Marina Pavlovna Chechneva was born on August 15, 1922, in the village of Protasovo (Maloarkhangelsk district, Oryol Oblast, Russia) into a working-class family. Soon after, she moved to Moscow with her father. In 1938–1939, she trained at the Leningrad district flying club in Moscow. She graduated from Moscow’s 144th secondary school and for some time worked there as a pioneer leader.
With the onset of the Great Patriotic War, she sought conscription into the Red Army and deployment to the front. She was eventually assigned as a flight instructor to the V. P. Chkalov Central Flying Club, which had been rebased from Moscow near Stalingrad. She was a member of the VKP(b)/CPSU from 1942.
In early 1942, she joined the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, which was equipped with U-2 aircraft. On May 23, 1942, the regiment was transferred to the 218th Night Bomber Aviation Division of the Southern Front, stationed at an airfield in the village of Trud Gornyaka near Voroshilovgrad.
In August 1942, Marina Chechneva became a flight commander. She participated in the defense of the Caucasus and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on September 27, 1942. On February 8, 1943, the 588th Air Regiment was granted Guards status and renamed the 46th Guards, and later received the honorary designation “Tamansky.”
World War II Service
By late summer 1943, Marina Chechneva became commander of the regiment’s 4th squadron. This squadron combined combat and training work. She participated in the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula. From May 15, 1944, as part of the 325th Night Bomber Aviation Division of the 4th Air Army of the 2nd Belarusian Front, she took part in the liberation of Belarus and battles for East Prussia.
In late February 1945, Marina Chechneva received her second Order of the Red Banner. She met Victory near the city of Świnemünde (now Świnoujście). In November 1945, after the air regiment was disbanded, Marina Chechneva continued to serve in an assault regiment in Poland.
Combat Achievements and Heroism
Throughout the war years, Marina Chechneva completed 810 combat sorties, spent over a thousand combat hours in the air, and dropped more than 115 tons of ordnance on the enemy. She destroyed 6 warehouses, 5 crossings, 1 railway echelon, 1 aircraft, 4 searchlights, and 4 anti-aircraft batteries. Additionally, she trained 40 female pilots and navigators.
On May 15, 1946, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, for exemplary performance of command combat missions and demonstrated courage and heroism in battles against German-fascist invaders, Guards Captain Marina Chechneva was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, along with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal No. 8955.
Post-War Life and Lasting Legacy
In late November 1945, Marina Chechneva married pilot Konstantin Davydov, who was later also awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1946, their daughter Valentina was born. From 1948, after returning to her homeland, she worked with her husband at DOSAAF. In October 1949, Konstantin Davydov, Marina’s husband, died while ferrying new aircraft for the flying club from Leningrad to Kalinin.
In 1949, Marina Chechneva set a speed record on a Yak-18 sports aircraft. For a long time, she was the leader of a female aerobatic team at air parades. She flew many types of aircraft, including the Yak-3, Yak-9, Yak-11, and Yak-18T. She held the honorary title of Honored Master of Sports.
In late 1956, Marina Chechneva was removed from flying due to health reasons, thus ending her sports flying career. In 1963, she graduated from the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee. She held a number of positions: Deputy Chairman of the Central Board of the Society of Soviet-Bulgarian Friendship, a presidium member of the Central Committee of DOSAAF, a presidium member of the Soviet Committee of War Veterans, and a member of the Committee of Soviet Women.
She was a Candidate of Historical Sciences and authored several books—memoirs about her fellow servicewomen. She died in Moscow on January 12, 1984, and was buried at Kuntsevo Cemetery.