VI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2014

Nadezhda Vasil'yevna Popova was born 17 December 1921.She was one of the first military female pilots in the Soviet Union, and was highly decorated with awards including the title "Hero of the Soviet Union", the Gold Star Medal, the Order of Lenin, and three Orders of the Red Star during the Second World War.

As an adolescent, she loved music, song, and dance.She planned to become a teacher or a doctor, until one day a plane landed near her home and she met the pilot. “It was amazing to me that a simple man could get in a plane and fly away.”Ms. Popova joined a flying club and later graduated from an aviation school. In 1937, she made both her first parachute jump and her first solo flight at the age of sixteen.When the war started, she was working as an instructor

Ms. Popova was among the first female pilots to volunteer for service in the Soviet military during World War II, but the government initially barred women from combat and turned her away. But in October 1941, Joseph Stalin issued orders for three regiments of female pilots to be deployed.She then joined a night bombing regiment, and rose to command the 2nd Women's Regiment (1941–45),flying the Polikarpov Po-2. The regiment was called "Nachthexen" (Night Witches) by the Germans "because the whooshing noise their plywood and canvas airplanes made reminded the Germans of the sound of a witch’s broomstick."Popova made "852 sorties in the second world war as a pilot in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, later named the 46th Guards in honour of its courage.”

The 46th Guards Night Bombing Regiment was dissolved in October 1945, and Popova returned to her town to a hero's welcome, complete with marching band and flowers thrown over her car. She married soon after the war - her husband went on to attain the rank of colonel general in the Soviet Air Force, and her son Aleksandr is a graduate of the Air Academy.

Popova died on July 8, 2013 at the age of 91.