Maguba Syrtlanova

Maguba Syrtlanova (Мәгубә Хөсәен кызы Сыртланова; 15 July 1912 – 1 October 1971) was a senior lieutenant in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, nicknamed the "night witches" and was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for her work. She was an ethnic Tatar and a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union since 1941.

Early life
Born on 15 July 1912 in Belebey, Bashkortostan of the Russian Empire, she graduated from Bashalov Flight School in 1932 and went on to join a flight club glider school in Tbilisi. After the start of the second world war, she enlisted in the military in July 1941.

Military career
Syrtlanova was deployed to fight in the Great Patriotic War on 27 December 1942 and performed her first mission on 10 February 1943 as part of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, which was later renamed to the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. She fought in the North Caucasus, Belarus, Taman Peninsula, Crimea, Poland, and Prussia. By the end of the war she had accumulated 928 flight hours in combat, performed 780 sorties, dropped 190 tons of bombs on enemy territory, and safely guided her aircraft through heavy anti-aircraft fire and poor weather. Due to the precision of her bombings, she was able to destroy two railroad stations, two searchlights, three artillery units, four armored cars, a fuel depot, and 85 enemy campsites. For her military achievements she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 15 May 1946.

Later life and awards
After WWII she retired from the military and worked at a factory in Kazan from 1951 to 1962. There is a street named after her in Kazan as well as a monument and gym named after her. She died on 1 October 1971 and was buried in the Novo-Tatar Sloboda cemetery.

Awards

 * Hero of the Soviet Union
 * Order of Lenin
 * Two Orders of the Red Banner
 * Order of the Patriotic War in the 2nd Class
 * Order of the Red Star
 * various campaign and jubilee medals