World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseYekaterina Budanova was born into a peasant family in a village in Smolensk, Russia in 1916. She began working in an aircraft factory near Moscow, Russia in the 1930s and became interested in aviation, joining an aeroclub and earning her pilot's license. In 1937, she became a flight instructor. She enlisted in the Soviet military after the German invasion in Jun 1941 and was assigned to the all-female 586th Fighter Regiment. In a Yak-1 fighter, she flew her first combat mission in Apr 1942 over Saratov, Russia. On 10 Sep, she was assigned to the Soviet 437th Fighter Regiment and flew combat missions over Stalingrad, Russia. In a LaGG-3 fighter, she claimed her first kill, a German Bf 109 fighter, on 14 Sep 1942, sharing the credit with fellow pilot Lydia Litvyak. In Oct, she scored her first solo kill. In Jan 1943, she was transferred to the 296th Fighter Regiment, which was later redesignated 73rd Guards Fighter Regiment. She was awarded the Order of the Red Star on 23 Feb 1943.

ww2dbaseDuring the war, fellow pilot Vladimir Dmetrievich Lavrinenkov noted "Katya" Budanova as tall, with short hair, cheerful, and a skilled pilot.

ww2dbaseYekaterina Budanova flew near Antracit, Luhansk, Russia on 19 Jul 1943. Pouncing on a group of Bf 109 fighters, she shot down one (her fifth solo kill) and damaged another, but her aircraft was also hit. With the aircraft on fire, she landed the Yak-1 fighter in a nearby field, but by the time local farmers came to help her exit the cockpit, she had already died. The farmers buried her near the village of Novokrasnovka.

ww2dbaseYekaterina Budanova claimed 11 total kills (5 of which solo) in her career as a combat pilot, making her one of the war's two female fighter aces. She was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 1993.

Yekaterina Budanova Timeline

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