In August 1941, one Ukrainian woman’s husband was killed by the Nazis during World War II. Determined to seek revenge on the Nazis, she sold all her possessions, bought a tank, and drove it into combat to take down the German soldiers.
That woman was Mariya Oktyabrskaya. She was just one of the 800,000 Soviet women who served in the Red Army during World War II. She also became the first female tanker to earn one of the top military honors of the Soviet Union for her bravery.
Mariya Oktyabrskaya was born into a poor Crimean peasant family in 1905. After her family joined the Communist Party, she was able to go to school and find work as a telephone operator.
In 1925, she married Ilya Oktyabrskaya, an army officer. She then joined the Military Wives Council and trained to work as an army nurse. Ilya also taught her how to use military weapons.
During the German attack on Kiev, Ilya was killed. It took two years for the news to reach her. Wanting to avenge her husband’s death, she tried to enlist in the Red Army but was rejected due to her age and health. She was 36 years old and suffered from cervical vertebra tuberculosis.
After selling her belongings and taking up sewing work, Mariya had enough money to buy a T-34 tank. She donated 50,000 rubles to the Soviet Defense Fund and wrote to Joseph Stalin, requesting permission to join the war effort and to carry out her revenge.
Stalin quickly approved her request, and she underwent a five-month training program before heading to the front lines.
In 1943, when Mariya showed up with her tank, which she called “The Fighting Girlfriend,” the male soldiers viewed her as a joke. However, they soon realized that she was more than capable of handling herself in combat.
During the first tank battle in October 1943, her tank was the first to break through enemy lines and send the Germans into a panic.
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A month later, she jumped into the middle of heavy enemy fire to fix her tank, thoroughly impressing her male comrades further.
On January 17, 1944, the Fighting Girlfriend took a direct hit. Mariya disobeyed orders to stay inside the tank. She jumped out to make repairs, as she was known to do.
But this time, she was hit by enemy fire and was knocked unconscious by flying shrapnel. She was in a coma for two months before finally passing away on the morning of March 15, 1944.
Mariya was buried at the Smolensk Kremlin, alongside the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812. Her tank remained in service until Victory Day on May 9, 1945.
In August 1945, Mariya was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest honor the country had to offer.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
