Popov flew to the front as part of the 588th Bomber Night Women's Aviation Regiment. Flight commander Popova led the flight to the night bombing in the Taganrog region, Rostov-on-Don. Often flew out for daytime reconnaissance. Was knocked down, burned.

During the fighting in the North Caucasus, Popova's link flew out on combat missions several times per night. Skillfully maneuvering, they avoided searchlights and anti-aircraft guns, bombed the crossings on the Terek and Sunzha. For exemplary performance of tasks, Lieutenant Popova was awarded the first Order of the Red Banner.

Female crews of Po-2 night bombers, the enemy called "night witches" (German Nachthexen). Celebrating the military merits of Soviet pilots, in the winter of 1943, at the height of the fighting in the Kuban, the 588th regiment was awarded the rank of Guards.

The pilots, now the 46th Guards Women's Regiment of Night Bombers, fought in the Ukraine, Crimea, Belarus, Poland and on the territory of Nazi Germany.

In 1944 N. Popova became a member of the CPSU (b) / KPSS.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 23, 1945, the deputy squadron commander of the guard, Senior Lieutenant Popova Nadezhda (Anastasia) Vasilievna "for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time" was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 4858). By the same decree, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to her future husband, Guard Senior Lieutenant Kharlamov, Semyon Ilyich.

In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, it flew 852 sorties. At the end of the war, she married the Hero of the Soviet Union, fighter pilot S.I.

Honorary Citizen of the city of Donetsk, Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR, member of the Presidium of the Council for Interaction with Public Associations of Veterans under the President of the Russian Federation, since 1975 she has permanently headed the public commission for work among youth under the Russian Committee of War and Military Service Veterans, member of the committee bureau.

For many years she was elected to local authorities, was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 8th convocation (1970-1974), a people's deputy of the USSR (1989-1991).

She lived in Moscow. Died on July 6, 2013. Nadezhda Popova was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, next to her husband's grave (section 11).

Awards, titles, prizes

• Title of Hero of the Soviet Union;
• The order of Lenin;
• three Orders of the Red Banner;
• two Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st degree;
• Order of the Patriotic War, II degree;
• Order of Honor (2000);
• Order of Friendship (1995);
• Order of Merit, III degree, Ukraine (2001)
• medals;
• Foreign awards;
• Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR;
• honorary citizen of the city of Donetsk (DPR);

• laureate of the Olympia National Award for Public Recognition of Women's Achievements in 2005;
• the highest award of the Komsomol is the Komsomol Badge of Honor.

In her statement, Popova points out that on December 31, 2011, the investigation department in the newspaper Argumenty Nedeli was closed, in which she worked, preparing materials "on expensive and failed projects", which are a floating nuclear power plant, a fast neutron reactor, and wrote about the ugly state of many nuclear facilities. “After my publication, the fourth power unit at the Kalinin NPP was suddenly shut down, and even earlier significant changes were made to the design of the floating nuclear power plant,” the journalist writes.

Popova reports that the head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, has repeatedly tried to prevent the publication of sensitive materials on nuclear topics. “And in September 2011 he finally succeeded: a financial agreement was signed between the editorial staff of the newspaper Argumenty Nedeli and State Corporation Rosatom. Sharp investigations ceased to go to the press. The newspaper turned out to be a servant of Rosatom, ”says Nadezhda Popova.

The journalist tells the story that she repeatedly informed the editor-in-chief of "AN" Uglanov about the emergency at the Kalinin nuclear power plant, but he refused to publish the disturbing report. “Instead of him,“ travel notes ”were sent to the strip, in which the PR specialists of Rosatom put down paragraphs about how well the Kalinin nuclear power plant works,” says Nadezhda Popova. According to her, not a single media outlet she turned to, except for the Internet portal "Special Letter", dared to publish a truthful material about the situation at the Kalinin nuclear power plant. 24 hours after the publication of the material "Rosatom reaction", the emergency unit was stopped. The journalist notes that today there are still many problems at the Kalinin nuclear power plant. They are preparing to launch the fourth power unit again, which is "sewn" from old parts brought from the Belene NPP (Bulgaria). Nuclear scientists talk about many other problems, but "Kiriyenko is strenuously hiding the state of emergency and the National Assembly from the public."

Popova reports that her appeals to the press service of Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin did not yield any results, there was not even an answer.

At the collegium, Popova shared her opinion that the investigation department of "AN" was closed precisely because of the change in the editorial policy of the newspaper. This was preceded by several events, in particular, the tragedy at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Rosatom began to cling to every bad word about it and significantly increased the amount of payments to the media for positive articles about its activities. In addition, after the events in Japan, atomic investigations practically stopped going on.

“I learned about the financial agreement between the newspaper's editorial office and Rosatom on September 16, 2011. I was summoned to the office of the editor-in-chief, and A. Uglanov told me that from now on the editorial office will work in conjunction with the Communications Department of Rostom. "

“Today I realized this: A. Uglanov needed a hot“ atomic ”topic in order to put on his feet a new, unknown publication. ... The atomic investigations were very scandalous: after the publication of "The floating nuclear power plant - the" lame "duck of Rosatom, the Kiriyenko department made changes to the project of the atomic" float "(...). The publication about the "lame" duck was reprinted in more than 130 publications. And after the sharp publication of "The Adventures of a Slow Arabelle" (it was also reprinted by more than a hundred publications), the subscription to "AN" in the "nuclear" regions of Russia increased significantly. But when the newspaper got saturated with sharp topics and gained weight, Uglanov went to conclude a criminal deal with Rosatom. "

“We all live in the same country, nuclear power plants operate everywhere. Kalininskaya from Moscow is only 280 km away. What is happening, why are you all silent? ... I urged you to stop, asked: is it really just about money? ... Uglanov said: let's have it for three months, until the New Year. They pay good money, but the editorial office needs money, - says the journalist. - 27.12 I wrote a letter of resignation. And after the New Year, I learned that a new contract was signed with Rosatom. "

In turn, the general director of CJSC SVR-mediaprojects OV Zheltov said that recently the editorial office began litigation based on Popova's materials due to the fact that Nadezhda Vasilievna could not submit documents that would satisfy the court, and the editorial office began serious financial losses. Zheltov also admitted that he perceives the journalist's materials "as inciting panic."

“When you are told that there is radiation there, and everything is going to explode there now, it resembles hysteria. Yes, there is definitely a moral responsibility; we have to warn people about the possible danger, this is the mission of the media. But there is another mission of the media: not to shout "wolves, wolves" all the time because people get tired. And when the wolves do come, people will simply not pay attention to them. Simply because they shouted about it a hundred times, but nothing happened, ”Zheltov said.

Nuclear safety expert IN Ostretsov defined Popova's work as “extremely qualified”, described her materials as “extremely acute and topical”, and determined the reason for leaving the editorial office, without looking at the article “of his own free will,” harshly : "She was removed." Outlining his view on the background of the disaster at the Japanese nuclear power plant, the expert noted: “Popova was removed immediately after Fukushima, since she was, in fact, the only person who would have raised this topic in the press. The rest of the press will be silent. Therefore, it was removed. This is an objective indicator of the relationship between the press and the journalist around the nuclear industry. "

Touching upon the topic of “atomic” lawsuits lost by the newspaper, IN Ostretsov spoke definitely: “I think that the editorial board of the newspaper behaved unqualifiedly. (…) This was a problem for the editorial board - it was necessary to bring qualified experts to court. You understand what it means for a journalist to present evidence on the nuclear issue. This should be a very serious investigation. Nadezhda Vasilievna said that she was working with investigators today; those are not allowed to access the materials. Therefore, this kind of claim cannot be made against her. "

The Public Collegium for Press Complaints admitted that the conflict in question can be attributed to the internal editorial, i.e. related to the competence of the editor-in-chief. At the same time, the Collegium did not agree that the factor of the newspaper's lost court cases played a decisive role in actually leading the editorial board to leave the newspaper for the journalist Popova, drawing attention to the fact that there were only two “atomic” lawsuits of this kind. And the amount of financial losses, the real costs of them for the editorial board, given at the meeting of the Collegium (200,000 rubles), is found deliberately not comparable with the cost of the "atomic" "contract" of the newspaper editorial office (2,700,000 rubles). "

The collegium did not recognize the situation of de facto self-removal of the editorial board from serious preparation for the trials as worthy of the publication, which has a department of investigative journalism. The fact that the necessary documents were not promptly requested, received and analyzed by the newspaper's legal service, that the newspaper's management shifted the task of ensuring the appearance of expert witnesses to the court on the journalist himself, can be considered as unacceptable negligence that cannot find a reasonable explanation.

She was born on December 17, 1921 in the village of Shebanovka, now within the village of Dolgoe, Dolzhansky District, Oryol Region, in a working class family. She graduated from high school, Donetsk flying club, in 1940 - Kherson flight aviation school. She worked as an instructor. From June 1941 in the Red Army. In 1942 she graduated from the Engels military aviation school for advanced training of pilots.

From May 1942 in the army. By December 1944, the deputy squadron commander of the 46th Guards Aviation Regiment (325th Night Bomber Aviation Division, 4th Air Army, 2nd Belorussian Front) of the Guard Senior Lieutenant A.V. Popova flew 737 combat missions, inflicted great damage to the enemy in manpower and equipment. Distinguished in the Belarusian operation in 1944; participated in the liberation of Mogilev, Minsk, Grodno.

On February 23, 1945, she was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for courage and military valor displayed in battles with enemies.

In total, she flew 852 sorties. She destroyed 3 crossings, an echelon, an artillery battery, 2 searchlights, dropped 600 thousand leaflets behind enemy lines.

Since 1948, the Guard Captain A.V. Popov is in reserve. Lives in Moscow. Member of the Presidium of the All-Union Organization of War and Labor Veterans, Council of the Committee of War Veterans. Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR. Honorary citizen of the city of Donetsk.

Awarded with the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (three times), the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (twice), the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree; medals.

***

In 1914, the crew of a small German submarine in one attack managed to sink 3 English cruisers at once ... A little later, an English pilot on a single-engine airplane dropped a series of small bombs on the German Zeppelin (airship): the enemy giant was destroyed in the blink of an eye by a terrible explosion. Soon, such attacks began to be compared to the deadly bites of mosquitoes.

In 1942, the term "Russian Mosquito Aviation" first appeared. At the end of the Second World War, when studying German archival documents, it turned out that the enemy had dubbed the Soviet training and training aircraft widely used in hostilities, on which "non-standard" weapons were installed.

The most famous among our "mosquitoes" was received, which the Soviet people affectionately called "maize", and German soldiers scornfully, though only at first, "Russian plywood". Whole regiments were armed with these night bombers. The experience of their combat use has been fairly well studied and covered in many publications. But few people know that our pilots fought on other "mosquitoes", for example, on the training monoplane UT-1 and UT-2 designed by A. Yakovlev, and even on the (very outdated) biplane I-5!

At the same time, one of the regiments of "mosquito aviation" occupies a special place in the history of our aviation - we are talking about the 46th Taman Guards Aviation Regiment of light night bombers. The pilots of this regiment were young girls, whom the enemy soon began to call "night witches" with hatred. One of the pilots of this regiment was the heroine of our story, Anastasia Vasilievna Popova.

Every year on May 2, veterans of the 3 women's aviation regiments gather in the park near the Bolshoi Theater. For many years, retired Captain Popova Nadezhda Vasilievna, Hero of the Soviet Union Guard, has come here for a traditional meeting with fellow soldiers.

... In September 1941, a young, pretty girl - an instructor who had arrived from Central Asia - turned to the female aviation regiments that were forming in the city of Engels. It was Nadezhda Popova. She said:

I want to join the regiment that goes to the front first!

The request was granted. A female regiment of night bombers flew to the front on April 1, 1942. For Nadya Popova and her friends, active combat work began.

On one of the cloudy September evenings in 1942, Popov's crew was ordered to strike at the crossing in the Mozdok area, where reconnaissance discovered a concentration of enemy troops. On the way to the target, the plane fell into overcast clouds. But the crew did not turn back and continued their flight to the target area, overcoming the strong turbulence.

Courage and skill were rewarded. Above the village of Yekaterinogradskaya, through a gap in the clouds, Popov and Ryabov saw the Terek and the enemy crossing.

They inflicted a bomb strike accurately, from the first approach, and safely returned to their airfield. Many planes of the regiment took off that night, but only the crew of the pilot Nadezhda Popova and navigator Ekaterina Ryabova managed to reach the target and complete the combat mission.

Nadezhda Popova especially distinguished herself during the period of the Belarusian offensive operation of the Red Army units in 1944, she participated in the liberation of Mogilev, Minsk and Grodno.

During the war years, Nadya Popova flew 852 times on combat missions in her faithful Po-2. Risked her life under the fire of anti-aircraft guns and enemy fighters in the skies over the Kuban, Crimea, Belarus, Poland, East Prussia. And there was no such thing that her crew did not complete the tasks. At the same time, 3 crossings, a military echelon, an artillery battery, 2 searchlights, a lot of enemy manpower and other military equipment were destroyed. The crew of Nadezhda Popova dropped 600,000 leaflets behind enemy lines.

I would like to say a few words about her fighting friend - navigator Ekaterina Vasilievna Ryabova. She was born on July 14, 1921 in the village of Gus - Zhelezny, Kasimovsky district, Ryazan region. In 1942 she graduated from the school of navigators. Since May 1942 on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. By January 1945, the Guard Senior Lieutenant E.V. Ryabova made 816 successful night flights to bombard enemy personnel and equipment. On February 23, 1945, together with her friend Nadezhda Popova, she became a Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war, she retired. Graduated from Moscow State University, worked at the Polygraphic Institute. She died on September 12, 1974. She was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Nadezhda Popova and Semyon Kharlamov: two Heroes in the same family.

Why do we remember such stories? In our world, which is rapidly losing spirituality, the memory of what those who forged Victory were like, how they fearlessly fought, how they sincerely loved, helps to maintain respect for our history, and simply to preserve ourselves.

Only once I happened to see them together. With the Hero of the Soviet Union Nadezhda Vasilyevna Popova, we returned from Pskov from the meeting of young historians. The February blizzard was spinning. When our train approached the Moscow railway station, a general appeared from the snowy whirlwind with a bouquet of red roses. Nadezhda Vasilievna was met by her husband, Hero of the Soviet Union Semyon Ilyich Kharlamov. And I learned the story of their extraordinary meeting in the war much later.

That day, August 2, 1942, contained so many events that Nadezhda Popova remembered it to the smallest detail. At dawn, in her U-2, she flew out for aerial reconnaissance. The pilot had already turned the car towards the airfield when machine-gun bursts took out their slow-moving U-2. With her last efforts, she was able to land the plane in the steppe. With the navigator, they barely managed to run away to the side, and the plane exploded. Now they wandered across the steppe, hoping for a passing car. Suddenly, in front of us they saw the road along which the trucks were traveling, the infantrymen were walking.

We got to the road and sat in the back of a truck. The soldiers immediately shared their rations with us, - recalled Nadezhda Vasilievna Popova.

In the same places a few days ago, fighter pilot Semyon Kharlamov, having flown out on a combat mission, shot down a German plane in an air battle. But he was also shot down. Blood flooded my face. The wounded pilot was able to land the riddled plane. In the medical battalion, the surgeon examined him: a splinter pierced his cheekbone, a torn nose, splinters showered his body. After the operation, Semyon Kharlamov, along with other wounded, was sent to the hospital. He was driving an ambulance along the same steppe road that Nadya Popova and her navigator accidentally came across.

We often stopped, - said Nadezhda Vasilievna. - And I saw a nurse passing between the cars. I asked her if there were any of the pilots here - we had to sort out the situation. The sister replied: “There is one, wounded. Come with me!".

Gauze bands covered his entire head and face. From under the bandages only eyes and lips were visible - this is how I first saw Semyon Kharlamov. Of course, I felt sorry for him. I sat down next to you. Conversation ensued. Semyon asked: "What plane do you fly?" "And you guess!" He listed all types of military aircraft. And I laughed: "You didn't guess!" When she said that we were flying the U-2, he was surprised: “Yes, this is a training aircraft. How can you fight on it? " I told him that female crews fly in U-2 in our regiment. We bomb enemy targets at night.

It was a difficult time of the war. Our troops were retreating. Broken tanks and guns along the road. The infantry walked in clouds of dust.

It was as if some kind of gentle, magic thread stretched between us, - said Nadezhda Vasilievna. - But for some reason we did not dare to switch to "you". I remember and myself am surprised. There was an alarming situation. And Semyon and I began to read poetry to each other. It turned out that our tastes also coincide. We drove together for several days. And I, in order to help Semyon to endure heavy dressings, began to hum my favorite songs and romances to him. There was a wonderful Palace of Culture in Donetsk. I studied in a vocal studio. She performed on stage. Listening to my songs, Semyon only repeated: "Sing again ..."

"How it was! Coincidentally - war, trouble, dream and youth! " - wrote the front-line poet David Samoilov, - this is about us.

In war, there is so much mortal fear and hard, dangerous work that one can lose the human in oneself, and here two, who had miraculously escaped death the day before, read poetry to each other. And none of them could know how long they had left to live.

It seemed that we have known each other for a long time, - Nadezhda Vasilievna recalled. - They did and could not stop talking. But I had to say goodbye. I was able to inform the regiment headquarters where we are. A plane was sent for us. Semyon was taken further to the hospital, the address of which he did not know. My soul was torn - so it was a pity to leave him. We parted on the steppe road without any hope of meeting.

Nadezhda Popova turned 20, but she was already an experienced pilot. In Donetsk, she studied at the flying club, successfully graduated from the Kherson flight school. Returning to Donetsk, she entered the Donetsk Military Aviation School. When the war began, together with the school she was evacuated to the Samarkand region. Here, as an instructor, she began to train cadet pilots. In the fall of 1941, Nadezhda learned that the famous pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union M.M. Raskova was recruiting girls in Moscow for military aviation. Popova writes one report after another. Sends a letter to Raskova with a request to enroll her in the female flight unit.

October 1941. German generals are already looking at Moscow through telescopes, panic at Moscow train stations, and in the building of the Komsomol Central Committee Marina Raskova talks to every girl who has decided to join the military aviation unit. There were hundreds of them, young volunteers - students and employees of universities, workers in factories. Queues formed in the building. The commission, headed by Marina Raskova, selected, first of all, instructors and cadets of flying clubs. But they also accepted those who, according to their level of knowledge, could master flight specialties in a short time. Among them were those whose names will later go down in the history of the Great Patriotic War. and - students of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, instructor of the Central Aero Club, student of Moscow Aviation Institute, teacher ...

Young beautiful, brave girls. In those tragic days, selflessness seemed natural to them. The common fate of the country for all has become more important for them than their own life.

Nadezhda Popova met with her fellow soldiers already in Engels, where preparations for combat work began. She was enrolled in the women's night bomber regiment. The training, which took place in 3 years before the war, was to be mastered by the girls in just 6 months. We studied for 12 hours. And sometimes more.

To represent the full degree of risk associated with combat missions in vehicles, not in vain called "heavenly slugs", let's say about what the U-2 was. It was an aircraft of wooden construction, with percale sheathing and open cockpits. There was no radio communication on it. With full combat load, the power of the engine made it possible to fly at a speed of only 120 kilometers per hour. While undergoing training, the girls knew in advance that they would have to fly out on combat missions at night. Because during the day, their plane will be easy prey for German pilots.

In May 1942, the women's bomber regiment flew to the front.

Our flights were not only dangerous, but also difficult, - said Nadezhda Vasilievna. - On the U-2 there were no instruments that would help us distinguish objects on the ground at night. We ourselves had to see from above the target on which we need to drop bombs. And for this it was necessary to decrease as much as possible. At this time, having noticed us, the German anti-aircraft gunners immediately turned on the searchlights and opened fire. I had to squeeze myself into a ball in order to accurately drop the bombs, and even worse - not to turn to the side. We bombed ferries, military depots, and German trains. Returning to the airfield, they waited for the bombs to be suspended, fuel was refueled, and again into the sky. We made 5 - 6 flights per night.

This aviation regiment was the only one in which only women fought. Technicians also volunteered to serve the planes, often restoring a body damaged by shrapnel in just a day. But even these low-speed aircraft were not enough then, everyone had to be protected. And the girls - armed men, straining from the overwhelming burden, hung up the bombs. Each flight is like the last ...

And in this whirlwind of battles in the life of Nadia Popova, an event occurs that can only be called a miracle.

Our planes were stationed in the village of Assinovskaya. During the day, we covered our cars under the crowns of trees, she said, and in the evening we took the planes out to a small area and took off. The fuel supply was enough for us only to fly to the front airfield, where the fighters were landing. There we refueled again, we were hung up with bombs, and we flew away on missions.

That day I was already sitting in the cockpit, waiting for the command to take off. Suddenly a technician runs up to me: “Nadia! Someone is asking you here. " The pilot approaches the plane. “Hello, Nadia! I am Semyon Kharlamov. Remember me?" Then I saw his face for the first time. After all, when we drove along the steppe road, it was in bandages. Semyon learned that female crews were landing at their airfield at night, and he had a hope of finding me. With joy that we met, I kissed him on the cheek, took an apple out of the cabin and handed it to him. And then I received a signal - to fly out on a mission. Semyon was so agitated that he walked away from the airfield. Then he told me about it. The next evening I flew to this airfield joyful. I think I'll see Semyon now. But he was not there. The pilots told me that during the day he was hit in an air battle. He was wounded again, he was again taken to the hospital ...

She herself could not hope to stay alive. Too often it seemed in the sky that the last moments of life were flying away. Once she received a task to deliver ammunition and food to the marines who were landing in the Novorossiysk area.

I am driving a plane, - said Nadezhda Vasilievna. - On the one hand, there is a mountainous coast, on the other, a stormy sea. A fiery front line passed under me. Black boxes of ruined city blocks. I need to descend over the ruins so that I can see the prearranged signal that the sailors will give: they have seized a bridgehead and repulsed enemy attacks. I had to fly the plane so low that it almost hit the factory chimneys. And suddenly I see - the light of a lantern flickers. They are sailors. Dropping containers. And then German anti-aircraft gunners discovered me. Hurricane fire. Shrapnel hit the wing of the plane. I have one thought - if you die, then at sea.

Most of all we were afraid of being captured by the enemy. I turn my car to fly over storm waves. It seemed to me that the engine would now wither away and the plane would crash into the sea. But by some miracle, the engine pulled. And we flew to our airfield. When we landed and left the cockpit, I couldn't believe it myself - was it really all behind and we were still alive? Technicians examined the plane - there were 42 holes on it. The plane was quickly patched up, and we again flew on a combat mission.

And again, fate makes an unexpected turn. Nadia is sent on a business trip to Baku. She goes to the hotel, meeting - five pilots. And among them - Semyon Kharlamov ... "Hello, Nadia!" As she later learned, there were heavy losses in their regiment. A new formation of the regiment began.

In the evening, Semyon invited me to dance, - said Nadezhda Vasilievna. - We came to the hall. Around the girl in beautiful dresses, in high heel shoes. I stand among them in boots. The orchestra plays, laughter, smiles. And I have a lump in my throat. How could I have forgotten that at these very moments my friends - beautiful, young, are lifting planes into the air in order to fly to the front. I was sad at this dance evening. I was invited to a waltz. We went one circle. I said: "Something is not dancing" ... Semyon and I left the club. He says to me: "Let me give you something?" He takes off his white silk scarf - they were given only to fighter pilots. And he also gives me a handkerchief with embroidery, which he got by lot from the patron's parcel. "Take it as a keepsake." That evening Semyon and I agreed to write to each other ...

This unexpected meeting brought them so much joy! A gentle feeling warmed both of them. But instead of happy dates, the sky of war awaited them.

Therefore, Nadezhda Vasilievna most of all talks about her friends, with whom she flew on combat missions together.

I remember their faces. It seemed to me that they seemed to glow from the inside. Each was a bright personality. Once upon a time, back in the flying clubs, we were summoned to the sky by a romance. But even in the war, despite all the horrors, my friends were able to maintain a high spirit of mind. We loved to read poetry, sang songs. And this after dangerous, exhausting flights, when in the morning it seemed that there was no strength to get out of the cockpit. But youth took its toll. Especially if there were days without flights. We even began to publish our own handwritten journal. It contained our stories, drawings, cartoons. But most of all there were poems. Someone our poems now might seem too pretentious. But we knew they were sincere. Natasha Meklin, who became a Hero of the Soviet Union, wrote the lines that we liked very much: "We will conquer joy, sun, light!" Poems helped us get out of the shocks that we experienced every day in battle.

In the fiery sky, Nadya had to see the most terrible thing: her friends were dying before her eyes - they were burned alive in wooden planes.

I will not forget the tragic night of August 1, 1943. I went on the bombing, having dropped above the ground. Dropping bombs over the target, she went to the side. And suddenly German searchlights began to seize one by one our planes. With burning torches, they rushed to the ground: they were shot at point-blank by night fighters. My heart was breaking, but we could not help our friends. 4 of our crews were killed that night. In the duffel bags there were diaries, unsent letters of the dead girls ... In April 1944, in the battles near Kerch, Zhenya Rudneva, navigator of the regiment, burned down in an airplane. She was unusually gifted, kind, courageous. She dreamed of becoming an astronomer. Our armed men then wrote on the bombs: "For Zhenya!"

In every flight, death was near. I remember that in Poland we were already returning to the airfield. Suddenly in an instant - a fireball flashed over my plane. And at the same second, the plane caught fire, on which Tanya Makarova and Vera Belik were flying. The infantrymen told us later - they heard the girls screaming in the burning plane ... Their remains were identified only by their orders. The mounds over the graves of our girls remained all the way of the regiment. And somewhere there are no hills, only our memory of the dead is alive.

During the war, Nadezhda Popova flew 852 sorties.

Among the suffering and hardships of the war, a joyful event took place in the fate of Nadia Popova.

This was in February 1945. I returned from flight. My friends run to me with a newspaper. It contains a decree - I was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. I read the lines of the Decree, and suddenly I see - in it the surname and Semyon Kharlamov. He was also awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. This is necessary - we are in one decree. I wrote to Semyon: “I congratulate you! I wish you to live to see Victory! "

Back in 1943, for combat successes, the female aviation unit received the honorary name - 46th Guards Taman night bomber regiment. During the war years, very young female pilots flew 23,672 sorties. The regiment took part in military operations in the North Caucasus, Kuban, Taman, Crimea, Belarus, Poland, Germany. 23 pilots received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Nadia and Semyon met after the Victory.

Semyon appeared in our unit by car. We went to Berlin. We approached the Reichstag, on which our soldiers wrote their names. We also found a piece of brick and drew: “Nadia Popova from Donbass. Semyon Kharlamov from Saratov ".

Then we arrived at the park. Semyon picked a branch of lilac and gave it to me. Unaccustomed silence was dizzy. And suddenly Semyon said: "Nadya, let's be together all our life." So our fate was decided.

On that happy day, they sat among the empty trenches and trenches. The scent of lilac mingled with the smoke. And they dreamed of the future. They will have 45 years of happy life ahead. Semyon Ilyich will remain in military aviation. Years later, he will receive the rank of colonel general. Now he is no longer alive. Their son Alexander is also in the military aviation. He is in the rank of general. Nadezhda Vasilievna became a famous public figure. For more than 40 years she has chaired the commission on work with youth in the Russian Committee of War Veterans.

The memory of their youth remained on the screen as well. The famous actor and director Leonid Bykov was preparing for the filming of the film "Only Old Men Go to Battle". He invited Semyon Ilyich Kharlamov as a consultant for the film. Leonid Bykov, arriving in Moscow, visited their hospitable home. Once at the table he heard an extraordinary story about the meeting of Nadezhda and Semyon in the war. Maybe this story also helped the director express a poignant lyrical theme in the film. In this film, a Ukrainian song about "the eyes of a girl" sounds, one of those that Nadya once sang to a wounded lieutenant ...

Lyudmila Ovchinnikova - "War, trouble, dream and youth ..."