Undoubtedly, “the war does not have a woman’s face,” but in the Great Patriotic War, about a million women stood on a par with men. In the Red Army, women fought in various types of troops. They were called like that in a woman’s way: anti-aircraft gunners, machine gunners, pilots, radio operators …
Maria Yakovlevna Ostrovskaya (Denisova) was born in Biysk, Altai Territory on August 23, 1923 in a large family. When Maria was eighteen years old, the Great Patriotic War began and she volunteered for the front, but she was sent to study as a radio operator.
Today Maria Yakovlevna is no longer alive. But her life story was written down by her granddaughter Yulia Gaponenko — so that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren would remember her.
My grandmother served in the Pacific Fleet as a radiotelegraph operator, squad leader. But her war began with training in a difficult military science. Despite the fact that these were young girls, they studied drill on an equal basis with men. During the day, we walked for many kilometers, carrying uniforms and instruments. And at night, young radio operators tapped out Morse code. All the girls had their braids cut off. Maria Yakovlevna became a first-class radio operator. She graduated with honors from the radiotelegraph school and became a squad leader.
As a rule, it is said and written about radiotelegraphists that they are in the shadows. Meanwhile, they played a crucial role in the war and directly influenced the success of combat operations. Communication is always needed — like air. When it is there, we do not notice it, and it’s impossible to live without it, especially in war. Indeed, the feat of the signalmen during the Great Patriotic War is not one of those about which hundreds of songs have been composed and dozens of films have been shot.
The war in the West with fascist Germany had already ended and began in the Far East with militaristic Japan.
Ostrovskaya Maria Yakovlevna took part in hostilities from August to September 1945 on the First Far Eastern Front as part of the Pacific Fleet, 2 mine torpedo aviation division, 29 air brigade. The commander of the radiotelegraph department, with the rank of junior sergeant. Disabled war. She was awarded: the Order of the “Patriotic War of the II degree”, the medal “For Victory over Japan” and the medal “For Military Merit”.
Particularly interesting is the medal for the victory over Japan on her dress jacket.
To reward the participants in the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army in August — September 1945, a medal “For Victory over Japan” was established by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 30, 1945. On the first project, Lukina depicted the right profile of IS Stalin, surrounded by the inscription: “FOR VICTORY OVER JAPAN.”
Here is what Georgy Nikolayevich Pasternak, who was awarded orders and medals of the Second World War, including the medal “For Victory in Japan”, wrote. After demobilization, he worked in the Soviet press in important positions. The author of many scientific and popular science articles, which he signed with the pseudonym “N. Georgiev “.
Much has been written about the victory over militaristic Japan and its armed forces. It was a brilliant victory for the Soviet troops, who used the experience of victory over Nazi Germany in the war with Japan. I do not undertake to analyze the specifics of the war with Japan. This has been done in a number of excellent publications dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. I will only dwell on the war with Japan. Of course, time has erased a lot in memory, but something has survived …
On the night of August 9, the war began, and our regiment, as part of the 159th Infantry Division of the 1st Far Eastern Front, began to cross the water line, having previously suppressed the firing points of the Japanese with a hurricane of Katyusha fire. The blow was so unexpected and powerful that the Japanese could not offer serious resistance and began to retreat.
War is war. Shelling and aerial bombardments are also terrible. I remember the fight first of all by the fact that neither before nor after did I experience so much fear of death as this time, when the bullets whistled over my ear and you miraculously remained alive. I was lucky, and some of the guys stayed forever on the hills of Manchuria.
By the end, the war was not over yet, but the situation had changed. The Japanese realized that they had lost the war. Literally 4–5 days before the end of the war, the Japanese began to surrender in large groups. On September 2, 1945, the Japanese signed a peace treaty. This ended the Great Patriotic War. There is no need to describe the feelings of the soldiers who heard the government announcement of the end of the war. This time in the regiment they drank a glass of real Russian, and people felt that the mountain was really off their shoulders.
Japan’s Surrender Act, marking the end of the largest military conflict in human history, was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard the American battleship Missouri. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, September 3 was declared the Day of Victory over Japan.
My grandmother Masha did not like to talk about the war, — You know, I was a simple radio operator in the war, I did not do a heroic act, she said. And the war hero is our people. We were all determined to only win, so that Russia would not be conquered by fascism. Personally, I adore the Russian people, who endured everything on their shoulders!
After the war, in peacetime, Maria Yakovlevna worked for a long time in Khabarovsk at the Dalenergomash plant, as an accountant, she died at the age of 89 in 1916.
Yulia Gaponenko
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