Soviet Air Force officer Rufina Gasheva who flew 848 night missions as navigator in a Polikarpov Po-2 biplane. 1945
Герой Советского Союза, штурман эскадрильи 46 гв. НЛБАП, гв. ст. лейтенант Р. С. Гашева. Лето 1945 г.

In 1942, Gasheva was assigned to the 46th Aviation Regiment Night Bomber Guard, a female unit known by the Germans as "the Night Withes". Flying slow biplanes Polikarpov Po-2, Gahseva quickly showed talent for night navigation, mounting a successful partnership with pilot Captain Olga Sanfirova.
The missions were often bombing of German troop concentrations, where the aviators constantly entered the reach of enemy flak.

On February 1945 she was awarded the 'Golden Star Heroine of the Soviet Union.

Born 14 October 1921 she died on 5 January 2012

Photograph Colorized by Olga Shirnina from Russia

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http://i.imgur.com/JiYSbOx.jpg
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