From the publications at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”

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” (“Боевая подруга”). 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 honour for bravery during combat. She was the first female tank driver to be awarded the title.

The story of Mariya Oktyabrskaya, who bought and piloted a tank during WWII is not unique. While relatively uncommon in that she became the tank driver of her own tank, buying weapons for the army using own savings was a mass phenomenon.

According to the large Soviet encyclopedia, in total, 2,500 combat aircraft, thousands of tanks, 16 boats and 8 submarines were built on the donations the Soviet people. According to historians’ calculations, the citizens of the USSR fully paid a year’s worth of the army upkeep during the war.

The mini-documentary from NTV tells of some of these people and their donated machines.

Backup at Rumble.

A Fact, and Not an Advertisement

The the mass nature of donations to the Red Army by the Soviet people found reflection in this drawing by B.Fridkin, published in “Krokodil” issue №5 from 1943.

— Is the tank fine?
— In full working order! We are buying them ourselves for the army!