Mariya Oktyabrskaya was a Russian tank driver and engineer during World War II.
She was born in 1905 and came from a poor family. As a young woman she worked in a cannery and as a telephone operator.
In 1925 she married an army officer and from then on became interested in military matters. She then trained as a nurse in a military hospital and to use weapons.
In 1941 her husband was killed in the war. Then she offered money to buy a tank and asked that she drive it. That is why he was trained for this purpose.
During a battle, her tank was hit and she went outside to repair it. She was then hit by shrapnel in the head and taken to hospital.
She remained in comma for two months before passing away in 1944.
[Source: en.wikipedia.org]
