Name Vera Belik | Died August 25, 1944, Poland | |
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THE HERO OF THE SOVIET UNION VERA BELIK
Vera Belik (August 5, 1921 – August 25, 1944) was a World War II navigator born in Yakymivka Raion, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine. Belik was the oldest of six children of a master electrician.
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Education
In 1939, she enrolled at the Karl Liebknecht Pedagogical Institute in Moscow, where she studied mathematics.
Military career
She joined the Red Army in 1941 and became active from May 1942. Belik joined the 122nd Aviation Group and began flying combat missions with the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (later re-designated the 46th Guards) in mid-1942. She worked closely with Tatiana Makarova. In December 1942, the regiment was expanded and Belik was promoted to navigator of the second squadron. Belik flew difficult sorties over Ukraine, the Kuban area of the North Caucasus, the Crimea, Belorussia, and Poland. On August 1, 1944, she and Makarova flew the first bombing mission over East Prussia- the first aircrew of the regiment to fight over German soil.
On August 25, 1944, Belik and Makarova were attacked by a German fighter near Ostrołęka, Poland. Belik completed a total of 813 bombing missions.