Night Witches

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The Night Witches (Nachthexen in German, Ночные Ведьмы in Russian) was the nickname of the The World War II Soviet 588th Night Bomber Regiment, later called the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, a women-only combat regiment formed at the instigation of Marina Raskova and led by Major Yevdokia Bershanskaya. It flew harassment bombing missions from 1942 to the end of the war. At its largest size, it had 40 two-person crews. It flew over 23,000 sorties and is said to have dropped 3,000 tons of bombs. It was the most highly-decorated unit in the Soviet Air Force, each pilot having flown over 1,000 missions by the end of the war and twenty-three having been awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Thirty-one of its members died in combat.

The regiment flew in wood and canvas Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, a 1928 design intended for use as training aircraft and for crop-dusting. The planes could carry only two bombs at a time, so multiple missions in a night were necessary. Although the planes were obsolete and slow, the pilots made daring use of their exceptional maneuverability so the German pilots found them very difficult to shoot down.

Commanders

• Yevdokiya Bershanskaya - Regimental Commander
• Yevgeniya Zhigulenko, Hero of the Soviet Union- Flight Commander
• Tat'yana Makarova, Hero of the Soviet Union- Flight Commander
• Nina Ul'yanenko, Hero of the Soviet Union, Flight Navigator

Notable members

• Natalya Myeklin
• Evgeniya Rudneva

[edit] References

• "Day of Glory for USSR's Night Witches," by Robyn Dixon. Los Angeles Times. May 10, 2001, Part A: Foreign Desk, page A1.
• The Night Witches.
• Soviet Women Combat Pilots New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum
• The Incredible Story of the "Night Witches."
• Female Faces of the Air War
• Russian Women Pilots
• Marina Raskova and Soviet Female Pilots
• The Night Witches - Russian Combat Pilots of World War Two
• Airwomen of the Red Star San Diego Aerospace Museum.
• Harry Turtledove's alternate history series Worldwar features Lieutenant Ludmilla Gorbunova, a fictional "Night Witch" (See Worldwar#List of Characters).