Elinor Florence, Author

Bestselling Historial Fiction Author

The Night Witches

Russian women, often known as Night Witches, were the only females in the world engaged in aerial combat during World War Two.

These daring young women, some of them just teenagers, flew lightweight aircraft that dodged and darted and dropped bombs on the enemy under cover of darkness. So feared were they that the Germans called them The Night Witches.

Five young Russian Night Witches wearing military tunics, two of them in wedge caps, pose for a photograph, smiling at the camera.

Regular readers will know about my fondness for women in uniform — but these Russian girls were in a class of their own! While Allied women were not allowed to fill combat roles, Russian women were flying, fighting and dying. Thank goodness they were on our side.

(Note: This week’s post is written by Suzy Henderson, who lives in the lovely Lake District of England. We became acquainted online through our mutual passions for military history and writing.)

By Suzy Henderson

It’s April 1942. Pilots stand by their aircraft, preparing for a bombing mission. The air is cool, and their breath leaves silvery vapour in the still of the night. Banter flows but there is an edge of seriousness, a feeling of uncertainty mixed with strong emotion.

This is no ordinary sight, no ordinary squadron. This is Russia. And the pilots — are women. Women, prepared to die for their country, in their own battle against the Luftwaffe and Germany’s advancing armies.

Wartime photograph of several Russian Night Witches, their heads bare, wearing military uniforms with knee-length skirts and calf-high boots stride down a grass airfield, three bi-planes parked in the background.

Russia’s story stands out simply because it was the first country, and indeed the only country, to have women pilots flying in battle during World War Two. And the women who served with the Soviet Air Force had the hearts of lions, especially if you consider what they were flying. Their aircraft was outdated, inferior to the German, British and American aircraft, and flimsy in construction.

Yet these women warriors of the sky defied all the odds. They had a very high success rate and were greatly feared by the Germans. Indeed, it was the Luftwaffe who gave these women their name, The Night Witches.

Marina Raskova is often regarded as the Russian Amelia Earhart. She was born in 1912 and became the first female navigator with the Soviet Air Force in 1933. A year later she was teaching at the Zhukovskii Air Academy, the first woman ever to have achieved this level.

Before the war Raskova, along with two women co-pilots, made a record-breaking non-stop flight from Moscow to the Far East of Russia. When war broke out, she and many other female pilots volunteered, but their applications were blocked.

However, there was a radical turnabout in 1942, when Hitler’s army invaded the Soviet Union. Three million Russians became prisoners of war and the Soviet Air Force was badly in need of recruits.

Raskova took her chance. Supposedly she spoke with Stalin, convincing him of the merits of a greater fighter force — an all-women air force, to assist the war effort. She got what she wanted.

The 588th Fighter Aviation Regiment began operations in 1942. In February 1943 it was reorganized into the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, known unofficially as “Stalin’s Falcons.”

The third unit, the 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment, was commanded by Marina Raskova until she crashed her aircraft on landing and died in 1943. She was just thirty years old.

Marina Raskova was given a state funeral and laid to rest in Red Square, Moscow, the city of her birth.

Collage of two sepia photos, the portrait of a beautiful dark-haired young Russian Night Witch, and a biplane with Russian stars on the side and the tail, against a blue backdrop.

Altogether eighty women flew with the Russian air force. From 1942 to 1945 the three female regiments flew a combined total of more than 30,000 sorties, dropping bombs upon the German army until they retreated back to Berlin.

Mostly in their late teens and early twenties when they joined up, these women became heroes during the war, but are now largely forgotten.

Two of the women were fighter aces, and twenty-three others were awarded the title, “Hero of the Soviet Union.” By the end of the war, thirty women had given their lives in battle, including Raskova.

The pilot pictured below is Mariya Dolina. Born in Siberia, she moved to Ukraine with her parents and took flying lessons as a teenager. She joined the air force and became one of the best pilots of Raskova’s 125th Regiment. She described herself as being “impulsive and excessively restless,” but flew seventy-two successful missions. She died in 2010.

Colorized photo of a young smiling Night Witch wearing a green tunic and beret with a row of medals pinned to her chest, standing in front of a green aircraft with twin propellers.

Another of the pilots was Hiuaz Dospanova, born in Kazakhstan in May 1922, the only female pilot from her country to serve with the Russian Air Force.

Dospanova demonstrated immense spirit and determination in 1941 when she rushed to the front to protect her country against the advancing Germans. But she wanted to fly. Aware that Raskova commanded the women’s air force, Dospanova went to see her and was immediately accepted.

Following Raskova’s death in 1943, Dospanova became the head of communications of the 46th Guards. Flying more than 300 missions, she fractured both legs during a night landing in blackout conditions. But within three months she returned to her regiment to continue the fight.

Hiuaz Dospanova received the Order of the Red Star. In 2004, by the decree of the President of Kazakhstan, Dospanova was awarded the title of National Hero. She died in 2008.

(Photo Credit: History of Kazakhstan)

Wartime black and white photo of smiling young Night Witch in winter, wearing a Russian greatcoat and a fur hat.

Natalya Kravtsova was born in the Ukraine. In 1940 she joined the glider school at Kiev and two years later, at the age of nineteen, she became one of The Night Witches, flying with the 588th Regiment. By the end of the war, Natalya Kravtsova had flown 980 night missions.

Wartime photo of a beautiful young Night Witch, her dark hair pinned behind her ears, wearing a high-necked tunic with an impressive array of medals on her chest, looking pensively off to one side.

Nadia Popova, one of the first volunteer pilots, was motivated both by patriotism and revenge. She was once quoted as saying that she could see “the smiling faces of the Nazi pilots” as they strafed women and children in the streets as they fled from their Luftwaffe attackers.

Popova’s own brother was killed after the Germans invaded. Her family home was commandeered by the Germans to use as a Gestapo police station, when they smashed the windows and cut down the long-established cherry trees.

This photo shows Nadia Popova, right, and her co-pilot Katya Ryabova. They were members of the legendary 46th Night Bombing Regiment.

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Wartime photo of two Night Witches standing together, one with her arm around the other one's waist, both in uniform and flying goggles pushed back onto their heads, smiling at the camera.

The Night Witches flew in pairs — a pilot and a navigator. The lightweight planes were capable of carrying just two small bombs strapped beneath their wings, so it was standard practice to fly multiple sorties in one night. At times they found themselves flying up to eighteen sorties in one stretch.

The small biplane had a top speed that was less than the stall speed of the German planes, and highly manoeuvrable. This meant that the Russian could turn away from a German fighter, and by the time the German pilot performed his turn, he would have travelled a fair distance away, and the Russian pilot would be executing another turn. Thus it was difficult for the German pilot to hit the Russian with cannon fire.

Not everyone escaped. Prone to attacks by night fighters, the flammable little aircraft often returned to base bullet-ridden and burning like paper.

The aircraft, the Polikarpov Po-2, looks very fragile in this illustration.

Colored artist rendition of a small green biplane in flight, with red Russian stars painted on the side and the tail, two figures in flying goggles seated in the foreward and aft cockpits, smoke billowing from the ground below.

Here three of the Night Witches prepare to board their aircraft.

(Photo Credit: Ria Novosti via The Image Works)

Three Russian Night Witches in full flying gear, wearing helmets with goggles pushed back on their heads, parachute straps crossing their chests, stand before an aircraft.

The women flew their little planes quite low to the ground, often at hedge height, for cover. Their flimsy construction also made them highly flammable, so night flying was preferable for protection. They had the ability to fly low and effectively sneak in upon the enemy, undetected by radar.

The planes were also rather noisy, so in order to retain an element of surprise, the Night Witches would cut the engines, glide down to the German positions, drop their bombs and then re-start their engines and fly away.

The reason for the name, the Night Witches, was due to the sound the wind made against the wires on their wings, a whooshing sound which some of the Germans said it was how they imagined a witch’s broom to sound!

They flew so low that they were able to see the flare of a match as a German lit his cigarette in the trenches. No wonder the German soldiers were nervous.

Sometimes, their obsolete aircraft would stall mid-way through a mission, and they would clamber out onto the wings mid-flight to restart the props. Can you imagine doing this!

Such was their skill and reputation that the Luftwaffe pilots were promised the Iron Cross for every Night Witch they shot down.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Wartime photo of small biplane flying above the landscape below, two small figures in the cockpit, Russian letters painted on the side of the plane.

Nadia Popova explained in an interview several years ago that they flew without radar, guns and radio. They simply had maps and a compass. To save weight, they also flew without parachutes, so if you were downed, that was it.

She went on to say: “When you looked out to see the target better, you got frostbite. Our feet froze in our boots, but we continued flying. There was no time to give way to emotions. Those who gave in were gunned down and they were burned alive in their aircraft, as they had no parachutes.”

Here a group of women receives their orders before a raid in 1944.

(Photo Credit: Getty Image)

One dozen Night Witches stand in a row, wearing tunics, jodhpurs, boots, flying helmets and goggles, listening to another woman in black tunic and skirt as she speaks to them holding a clipboard in her hand.

The women were often the target of scathing ridicule from the men, but they enjoyed a strong bond of companionship. Not only did all three units have women pilots, but the engineers and ground crew were also women.

Here’s a photo of Nadia Popova standing, with her fellow Night Witches during down time. (Photo Credit: Ria Novosti)

Wartime photo shows four Night Witches at their leisure, wearing uniforms and boots, three of them seated on the ground, one with a cigarette in her mouth and one writing on her lap, one standing and fluffing up her hair.

Like other girls, they also indulged their femininity. They decorated their flimsy biplanes with flowers, and used navigation pencils for lip colour.

Popva herself flew 852 missions. Between missions, she would fluff up her hair, with her tortoise shell compact mirror in hand. She wore her oversized uniform cinched in at the waist with a belt, adding a dash of Hollywood glamour to her appearance. By her bedside she kept a silk blouse and scarf, just in case she ever had need to wear something smart.

Popova is shown here second from right, with some other pilots, reading a fashion magazine.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Wartime photo of five Night Witches, three seated at a table and three standing behind them, all wearing full uniform with medals, bending over a fashion magazine and smiling.

On her very first mission, Popova witnessed the death of two friends when their plane was shot down, but she continued her sortie and dropped bombs on the lights below.

In an interview with Russian Life magazine in 2003, she said: “I was ordered to fly another mission immediately. It was the best thing to keep me from thinking about it.”

Their planes flew in formations of three. Two acted as decoys, attracting the searchlights before parting and flying away in opposite directions, diving, darting and twisting to avoid the antiaircraft fire.

The third plane would continue to the target through the darkness. Once the bomb was released, they would then switch places and repeat the tactic until all three planes had released their bombs.

Their skill was so great that the Germans began to speculate that the Russian women were given injections and pills “to give us a feline’s perfect vision at night,” Nadia said. “This, of course, was nonsense.”

On one occasion, after being downed, she found herself amid retreating Russian troops. Among them was a wounded fighter pilot reading a novel. They began chatting, and she read him some poetry. They met several times during the war and eventually married when the war ended.

Nadia Popova was named Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation’s highest honour; and was also awarded the Gold Star, the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star.

“I sometimes stare into the blackness and close my eyes,” Popova said in an interview in 2010. “I can still imagine myself as a young girl, up there in my little bomber. And I ask myself, ‘Nadia, how did you do it?’”

Nadia Popova, the last of the Night Witches, died in 2013, aged 91 years.

(Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Black and white photo of elegant older woman with strong features and snowy hair, wearing a dark jacket, white shirt and a mass of medals on her chest, holding a photo of herself as a young Night Witch in flying uniform.

Thanks very much to Suzy Henderson for this fascinating glimpse into a little-known aspect of women in wartime.

* * * * *

About Suzy Henderson

Bestselling author Suzy Henderson lives in rural Cumbria, England.

Discover more about Suzy’s writing at: www.suzyhenderson.com

Find Suzy on social media here: https://linktr.ee/suzyhenderson

Visit Suzy’s blog here: Lowfell Writers Place

Collage of two photos, one contemporary photo of a young smiling woman with shoulder-length brown hair, and the other a vintage wartime photo of a Night Witch with her aircraft.

About Elinor Florence<br>

Letters From Windermere

I’m a lover of history and all things vintage. My passion for the past is reflected in my novels, my collections, my travels, my home on Lake Windermere, and the monthly letter that I have been sending to my dear followers for the past eleven years. You are warmly invited to join my list. I don’t ask for anything but your email address. However, you are welcome to tell me something about yourself because I love hearing from my readers.
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Lest We Forget

While researching my wartime novel Bird’s Eye View, I interviewed people who lived through the greatest conflict the world has ever known, both on the home front and overseas.
I uncovered some truly inspirational stories, indexed here by subject.
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