NIGHT WITCHES- ALL FEMALE MILITARY AVIATORS IN WORLD WAR II
Once we read their name which was night witches the
first question that arises in our minds is why are they were been called
with that spooky horrible name. Actually, the Germans Nicknamed them the
Nachthexen or “night witches” because the whooshing noise their wooden planes
made resembled that of a sweeping broom which is used by witches in urban
legends. This sound was the only warning the Germans had. Planes were too small
to show up on radar or on infrared locators, said Steve Prowse, author of the
screenplay The Night Witches, a non-fiction account of the little-known female
squadron. The 588th was the most highly decorated female unit in the Soviet
Union air force and any German pilot who downed a “witch” was awarded an Iron
Cross as a prize. Night witches crew consists of total forty-two women.
- HOW THIS JOURNEY STARTED?
From the clear starting of this unit, women were not at all welcomed by their male counterparts before the formation of 588th. when world war II Boke out, there were numerous women who had training as pilots and many immediately volunteered. As women were not expected (for the cause of their safety) suitable for serving this combat role, their applications tended to be blocked, run into red tape etc, for as long as possible so that women get discouraged. Raskova (head or founder of night witches) is credited with using her personal connections with Joseph Stalin (soviet dictator or politician) to convince the military to form three combat regiments of women. Following a speech by Raskova on 8 September 1941 calling for women pilots to be allowed to fight, Stalin on 8 October 1941 ordered the formation of the all-female 122nd Aviation Corps. From that point in time women became not only pilots but also support staff and engineers. Stalin basically ordered Raskova to establish a trio of all female air squads but only one reported to have remained exclusively was the team of night bomber regiment, where every single member from pilots to the commanders to the mechanic all were women. This regiment was commanded by Yevdokia Bershankaya. This regiment began after young girls ranging from 17 to 26 were selected out from a large number of applicants to the small town of Engels to begin flight training. Women were also welcomed by Raskova herself in a military manner.
- LACK OF RESOURCES AND RESPECT
When these 400 women were selected for each of the three units they underwent a highly compressed education as they were expected to learn in a few months that most male soldiers took years to grasp. Each woman were trained to perform multiple roles at the same time as a pilot, navigator, maintenance, and ground crew. Even after such a tough training and lack of resources the women their faced sexual harassment, casual sexism, long nights , and meager resources like weapons and devices, clothes, shoes, planes, etc. The military was not prepared for women pilots so they were handed over hand-me-down uniforms which were oversized because these uniforms were given up by men soldiers and made as per their sizes including oversized boots. Their boots were so big for them that they have to tear up their bedding and stuff them in their boots to get them fit.
The military provided them with outdated
Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, 1920s crop-dusters that had been used as training
vehicles which were not even considered suitable for a war “it was like a
coffin with wings” said Prowse. These biplanes were made out of plywood with canvas
pulled over, the aircraft offered no protection in any emergency. Flying these
planes at night, pilots go through freezing temperatures, wind, and frostbite. In
these freezing winter nights, the planes became so cold that just touching them
would rip off bare skin. Due to the low weight boarding capacity of the planes
they can’t even carry parachutes, they were not even provided with navigation
devices instead they were forced to use more rudimentary tools such as rulers,
stopwatches, flashlights, pencils, maps, and compasses.
These are some advantages of using these biplanes like:
1. Their maximum speed was slower than
the stall speed of the Nazi planes so it makes these wooden planes hard to
target by enemies.
2. They also could easily take off and land from most locations.
Disadvantages of these planes:-
1. These planes are unable to carry heavyweights, so it was unable to carry parachutes.H
2. Harsh weather conditions would cause rather serious effects on the pilot’s health.
3.When coming under enemy fire, pilots had to duck by sending their planes into dives (almost none of the planes carried defense ammunition). If they happened to be hit by tracer bullets, which carry a pyrotechnic charge, their wooden planes would burst into flames.
4. These planes could only carry two bombs at a time, one under each wing. The weight of the bombs forced them to fly at lower altitudes, making them a much easier target hence their night-only missions.
In order to make a
meaningful impact on German front lines, the regiment sent out in a group of
40 two-person crew a night. Each would execute between eight to eighteen
missions a night, flying back to re-arm between runs. They travel in packs each
with a pilot upfront and a navigator in the back. The first planes would go in as a bait, attracting German spotlights which creates confusion in nazis. These
planes which rarely had ammunition to defend themselves would release a flare
or blaze to light up the intended target. The last plane would idle its engines
and glide in darkness to the bombing area. It was this “stealth mode” that
created their signature witch’s broom sound.
- SOME THEORIES MADE BY GERMAN SOLDIERS FOR THESE WOMEN PILOTS
According to Prowse the
German had two theories about why these women were so good at their jobs:
1. They were all criminals
who have done crimes like stealing and theft and had been sent to the front
lines as punishments.
2. They had been given some rare and special injections and medicines that allowed them to see in the night.
- TOTAL NUMBER OF MISSIONS THEY HAVE DONE
- By the end of the war the night witches had flown 30000 bombing raids, delivering around 23000 tons of munitions right to nazis. the 588th lost 30 pilots during the fighting and 23 pilots including Popova were awarded the title of the Soviet Union.
- SPECIAL MENTIONS:
2. 2. Tatyana Nikolaevna Sumarokova- She made a total of 725 sorties in the war. She was eventually awarded the title “Hero of the Russian federation” in 1995.
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