Yevdokiya Nikulina

Yevdokiya Andreevna Nikulina (Евдокия Андреевна Никулина; 8 November 1917 – 23 March 1993) was a squadron commander of the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, 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 26 October 1944.

Civilian life
Nikulina was born in the village of Parfyonovo to a Russian peasant family in 8 November 1917. In 1933 she worked at a cement plant in Podolsk before enrolling in flight school. After graduating from the technical school and flight academy in Balashov she worked as a pilot of civil aviation in Smolensk before the Second World War. She became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1942.

Military career
After joining the Red Army in 1941 and completing her training she was deployed to the Eastern front of the war as a squadron commander. In her duties she defended the Southern, Transcaucasus, North Caucasus, and the 2nd Belarusian fronts.

In total she performed 774 sorties and accumulated 3650 flight hours, of which 1,500 were at night and 920 in combat. She was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 26 October 1944 for "exemplary fulfillment of combat missions of the command and demonstrated courage and heroism in battles with the German fascist invaders".

Later life
After the war she left active duty, joining the reserve before retiring. In 1948 she graduated the Rostov-on-Don Communist Party School and graduated from the Rostov-on-Don Pedagogical Institute in 1954. She worked in the local party committee until she retired and lived the remainder of her life in Rostov-on-Don.

Nikulina and her four year old granddaughter were attacked by robbers in her home on 2 July 1992. She recovered from the attack but died soon after on 23rd March 1993. There have been false reports of her being murdered in her home.

In 2015 she was honored with a star on the "Alley Of Heroes" in Rostov-On-Don.

Awards

 * Hero of the Soviet Union
 * Order of Lenin
 * Three Orders of the Red Banner
 * Order of Alexander Nevsky
 * Order of the Patriotic War in the 1st and 2nd Classes
 * various campaign and jubilee medals