Maria Limanskaya

Maria Limanskaya was a female soldier of the Red Army for three years.

Limanskaya joined the Red Army in 1942, at the height of World War II at just 18 years old, the high command increasingly lacked trained reserves to reinforce the entire 1,200 mile front and was forced to conscript underage men and women.

Almost 800,000 women would eventually serve in the Red Army throughout the war.

In 1945 after the Battle of Berlin, she was assigned to directing traffic around the Brandenburg Gate, While conducting her duties, she was photographed, filmed, and also interviewed, Limanskaya became known as the Russian woman who directed traffic at the Brandenburg Gate and has since become a symbol of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.