The Russian Night Witches

Young Russian women flew daring night missions over the German trenches in World War Two. They would cut their engines and glide in low, creating a whooshing sound that the Germans said sounded like witches on their brooms. Read more on today's Wartime Wednesdays by clicking the link below.

 

nice write-up !

a mistake from wikipedia commons....that lady in front of the Pe-2 is Mariya DOLINA ,not Raskova
Mariya Dolina was Deputy Commander and Navigator for the regiment

additional information :

"A Dance with Death"
by Anne Noggle
Texas A&M University press
ISBN 0-8909-601-x

"Wings, Women and War"
by Reinna Pennington
(other details escape my memory right now)

"Heroines of the Soviet Union" (Elite 90)
by Henry Sakaida
Osprey Publishing
ISBN 1-84176-598-8

"Red Sky , Black Death"
by Kim Green
Slavica Publishers
ISBN 978-0-89357-355-3

I look forward to reading more on the subject

 

Those ladies had more "balls" than most men if I dare say

 

Do you mean the woman in the green uniform?

 

Indeed the woman in the green uniform, standing in front of the plane.

 

It's fixed, and thanks so much for the heads-up.

 

so real witches buzz people in Germany? in any case good story.

 

Elinor - if I could make a request, please use direct urls for each article you post - not generic ones to your home page pretty please!
You do an enormous amount of writing but before long the blog links you provide are discouraging.

Updated link: http://elinorflorence.com/blog/night-witches
_______________

Here is an article on the Night Witches from the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (an all female bomber group) from Vanity Fair.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/06/night-witches-wwii-female-pilots

More articles:
http://www.sputniknews.com/analysis/20101229/161981708.html

Edit: Typo

 

6 Youtube Episode Interviews (English subtitles) with:
Hero of the Soviet Union Rufina Gasheva, Hero of the Soviet Union Nadezhda Popova, Hero of the Russian Federation Aleksandra Akimova,
Irina Rakobolskaya, Irina Dryagina, Olga Yakovleva, Klavdiya Ryzhkova (Deryabina), Raisa Mazdrina.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-5cVgjJZu4

 

National Public Radio (NPR) Audio Interview with Nadezhda Popova
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=202401669

There was an 11 minute interview with her on BBC Radio 4, but it has been taken down. Hopefully to return.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nk0g9

Nadezhda Popova, 90, decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union, was a pilot in the 46th Night Bombers Guards Regiment.
http://sputniknews.com/photo/20101229/161984015.html#ixzz3mFd9QMgm

 

at 90 she still has a military bearing.

 

Have you seen her YouTube videos? She is amazingly feminine. So hard to put the two images together..

Moderator Edit:
Nadezhda Popova
Obituary: http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21581962-nadezhda-nadia-popova-night-bomber-pilot-died-july-8th-aged-91-nadia-popova

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10171897/Nadezhda-Popova.html
588th Night Bomber Regiment (later renamed the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment).
She flew 852 missions, serving in Ukraine, Rostov-on-Don, the North Caucasus near Grozny, Novorossiysk, Sevastopol, Minsk, Warsaw and Berlin.

 

Titanium ovaries...fixed that for you.