WWI, Maria Bochkareva, Russian Soldier

Maria Bochkareva visiting New York City. Maria Leontievna Bochkareva (1889 - May 16, 1920) was a Russian soldier. At the outbreak of WWI, she joined the army by securing the personal permission of Tsar Nicholas II. She began front-line duty with the 5th Corps, 28th Regiment of the Second Army. She was decorated for rescuing 50 wounded soldiers from the field. After she was wounded in the arm and leg, Bochkareva worked as a medical sister until she returned to the front as a corporal in charge of 11 men. She suffered another injury that left her paralyzed for 4 months. After she recovered, she returned to the front as a senior non-commissioned officer delivering supplies. She was discharged in the spring of 1917. After the abdication of the Tsar, she proposed to Mikhail Rodzianko the creation of an all-female combat unit that she claimed would fix the Army's morale problem. Although female recruitment went against army regulations, the all-female battalion was granted special dispensation and designated the 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death. Her unit was at the front at the time of the October Revolution. In 1919, she attempted to form a women's medical detachment under White Army Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, but she was captured by the Bolsheviks. She was sentenced to death and executed as an enemy of the working class on May 16, 1920. Bain News Service, 1918

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