The Night Witches.

                                                 

The last blog I published was about the indomitable  Marina Raskova. Because now that Youtubers have discovered The 588th Squadron's exploits, the woman who is responsible for the existence of all three all-female squadrons of the Soviet Air Force, is getting overshadowed by the exploits of the 588th.  Whom one could claim, without hyperbole, are legendary. 

These were the women of the most feared and lethal air-borne squadrons of WWII: the squad that prompted the German Military to offer the Iron Cross to any German who shot one down. The squad the Germans called the "die Nachthexen": The Night Witches.

The 1930's was a decade in which aeroplanes came into their own - changes in performance, design, composition attracted crowds to Air Shows; and women like Amelia Earhart  in the West and  Marina Raskova (who set the international endurance record, )in the East attracted young women everywhere towards the idea of soaring into the skies. Those who were able, had lessons and went on to become aviatrix in measurable numbers.

So when Major Marina Raskova - Russia's Hero - approached Stalin himself for permission to form and train three female squadrons, she was  finally given permission to do so. She stipulated that her squadrons, however, were to be completely staffed by women - from mechanics, to navigators, to pilots and instructors. And all members of the squads were required to be trained in each of those roles, rather than adhere to the hierarchical organisation which pertained in male dominated squadrons..

So I don't think enough emphasis is put on this: they were the first women in the world to be sanctioned for combat, on 08/12/41!

 Although women have fought in most battles both on land and sea throughout recorded history; they, apart from some remarkable exceptions in different ages, were not sanctioned to do so. Even the RAF, weakened through the loss of so many pilots during The Battle of Britain, did not take this step and allow women-pilots to do anything more than deliver planes.

 As there was no Air Force in WWI surely this means they were the first women not just to fight, but to command their own Air Force squadrons! Imagine the reaction to-day if a woman approached  the RAF with such a demand! 

But of course all was not joyful partisanship and egalitarianism. Women were not just verbally abused by the Soviet (male) air force, but were victims of abuse and rape as well. Gradually male officers were brought into the other two squadrons; but the Night Witches of the 588th rode out alone. 

Part of the harassment was that, though they were being forced to accept women, the male armed forces were not going to make any concessions to the female squadrons.  No female uniforms were designed or issued: these 400 women whom Marina had gathered up from across the country, aged between 17 and 26, were provided with men's hand-me-downs in men's sizes...and ditto the boots.  The girls used to try to pad the boots as much as possible, but they still chaffed, rubbed and blistered.

                                             
        

                                   

But the crowning joke was the 'planes the 588th squadron  - the Night Squadron - was given. The Polikarpov Po2. It was a fixed-wing bi-plane of the only kind available when these women's parents were children.  Made of canvas & ply its only use by the '30's was as a crop duster where the lightness of the plane counted. Or to put budding-pilots through the rudiments of learning to fly. They were extremely slow and lumbering; so not the kind of thing one wants to manoeuvre into a dog-fight against the sleek modern planes of the Germans.

The Polikarpov cockpit was open, so whether rain, sleet or snow prevailed, there was no shelter for the occupants, nor could they fly at the same altitude as their opponents: all the women suffered frost-bite and chilblains in the harsh conditions.  Some of them used to pinch grease from the hangars to coat their faces. The fabric of the plane, being canvas, was highly flammable. So it wasn't even necessary to score a direct hit in order to bring a Polikarpov down - cinders, sparks, friction could cause it to burst into flame.

 In which case one was pretty-much done-for, as there was no room for parachutes in the cramped cockpits. Nor were such basics as radio, radar, lights or guns considered necessary for this squadron. Each plane had only two crew so, because of the frailty of the craft, only two bombs could be carried at a time: they would drop two - go back to base to pick up two more, and so on for each attack they'd planned. The only technology they had was of the WWI era: rulers, stopwatches and set squares. 

There's two ways to react to the slings and arrows of life, really: you can moan and bitch and curse the twists of fate that you feel took your agency away. Or you can say "Sod it!" and learn how to cope. The Night Witches took the "Sod it." path.

They didn't have radar - but this also meant they couldn't be tracked by radar. They couldn't get the height up to safely distance themselves from anti-aircraft fire - but by low-flying they could accurately hit their proposed targets every time.

 And, instead of alerting the enemy by the sound of their engines, they could completely cut power and glide silently enough to drop their bombs on completely unprepared targets. The last sound many of their victims were to hear was the wind passing through the canvas framework of their ancient craft; which the German soldiers thought sounded like the swishing of brooms in the dead of night.Thus they became the "Night Witches" - appearing as if by magic out of the dark and stilly night and causing fear and dread.

                                               

Because only two bombs could be carried at a time, each would have to fly several missions each night. So it was that, by the end of WWII - despite the fact that they hadn't been able to go into combat until 1941 - the women of the 588th had undertaken 30,000 missions, had dropped 23,000 tons of bombs and only lost 30 pilots! (There were thousands of female personnel by then who were serving in other Air Force regiments. But the Night Witches remained the only all-female unit throughout the War.)

The mission in which they entered into combat was to attack Nazi Headquarters. From there they went on with the respect of the Nation behind them, showing itself in the increasing numbers of medals and awards they earned; while two had been given State Funerals.

I was pleased to find the 588th clocking up quite a lot of interest on the Internet - which most certainly was not the case when I first discovered them. So many of them became Russia's heroes: so many have great stories of derring-do, peril, and heroic feats. 

It's really a step forward that any curiosity one might have about them, and their stories is, these days, just a click away.