Quoted By:
For tonight, we celebrate Sanya's birthday, and what is there left to say?
Sanya is based on Lydia Litvyak, the White Rose of Stalingrad, was perhaps the greatest female ace of all time. Litvyak scored an undisputed 12 solo kills and 4 shared victories in her 66 sorties.
Litvyak was shot down over Kursk in 1943, after diving into a whole staffel of German Bf109s. Litvyak was later honored with the title "Hero of the Soviet Union," the highest military award of that nation.
Hartmann knew Litvyak by name, and credited her valor.
