Yevdokiya Nosal

Yevdokiya Ivanova Nosal (Евдокия Ивановна Носаль, Євдокія Іванівна Носаль) was a Junior Lieutenant and deputy squadron commander in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment during World War II. For her service in the military she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 May 1943 for "for exemplary fulfillment of commanded missions and demonstration of courage and heroism in battles against the German fascist invaders". She was the first woman pilot of the to be honored with the title during the Second World War.

Civilian life
Nosal was born on 31 March 1918 to a Ukrainian peasant family in the village of Burchak in the Ukrainian People's Republic, which resides in present-day Ukraine. She worked as a teacher in Mykolayiv before she graduated in 1940 from the aviation club in Kherson. After graduating flight school she worked as a flight instructor in Nikolaev until joining the military in 1941.

Military career
Nosal joined the military in 1941 after the start of the Great Patriotic War and was sent to the Southern front in May 1942 after completing training at Engels Military Aviation School. She was awarded the Order of the Red Star on 9 September 1942 ; after making 215 combat sorties and dropping 31,276 kg of bombs on the Axis she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 31 December 1942.

After taking off in the middle of the night on 22 April 1943 and bombing a target, the Po-2 Nosal was piloting was followed by a German Messerschmitt Bf 110 and attacked by heavy anti-aircraft fire and shelling. One explosive entered the cockpit of the Po-2 and shrapnel hit Nosal in the temple, killing her instantly. Her navigator Glafira "Irina" Kashirina managed to take over the controls and land the plane safely at the destination airfield. Nosal died on her 354th sortie, in the early morning of 23 April 1945; she was 25 years old.

Awards and honors

 * Hero of the Soviet Union
 * Order of Lenin
 * Order of the Red Banner
 * Order of the Red Star