Mariya Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya (16 August 1905 â 15 March 1944) Soviet tank driver. What would you do to avenge your spouse’s death? Oktyabrskaya bought a tank and fought the Germans. When she learned her husband had been killed fighting the Germans during WWII she sold all of her possessions and bought a tank for the Red Army. Her conditions were that the tank be named “Fighting Girlfriend” and that she be allowed to drive it. Seen at first as a publicity stunt, she fought in several battles proving herself an able and skilled tank driver. She died of wounds received while repairing her tank under heavy fire after it had been hit by a German anti-tank shell. She was the first female tank driver awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union award (the Soviet Union’s highest award for bravery during combat).
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