Larisa Litvinova

Larisa Nikolaevna Rozanova (née Litvinova) (Лариса Литвинова; 6 December 1918 – 5 October 1997) was a Captain of the Guards and navigator in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (the "Night Witches"), 325th Night Bomber Aviation Division, 4th Air Army, 2nd Belorussian Front during World War II. For her service in the military she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1948.

Civilian life
Larisa Litvinova (née Rozanova) was born on 6 December 1918 in the city of Kiev, Ukrainian People's Republic. Her father was employed at an aircraft plant; she would often visit the facility and observe the aircraft.

After graduating high school, she worked at a shoe factory before entering flight school at the Kiev aeroclub. She went on the graduate the Kherson Aviation School to become a flight instructor; she went on to teach cadets in Feodosia and the Kirov flight club in Moscow.

She became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1942.

Military career
Not long after the start of World War II, Larisa Rozanova attempted to enlist in the military, but her request was denied. On 1 August 1941, the aviation school in Moscow where she worked was evacuated and relocated to Ryazan Oblast. Again she requested to join the military and fight on the front lines, which was again denied. In October, she and several friends who had also tried to enlist were summoned to the Osoaviahim council in Moscow, where they were informed of an all-female aviation regiment founded by Marina Raskova. Raskova was ordered to take the women to Engels Military Aviation School, where they underwent training.

Upon arriving at Engels, she was assigned into the navigators group; she repeatedly appealed to be a pilot, not a navigator, but due her aviation background, which included some navigation training and the lack of certified female navigators, Raskova wanted her to serve as a navigator. After having a conversation with Raskova, Rozanova eventually changed her mind and withdrew her appeals. Before the war, navigation training lasted three years, but due to the state of the war at the time, it only lasted three months. She graduated from Engels in 1942 and was appointed a squadron navigator in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, which was renamed in October 1943 to the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment.

On 27 May 1942, she was deployed to the Eastern front. On her first mission she navigated for Serafima Amosova, following the plane with Yevdokia Bershanskaya and Sofya Burzaeva. In December she was promoted to the rank of link commander and was transferred in April 1943 to ferry aircraft from the frontline to repair stations in Armavir, where she met her future husband Ilya Litvinov.

Throughout March to September 1943, she participated in the operation to breach the Kuban bridgehead in the Taman Peninsula. In November 1943, after success in the Taman offensive, the regiment moved to the Kerch Peninsula and she participated in the Crimean and Sevastopol offensives. On 24 December 1943, a shell fragment hit the plane Rozanova was in, piloted by Maria Olkhovskaya. Despite losing altitude quickly, they managed to land safely. After the death of Senior Lieutenant Yevgeniya Rudneva in the battle of Crimea in April 1944, Rozanova was promoted to the rank of regiment navigator. She made a total of 816 sorties, having participated in bombing campaigns in the North Caucasus, Stavropol, Kuban, Novorossiysk, Crimea, Kuban, Kerch, Belorussia, Poland, and Germany.

Rozanova left active duty in 1945 after the end of the Second World War and stayed in the reserve.

Later life
She was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1948 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for "showing courage and excellent performance commanded tasks". Rozanova married Captain Ilya Litvinov after the war and the couple lived in Moscow. She worked as a senior engineer at the All-Russian Institute of Power Sources until she retired in 1979. On 5 October 1997 she passed away at the age of 79 and was buried in the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk cemetery.

Awards

 * Hero of the Soviet Union
 * Two Orders of Lenin
 * Two Orders of the Red Banner
 * Two Orders of the Patriotic War in the 1st Class
 * Order of the Red Star
 * Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus"
 * Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
 * various jubilee medals