your chances of making it would increase. But you had to have luck on your side. Despite the predominantly male environment in which she found herself, she never renounced her femininity, and she carried on bleaching her hair blonde, sending her friend Inna Pasportnikova to the hospital to fetch hydrogen peroxide for her. She would fashion scarves from parachute material, dyeing the small pieces in different colors and stitching them together. She would not hide her love of flowers, which she picked at every available occasion, favoring red roses, and would fashion these into bouquets and keep them in the cockpit. These were promptly discarded by the male pilots who shared her aircraft. Her comrade Solomatin is believed to have been her fiancé, and after his death, she wrote to her mother: You see, he was not my type, but his insistence and his love for me convinced me to love him... and now, it seems I will never meet someone like him ever again. Litvyak was called the "White Lily of Stalingrad" in Soviet press releases; the white lily flower may be translated from Russian as Madonna lily. She has also been called the "White Rose of Stalingrad" in Europe and North America since reports of her exploits were first published in English. Awards Hero of the Soviet Union (5 May 1990) Order of Lenin (5 May 1990) Order of the Red Banner (22 July 1943) Order of the Red Star (17 February 1943) Order of the Patriotic War 1st class (10 September 1943) Aerial victories (credited) 13 September 1942 two solo, a series Junkers Ju 88 and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 (of E. Maier.) Another source suggests a Heinkel He 111 instead of a Ju 88. 14 September 1942 one solo, a Bf 109 (according to historian Hans D. Seidl, it was a kill shared with Yekaterina Budanova) 27 September 1942 one solo, a Junkers Ju 88 one shared, with Raisa Belyaeva, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 11 February 1943 one solo, a Junkers Ju 87 one shared, with Alexei Solomatin, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 22 March 1943 two solo, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and a Junkers Ju 88 5 May 1943 one solo, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 7 May 1943 one solo, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 31 May 1943 one solo, an artillery observation balloon 16 July 1943 one solo, Messerschmitt Bf 109. One source claims the victim