Reply #44: Maria Bochkareva, for her courage in battle in World War I

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

Under Kerensky and the Russian provisional government, she organized and led a combat unit of about 2,000 women volunteers known as the "Women's Battalion Of Death" and fought against the Germans and Austrians on the Russian front in World War I. Some of the women volunteers were war widows seeking revenge. These woman actually fought briefly in the trenches alongside combat units of Russian men. At first they were ridiculed and even raped by their own countrymen, but they gained respect in combat in the short time they were involved. In one action, they actually led the offensive when other Russian units balked, charging over three lines of German trenches before being pushed back. I believe technically that they were fighting in the Austrian Army sector but that the German Army had taken over much of the campaign as the Austrian Army faltered. They captured over 200 German soldiers in one action. Bochkareva herself was twice wounded and decorated several times for bravery. What was left of Bochareva's battalion defended the provisional Kerensky government against the Bolsheviks when the latter stormed the Winter Palace and it eventually had to withdraw.

For her time, I think this woman showed tremendous courage in a day when female combat units were unheard of.