Galina Dzhunkovskaya

Galina Ivanovna Dzhunkovskaya (Russian: Галина Ивановна Джунковская)was a Red Army Air Force officer and bomber navigator. She fought in the Second World War. Honoured with the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Galina Dzhunkovskaya was born in Yurkovka, Kiev Oblast to a peasant family. She graduated as a nurse from Grozny medical school in 1938. Then she changed her mind and went to Moscow to study aeronautical engineering in Moscow Aviation Institute. When the war started she was recruited by Marina Raskova to the 122nd Special Aviation Group and had her navigator's training at Engels Military Flying School. Then she was assigned to the 587th Bombardment Aviation Regiment where she flew, as a navigator of a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber.

On June 6, 1943 Dzhunkovskaya took part in a fierce aerial combat. Her squadron (9 aircraft), flying in V-formation, was attacked by 10 German fighters. The squadron is credited with 5 kills in that combat, one of which is the second shared kill of Dzhunkovskaya, while 4 Pe-2 was seriously damaged and made emergency landings on available soviet airfields near the frontline. One of these aircraft was the Dzhunkovskaya's, which had both engines aflame. Her pilot Klavdia Fomicheva commanded her and the gunner to bail out, but they disobeyed, because German fighters persisted attacking the aircraft. Both the navigator and the gunner kept repelling the Germans. When the navigator run out of ammunition she kept fighting off with aerial grenades (some sources claim that she used signal flares). After the enemy fighters broke off, Dzhunkovskaya helped Fomicheva to find a suitable landing place, that happened to be an airfield, and to land the burning aircraft. During the spring of 1944, Dzhunkovskaya and Fomicheva joined together for a long time. 23 June 1944 in the second sortie of the day their aircraft was hit by enemy flack when approaching the target with the left engine set aflame and the gunner killed. Fomicheva herself had her leg severely wounded but continued the mission and dropped the bombs on the target. Then she turned the burning aircraft to the frontline and to avoid capturing by enemy kept flying until get over the friendly territory. Fomicheva and Dzhunkovskaya bailed out at altitude about 200 meters. Both suffered serious burns.

By December 1944 Dzhunkovskaya completed 62 missions and took part in five aerial engagements with two shared kills credited.

After the War she married Valentin Markov - the commander of her wartime regiment. On August 18, 1945 Dzhunkovskaya was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title. Later on, she and her husband served in the Russian Far East but because of illnesses she retired in 1950. In 1951 Dzhunkovskaya graduated from Kirovgrad Teacher's College and taught English to children for many years. She died on September 12, 1985.