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Night Witches of the Soviet Union - WYHI
Posted on 7/5/18 at 4:26 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 4:26 pm
588th Night Bomber Group
Soviet women were barred from combat at the beginning of the war, but a record-breaking aviatrix named Marina Raskova (hailed as the “Soviet Amelia Earhart”) was later called upon by Joseph Stalin to organize a regiment of young female pilots to fight the German invaders, making the Soviet Union the first nation to allow women to fly combat missions.
The women flew repurposed 1920s biplanes, made of canvas-draped plywood, that were previously used mostly for crop dusting. The primitive planes lacked many basic instruments, including radios—navigation was done with a stopwatch and a map. If hit, the flimsy aircrafts would burn up immediately. The pilots did not carry parachutes. The aircrafts were so small that they could only carry two bombs at a time, so the pilots were required to carry out multiple missions per night—sometimes as many as 18. Some of the pilots flew more than 800 missions during the war. The women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment flew roughly 30,000 missions, dropping a total of 23,000 tons of bombs on the invading Nazi armies.
The planes were slow and obsolete - the speed of their aircraft was less than the stall speed of the bf-109s and fw-190s they flew against. The resourceful Russians capitalized on the planes’ maneuverability, which allowed them to deftly dodge German bullets. As a stealth technique, the bombers would idle their engines as they approached the target, then glide the rest of the way—leaving only the “whoosh” of their aircrafts in the wind to give them away. The sound reminded German soldiers of a witch’s broomstick, thus dubbing the bombers “Nachthexen,” or “night witches.”
At the end of the war, the Night Witches were not allowed to fly in the victory celebration over the Kremlin since their planes were too slow.
Soviet women were barred from combat at the beginning of the war, but a record-breaking aviatrix named Marina Raskova (hailed as the “Soviet Amelia Earhart”) was later called upon by Joseph Stalin to organize a regiment of young female pilots to fight the German invaders, making the Soviet Union the first nation to allow women to fly combat missions.
The women flew repurposed 1920s biplanes, made of canvas-draped plywood, that were previously used mostly for crop dusting. The primitive planes lacked many basic instruments, including radios—navigation was done with a stopwatch and a map. If hit, the flimsy aircrafts would burn up immediately. The pilots did not carry parachutes. The aircrafts were so small that they could only carry two bombs at a time, so the pilots were required to carry out multiple missions per night—sometimes as many as 18. Some of the pilots flew more than 800 missions during the war. The women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment flew roughly 30,000 missions, dropping a total of 23,000 tons of bombs on the invading Nazi armies.
The planes were slow and obsolete - the speed of their aircraft was less than the stall speed of the bf-109s and fw-190s they flew against. The resourceful Russians capitalized on the planes’ maneuverability, which allowed them to deftly dodge German bullets. As a stealth technique, the bombers would idle their engines as they approached the target, then glide the rest of the way—leaving only the “whoosh” of their aircrafts in the wind to give them away. The sound reminded German soldiers of a witch’s broomstick, thus dubbing the bombers “Nachthexen,” or “night witches.”
At the end of the war, the Night Witches were not allowed to fly in the victory celebration over the Kremlin since their planes were too slow.
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 9:09 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 4:27 pm to blueridgeTiger
Communists aren't humans and I only frick humans and goats.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 4:32 pm to blueridgeTiger
My high school Algebra teacher ferried bombers from the US to England.
She was a really tough woman. I realize women didn’t fly combat for the US. However, I always wondered why she didn’t get to fly combat as tough as she was.
She was a really tough woman. I realize women didn’t fly combat for the US. However, I always wondered why she didn’t get to fly combat as tough as she was.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 4:35 pm to blueridgeTiger
I would have, but not now.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 4:35 pm to blueridgeTiger
This is the same person, is it not?
I guess it's true, white people all look the same.
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 4:40 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 4:54 pm to blueridgeTiger
Are they made of wood?
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:10 pm to blueridgeTiger
3, 2, 1
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 5:11 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:21 pm to blueridgeTiger
Someone listened to Stuff You Missed in History Class for the first time.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:23 pm to blueridgeTiger
Some hot pilots. The Soviets has some hot female snipers and tank commanders, too.
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 11:15 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:26 pm to blueridgeTiger
would fly in low and slow, cut their engines, and glide over their targets on bomb run
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:26 pm to blueridgeTiger
In Soviet Russia, the glass ceiling breaks you
Posted on 7/5/18 at 5:54 pm to OchoDedos
Damn, flying that crate against BF 109 is pure suicide mission. Russians truly didn’t value human life. ME pilots must have laughed their asses off at the sight of one of those.
This post was edited on 7/5/18 at 6:17 pm
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:00 pm to blueridgeTiger
Knowing the Russians of the era, I'd be surprised if any of them was really a pilot.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:11 pm to blueridgeTiger
I’ve read articles about Lydia. She was an incredible pilot. She went on to become a Yak ace. Later shot down and either killed in the crash or taken prisoner by the Germans.
Rumor has it she defected to Sweden and married with a family.
Rumor has it she defected to Sweden and married with a family.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:39 pm to HueyP
quote:
Russians truly didn’t value human life
When you're in a fight for your life, you don't have the luxury of "valuing human life." I think that's a hard concept for us as Americans.
Other than the Revolutionary War, our mainland has never been invaded by an equal, or worse yet, superior military force. Also, our homeland has never been the battleground for a war since the Civil War. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have been born in France in say, 1900. Then to have large portions of your country turned into rubble, not once but twice in your lifetime.
Thank you to all of the men and women that have fought our wars abroad so that those of us at home could have such a good life.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 6:59 pm to blueboy
quote:
Knowing the Russians of the era, I'd be surprised if any of them was really a pilot.
Well by definition they were pilots, but I get your drift. Many may not have had a lot of flying hours under their belt, or skirt.
But that was true of other countries also. Many of the British aviators may have graduated flight school, but they had very few hours in a Spitfire. Can you imagine going into combat during the Battle of Britain, in a high performance aircraft like the Spitfire, with zero combat hours? Attacking German bombers is one thing, but if you had to take on a seasoned Luftwaffe pilot, you were either a born combat aviator or dead.
Posted on 7/5/18 at 7:04 pm to Tigerhead
quote:
Other than the Revolutionary War, our mainland has never been invaded by an equal, or worse yet, superior military force.
I'd argue that the War of 1812 was basically a second Revolutionary War. Not in stated objectives, but in reality.
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