--- title: "‘The White Rose of Stalingrad’ was a female pilot who terrorized the Nazis" date: "2019-01-28" modified: "2020-10-22" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/the-white-rose-of-stalingrad-was-a-female-pilot-who-terrorized-the-nazis/" categories: - "History" - "War History" - "World War II" tags: - "Russia" --- # ‘The White Rose of Stalingrad’ was a female pilot who terrorized the Nazis ![]() The actual translation of Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak's epic nickname might be "[The White Lily of Stalingrad]()," depending on the language you speak. Considering the Lily's association with death and funerals, it's rather fitting for such an incredible pilot. --- Litvyak was only 20 years old when Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. The young girl rushed to the recruiter and tried to join to be a fighter pilot. The recruiters sent her packing. In their minds, she was just a small, young girl. In truth, [she was flying solo at 15]() and was an experienced pilot. A biographer estimated she trained more than 45 pilots on her own. She knew she could do this. So instead of giving up, she went to another recruiter and lied about her flying experience, by more than a hundred hours. That did the trick. ![]() *Good for Russia.* The Soviets, probably realizing that this fight was going to kill a lot of Soviet people (and it did, to the tune of 27 million), were foresighted enough to consider gender equality when it came to their military units. Where American women pilots were only allowed to transport planes, Stalin was forming three fighter regiments of all-female pilots. ![]() *Seriously though, good for Russia.* During her two years of wartime service, she [racked up 12 solo kills and four shared kills over 66 combat missions](). She scored her first two kills over Stalingrad three days after her arrival in the area. Young Lydia Litvyak flew a few missions with the all-female unit before transferring to a mixed-gender unit — over Stalingrad. It was here she earned her illustrious moniker, "The White Rose of Stalingrad." She flew around a hail of anti-aircraft fire to engage an artillery observation balloon from the rear. She shot it down in a blaze of hydrogen-fueled mayhem — a notoriously difficult task for any pilot. ![]() *Good thing Lydia Litvyak wasn't just any pilot.* Litvyak wasn't finished; she later became one of two women to be crowned "first female fighter ace" as well. She wasn't flawless — she was shot down more than once and bled more than her share over Russian soil. But even when forced to make belly landings, she hopped right back into the closest cockpit. She was so good, [the Russian command chose her to be *Okhotniki*](), — or "free hunter" — a new tactic that involved two experienced pilots who were free to hunt the skies on seek and destroy missions. She terrorized German pilots all over the Eastern Front. ![]() *The Yakovlev Yak-1, a plane flown by Soviet fighters, including Lydia Litvyak.* "The White Rose of Stalingrad" was last seen [being chased by eight Nazi ME-109 fighters]() on an escort mission south of Moscow. Her body was lost until 1989 when historians discovered the unmarked grave of a female pilot in the Russian village of Dmytrivka. The next year, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev awarded Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak the title "Hero of the Soviet Union," the USSR's highest military honor. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()