Mariya Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya

Sergeant Mariya Oktyabrskaya sold all her possessions to buy a T-34 tank after her husband was killed in battle in 1941. She named it "Fighting Girlfriend" and petitioned to drive it into combat herself. Given permission, she proved an exceptional tank driver and mechanic, fighting in several engagements and personally repairing her tank under fire multiple times. She was mortally wounded in January 1944 and died two months later. She was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union. A Southampton Russian cultural group registered her story.