Marina Chechneva

Marina Pavlovna Chechneva (Russian: Марина Павловна Чечнева; August 15, 1922 – January 12, 1984) was a Soviet Po-2 pilot in World War II. She received the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union on August 15, 1946, after having completed 810 night missions as a pilot and squadron leader. Chechneva is an author of five books about her experiences during the war.

Chechneva was born in the village of Protasovo in the Maloarkhangelsk District of the Orel Region and spend her first five years in this bleak area of Northern Russia. In 1934 her family moved to Moscow. At the age of sixteen, Chechneva enrolled in an Osoaviahim flying club, where she learned sport flying. She aspired to become a professional pilot, which was encouraged by her father, forbidden by her mother, and supported by Valeria Khomyakova, one of the club's flight instructor pilots and famous fighter pilot. However, she became an instructor pilot at the Central Flying Club in Moscow between 1939 and 1941. When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the club evacuated to Stalingrad. In October 1941 Chechneva was permitted to join the new women's aviation group formed by Marina Raskova.