Mariya Oktyabrskaya

Mariya Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya (; 16 August 1905 – 15 March 1944) was a Soviet tank driver and mechanic who fought on the Eastern Front against Nazi Germany during World War II. After her husband was killed fighting in 1941, Oktyabrskaya sold her possessions to donate a tank for the war effort, and requested that she be allowed to drive it. She received and was trained to drive and fix a T-34 medium tank, which she named "Fighting Girlfriend" (""). Oktyabrskaya proved her ability and bravery in battle, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant. After she died of wounds from battle in 1944, she was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union's highest honor for bravery during combat. She was the first female tank driver to be awarded the title.

Early life Oktyabrskaya was born into a poor Ukrainian family on the Crimean Peninsula. She was one of ten children. Before the Second World War, she worked in a cannery, and then as a telephone operator. In 1925, she married a Soviet army officer named Ilya Oktyabrsky. She then began to acquire an interest in military matters. She became involved in the 'Military Wives Council' and was trained as a nurse in the army. She also learned how to use weapons and drive vehicles. She said, "Marry a serviceman, and you serve in the army: an officer's wife is not only a proud woman, but also a responsible title."

Second World War When the eastern front of World War II opened, Mariya was evacuated to Tomsk in Siberia. While living in Tomsk, she learned that her husband had been killed fighting the forces of Nazi Germany near Kiev in August 1941. The news took two years to reach her. The news angered her greatly, and she became determined to fight the Germans to avenge her husband's death. She sold all of her possessions to donate a tank to the Red Army. She requested the tank, a T-34 medium tank, be named "Fighting Girlfriend" ("") and that she be allowed to drive it. The State Defense Committee agreed to this.

By this time, Oktyabrskaya was 38 years old. She enrolled in a five-month tank training program immediately after the donation. After completing her training, she was posted to the 26th Guards Tank Brigade, part of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, in September 1943 as a driver and mechanic. She named her tank "Fighting Girlfriend", emblazoning these words on the turret of the T-34. Many of her fellow tankers saw her as a publicity stunt and a joke, but this attitude changed when Oktyabrskaya began fighting in Smolensk.

The following August, Oktyabrskaya was posthumously made a Hero of the Soviet Union in recognition of her bravery in the battles around Vitebsk.

Representations in media In 2014 US National Public Radio featured a cartoon of Oktyabrskaya to headline a story about "rejected princesses" that Disney and other storytellers had hitherto ignored.