Vera Kashcheyeva

Last updated

Vera Sergeyevna Kashcheyeva
Vera Kasheeva 1944 (cropped).png
Native name
Вера Сергеевна Кащеева
Born15 September 1922
Petrovnka, Barnaul uezd, Altai Governorate, Russian SFSR
(present-day Troitsky District, Altai Krai, Russian Federation)
Died20 May 1975 (aged 52)
Apsheronsk, Krasnodar Krai, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
AllegianceFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Service/branchRed Army
Years of service1942–1944
RankLieutenant
Unit120th Rifle Regiment
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Hero of the Soviet Union
Florence Nightingale Medal

Vera Sergeyevna Kashcheyeva ( ‹See Tfd› Russian : Вера Сергеевна Кащеева; 15 September 1922 – 20 May 1975) was a medic in the 120th Rifle Regiment who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1944 for her actions in the Dnieper crossing.

Contents

Early life

Kashcheyeva was born on 15 September 1922 to a Russian peasant family in the Petrovka, located within the present-day Altai Krai. After graduating from her seventh grade of school in her hometown she moved to the city of Barnaul, where she initially worked at a kindergarten before becoming a nurse at a textile plant in January 1940. [1]

She became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1944. [2]

World War II

Initially after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Kashcheeva remained in nursing courses until graduating in November 1941. She then repeatedly requested to be sent to the warfront, and was accepted into the Red Army in March 1942 to serve as a medic in the newly-formed 315th Rifle Division, composed of people from the Altai region. Upon completing training in August she was deployed to the warfront as part of the 362nd Rifle Regiment, but remained there only briefly before transferring to the 115th Separate Rifle Brigade before eventually settling with the 120th Guards Rifle Regiment in October. There she received her "baptism by fire" in the Battle of Stalingrad. Later during defensive operations at the Krasny Oktyabr Steel Plant, the regiment fought off as many as twenty attacks daily and downed multiple enemy aircraft and artillery points, at the price of significant casualties. Throughout constant aerial bombardment and poor weather conditions she treated wounded soldiers, as well as helping spot German snipers and deliver food. [3] [4]

In a mission that involved landing in Dnipropetrovsk and crossing the Dnieper river, the unit managed to provide a foothold for later troops to come. Despite incurring severe injuries and nearly bleeding to death she continued her work in reconnaissance, delivering information on enemy artillery positions to her commanding officers, which helped troops regain control of a strategic bridgehead on the right bank of the river. Only five soldiers from the initial landing group survived the fighting, including her. For her actions on that mission, she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 22 February 1944, wherein she was praised not only for completing her mission through hardships but also inspiring other soldiers to continue on fighting. [5]

Later life

In 1944 she was demobilized from the front lines for health reasons and returned to the city of Barnaul where she graduated from medical school as a midwife in 1948 and worked as a nurse there until she got married. After getting married she and her husband moved to the Far Eastern part of Russia in Khabarovsk, where they lived until 1973. Until 1953 she was in charge of a nursery school in Bira, Jewish Autonomous Oblast. In 1973 the family moved to Apsheronsk where she worked as a paramedic and was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal by the Red Cross. [5]

On 20 May 1975, Kashcheyeva died in an automobile accident with her grandson and was buried in the Apsheronsk cemetery. Streets in Barnaul, Bira, and Apsheronsk bear her name. [6]

Awards

[6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariya Bayda</span> Soviet medic and machine gunner (1922–2002)

Mariya Karpovna Bayda was a medical orderly in the 514th Infantry Regiment during World War II who fought in Crimea. When she was surrounded by Wehrmacht submachine gunners, she fought a heated gun battle against them, killing fifteen, wounding several more, and routing the rest, escaping wounded. For her wartime exploits, Bayda was awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Belik</span> Soviet flight navigator and Air Forces lieutenant (1921–1944)

Vera Lukianovna Belik was a flight navigator and lieutenant in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment who frequently flew with pilot Tatyana Makarova. They died when their Po-2 was shot down by a German fighter after completing a bombing mission; both were posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatyana Baramzina</span> Soviet female sniper (1919–1944)

Tatyana Nikolayevna Baramzina was a Soviet sniper and telephone operator in World War II who was posthumously awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 March 1945 for her self-sacrifice to defend wounded Red Army soldiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polina Gelman</span> Soviet military aviator (1919–2005)

Polina Vladimirovna Gelman was a flight navigator in the all-female 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1946 for having totaled 857 sorties during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klavdia Fomicheva</span>

Klavdia Yakovlevna Fomicheva was a squadron commander in the 125th Guards Dive Bomber Regiment during the Second World War who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 18 August, 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yevdokiya Pasko</span> Soviet aviator and Hero of the Soviet Union (1919–2017)

Yevdokiya Borisovna Pasko was a squadron navigator in the Soviet all-female 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during World War II. For her successes in the war, she was honored with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on 26 October 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariya Smirnova</span>

Mariya Vasilyevna Smirnova was a squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces during the Second World War. For her actions during the war, she was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on 26 October 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irina Levchenko</span>

Irina Nikolaevna Levchenko was a medic turned tank officer in the Red Army during World War II who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1965; she was also the first Soviet woman awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatyana Makarova</span> Soviet World War II flight commander

Tatyana Petrovna Makarova was a flight commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, one of the three women's aviation regiments founded by Marina Raskova. She and her navigator Vera Belik were posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union after their plane was shot down by the Axis forces over Nazi-occupied Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonina Khudyakova</span> Soviet aviator

Antonina Fyodorovna Khudyakova was a senior lieutenant and deputy squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, nicknamed the "Night Witches" during World War II. For successfully completing 926 sorties she was declared a Hero of the Soviet Union on 15 May 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yevgeniya Zhigulenko</span> Russian film director and aviator (1920–1994)

Yevgeniya Andreyevna Zhigulenko was a pilot and navigator in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces during World War II who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonina Zubkova</span> Aviator and Hero of the Soviet Union

Antonina Leontievna Zubkova was a captain and squadron navigator in the women's 125th Guards Dive Bomber Regiment during World War II who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariya Batrakova</span>

Mariya Stepanova Demidova née Batrakova was a political instructor in the Red Army during World War II. Wounded many times in the war, she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1944 for rallying fellow soldiers to make "Not one step back!"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Nikandrova</span>

Anna Alekseevna Nikandrova was a Komsomol organizer in the 426th Rifle Regiment of Red Army during World War II who was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 March 1945.

Tatyana Ignatovna Kostyrina was a sniper in the Red Army during World War II and one of the top women snipers in history. After her death in combat she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 16 May 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kseniya Konstantinova</span>

Kseniya Semyonovna Konstantinova was a medic in the Red Army during World War II who was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 4 June 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyudmila Kravets</span>

Lyudmila Stepanovna Kravets was a medic in the 63rd Guards Rifle Regiment during World War II. For her actions in the war, she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 31 May 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariya Shcherbachenko</span>

Mariya Zakharovna Shcherbachenko was a medic in the Red Army during World War II, referred to by the Soviets as the Great Patriotic War. For being one of the first 13 soldiers to cross the Dnieper she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 October 1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariya Shkarletova</span>

Mariya Savelyevna Shkarletova was a field medic in the 170th Guards Rifle Regiment during World War II. During the war she participated in offensive operations in Ukraine, Moldova, and Poland for which she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 March 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zinaida Tusnolobova-Marchenko</span>

Zinaida Mikhailovna Tusnolobova-Marchenko was a medic of the Red Army in the 849th Rifle Regiment during World War II. After being attacked by a German soldier in Kursk, suffering from severe frostbite, and getting gangrenous wounds she became a quadruple amputee. With her injuries forcing her to retire from the military she spoke on the radio and wrote an open letter to the soldiers of the 1st Baltic Front which received over 3,000 replies. She was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 6 December 1957 and the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1965, making her the third Soviet woman to receive the medal from the Red Cross.

References

  1. ↑ Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 69.
  2. ↑ Shkadov, Ivan (1987). Герои Советского Союза: краткий биографический словарь I, Абаев - Любичев. Moscow: Voenizdat.
  3. ↑ Cottam 1998, p. 234.
  4. ↑ Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 69=70.
  5. 1 2 "Кащеева Вера Сергеевна". www.warheroes.ru. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  6. 1 2 Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 71.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.