Mariya Borovichenko

Mariya Borovichenko
Born 21 October 1925
Myshelovka, Kiev
Died 14 July 1943(1943-07-14) (aged 17)
Allegiance  Soviet Union
Service/branch Soviet airborne
Years of service 1941-1943
Rank Senior sergeant
Unit

3rd Airborne Corps
87th Rifle Division

13th Guards Rifle Division
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards
Monument memorial for Mariya Borovichenko in Kiev

Guards Sergeant Mariya Sergeyevna Borovichenko (October 21, 1925, Myshelovka, Kiev - July 14, 1943) was a Ukrainian medical officer of Soviet 32nd Guards Artillery Regiment, awarded the Medal for Combat Service, Medal For Courage, Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Red Banner.[1] She was conferred the Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously (in May, 1965) for saving the lieutenant.

Biography

She was an orphan raised by her uncle near Myshlovka (translated to Mousetrap)[2] and she enrolled in nursing when World War II started. While escaping Kiev after the Germans targeted it, she collected valuable information and gave it to 5th Airborne Brigade of the 3rd Airborne Corps commanded by Alexander Rodimtsev which allowed the Soviets to defeat some of the German troops and thus earning her a position in the service. On August 13, 1941, she was wounded at a battle south of Kiev and, despite being wounded, she continued and saved her Battle commander from German custody. Later, she captured a high-ranking German officer and, with this, started attracting the attention of Rodimtsev who closely followed her achievements. However, Borovichenko herself was captured near the village of Kazaktskoye but she soon escaped and notified her team. On September 5, 1941, after the Germans were surrounding Kiev, Rodimtsev moved his troops to the Seym River near Konotop but the Germans followed and attempted to coax them across a damaged railroad bridge. However, Borovichenko saw this coming and convinced her comrades to help establish a Maxim gun and, as a spotter and loader, she cleared the way for the troops and Rodimtsev personally congratulated her. On September 17, she single-handedly captured 10 German soldiers while scouting. She was prominently featured in newspapers and she carried on in the battles. At the Battle of Stalingrad, her fiancé was hit was by a bullet.[3]

Known to combatants as Mashenka from Myshelovka, Borovichenko was a companion of another medical attendant, Mikhail Kravchuk.[1] Having noticed an enemy tank, Borovichenko threw a grenade and covered platoon lieutenant P. Korniyenko with herself. At this moment a shell blasted out at her feet and she was killed by a shell splinter. Rodimtsev called her one of his favorite soldiers and she was buried near Mikhalskoyve. On May 6, 1965, she was honored as a Hero of the Soviet Union.[3][4]

School N122, a school she attended, in Kiev was named after her and a film was shot in 1965 (Нет неизвестных солдат) which was precisely produced and included news reels.[5] A street in Ivnya, Belgorod was also named for her.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Родимцев А.И. Гвардейцы стояли насмерть (in Russian). Victory.mil.ru. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  2. ↑ Soviet Literature, 1963, p. 67-77
  3. 1 2 Sakaida, Henry (2012). Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941-45. Osprey Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 1780966512. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ International Journal of Women's Studies 1982, Eden Press Women's Publications
  5. ↑ Soviet film, 1966


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