Antonina Lebedeva

Lebedeva was born in 1916, in the village of Bakunin in the Kuvshinovsky District of the Tver Governorate, Russian Empire.[1] Known as Tonya, her family later moved to Moscow, and after finishing school she became a Biology student at Moscow State University. Lebedeva was a member of the Dzerzhinsky flying club in Moscow, and worked her way up to instructor.

In 1941, upon the German invasion of the Soviet Union which brought the Soviet Union into World War II, she joined the Soviet Air Force. Lebedeva joined 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, an air defense regiment composed of all-female fighter pilots, and was assigned fight planes of the German Luftwaffe over the city of Saratov. After earning her fighter designation she was transferred to the 434th Fighter Aviation Regiment.[2] From 10 September 1942, she participated in the Battle of Stalingrad defending the skies over Stalingrad until 3 October 1942, when she was transferred to participate in the upcoming Velikie-Luki Offensive. In December 1942, Lebedeva and her wingmate were both shot down shortly after having shot down a German plane, which she survived and quickly returned to fighting.[1][2]

On 10 January 1943, Lebedeva was involved in a dogfight where she faced two German fighters alone, destroying one Bf 109, but her aircraft suffered serious damage in the process and she was forced to make an emergency landing while under attack, landing outside the airport on the fuselage of her aircraft.[2] On 22 February 1943, Lebedeva was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War in the 2nd degree for her courage in battle, and by the time she received the medal had logged nearly 1,500 hours of flight time, having participated in three air battles and made 12 sortie runs.[1] In early May 1943, Lebedeva was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and on 9 May she was transferred to the 65th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment to fight at the Bryansk front. On July 12, Lebedeva was sent to fight in the Battle of Kursk as part of a Soviet offensive.