Polina Aleksandrovna Makogon (; ; 1919 1943) was a squadron commander in an all-female Soviet air unit, the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, also known as the ''

Night Witches "Night Witches" was a World War II German nickname for the all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Red Banner and Order of Suvorov Regiment, of the Soviet Air ...

.''

Biography

Makogon was born in 1919 in the village of Balky, located in what it now the

Zaporizhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast (), commonly referred to as Zaporizhzhia (), is an oblast (region) in south-east Ukraine. Its administrative centre is the city of Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of , and has a population of The oblast is an import ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Career

In 1941, she joined the Civil Air Fleet and in May 1942 she graduated from the Engels Military School. She was a responsible pilot and at the time of her death was the Commander of the 3rd Squadron, 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, within the 325th Night Bomber Aviation Division, part of the 4th Air Army. She trained many pilots, including Meri Avidzba, who carried out three attacks with Makogon in February 1943. During her time in service she participated in the

Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet ...

, the Liberation of

Kuban Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...

and bombed enemy facilities. Missions were dangerous, and navigator Yevgenia Zhigulenko recalled several near misses when she crewed with Makogon, including one instance where it was Makogon's actions that averted a crash. On the night of the 31 March/1 April 1943, Makogon was piloting a bomber back to base when it collided with another aircraft. Of the four people in the aircraft involved in the crash, only

Khiuaz Dospanova Khiuaz Qayrqyzy Dospanova (; ; 15 May 1922 – 20 May 2008) was a Soviet pilot and navigator who served during World War II in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, nicknamed the "Night Witches". In addition to being the first ethnically Kazakh woman ...

(from the other plane) survived. Later Zhigulenko suggested that the inexperience of the new navigator, Lydia Svistunova, may have had an effect. Makogon was buried in the village of Pashkovskaya, now a district of the city of

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

. She was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class.

Legacy

In 1965 a memorial obelisk was erected in Pashkovskaya to remember Makogon and other pilots.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Makogon, Polina 1943 deaths 1919 births Soviet Air Force officers Soviet women aviators 20th-century Ukrainian women History of Krasnodar Krai People from Zaporizhzhia Oblast Soviet World War II pilots