Klavdia Fomicheva

Klavdia Yakovlevna Fomicheva (Клавдия Яковлевна Фомичёва) was a Hero of the Soviet Union recipient and aviator.

Biography
Klavdia Fomicheva was born in Moscow, but spent her entire childhood in Znamenska village of Lipetsk. After graduating from school she was hired as a book-keeper and the same year joined the glider club. Her skills were so good in it that she was invited to participate at the paramilitary flying club. She got her degree in aviation in 1937 and became an instructor by 1938. When the war started she volunteered as a fighter aviator under the command of Marina Raskova. She received her training at the Engels, Saratov Oblast where she operated 587th Bombardment Squadron in which there was Su-2 and Pe-2 bombers. During the war her aircraft was hit more than once; one on September 17, 1943 and the other was on June 23, 1944. She recovered from leg wounds and burns by August and after it performed 55 single missions for which she was decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union badge. When the war ended she became an instructor at the Air Force Academy and by 1956 retired due to illnes. She died two years later on October 5 and was buried in her hometown.