Manshuk Mametova

Manshuk Zhiengalikyzy Mametova (, Mänşük Jienğaliqyzy Mämetova; ; 23 October 1922 – 15 October 1943) was a machine gunner of the 100th Rifle Brigade in the 21st Guards Rifle Division of the 3rd Shock Army on the Kalinin Front during the Second World War. She became the first Kazakh woman to be awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union after the Supreme Soviet posthumously awarded her the title on 1 March 1944.

Early life

Born to a shoemaker in the Ural region of what is now Kazakhstan, Mametova spent her childhood in Alma-Ata under the care of her aunt Amina Mametova. Her parents had given her to her aunt and uncle who did not have any children. During the Great Purge her adoptive uncle was arrested. Before his arrest he had encouraged Mametova to study medicine. After graduating from secondary school she studied nursing while working at the Council of People's Commissars of the Kazakh SSR as a secretary to the deputy chairman. She later enrolled in the Alma-Ata medical institute for further training. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union she tried to join the Red Army and after being rejected she continued medical training and learned how to use a gun.

Military career After persistently requesting to join the military despite being repeatedly rejected, Mametova was eventually accepted into the Red Army in September 1942 to work as a clerk at an Army headquarters before being sent to work as a nurse in a field hospital despite her request to be assigned to a rifle unit. While working as a nurse she continued her training on the use of a Maxim machine gun. After her commander tested her shooting skills he promoted her to the rank of Senior Sergant allowed her to be transferred to the 100th Rifle Brigade, frequently referred to as the 100th Kazakh Rifle Brigade because 86% of its soldiers were Kazakh. During the war she fell in love with another machine gunner, Nurken Khusainov, but only told a friend about her feelings. Both Mametova and Khusainov died on 15 October 1943 in Nevel. Throughout the war she never parted with her weapon and earned the respect of the other soldiers in her division after her baptism by fire, during which she lured enemy soldiers to approach before opening fire on them with her machine gun.

Last stand After Soviet forces retook Nevel, a series of German counterattacks began. On 15 October 1943, Mametova did not retreat from a strategic hill with the rest of her unit;