Cute girl in the famous photo Maria Valley, Soviet Aviator, or as it is called, “the daughter of heaven.” For all time of hostilities, she managed to make 72 sorties in the plane PE-2, dump 45 tons of bombs and shoot down 3 fighters in 6 fights.
General Leon Kyuffo, the famous French pilot regiment “Normandie – Niemen”, a member of which later become Maria Ivanovna, enthusiastically recalls: “It was the winter of 1944. Blizzard walked through the airport. And in this weather at the airport, where our regiment, got the dive bomber PE-2. We, the French pilots were watching daredevil, great prizemljem your plane in such poor visibility, and hurried to the plane to meet the pilot. And we were amazed to learn that the plane was piloted by girls!”.
During the Belarusian offensive operation 26 June 1944 Maria Valley dropped bombs on the railway line at Orsha station and blew up a trainload of ammunition, and on June 28 launched a series of air strikes on the enemy concentration in the village of Zembin, which helped the Soviet troops to cross the river Berezina and liberate the city of Borisov.
Maria Ivanovna Dolina – one of the few Soviet pilots who managed to survive in a terrible war with the enemy. August 18, 1945 for courage and valor shown in combat with the enemy, Maria Ivanovna was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
