Night witches
- Thread starter shoshi
- Start date
Almost unheard of outside of Russia. They flew biplanes with intentionally mis tuned engines and dropped bombs randomly over the German lines to deny them sleep.
Not effective in a material destruction sense, but VERY effective in a psychological warfare respect.
Otis Mayfield
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How did the Germans know they were female?
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- #4
likely from shooting down a few of them. They were given pistols to shoot themselves rather than be captured and gang raped.
Last edited:
BasicHumanUnit
Diamond Member
Very little on this in the archives.
Lysistrata
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Women's contributions on the Allied side have been so under-reported. My aunt was Navy in WWII, being a bridesmaid for my mother wearing full dress Navy uniform, and my mother worked for Grumman Aircraft. People do not know that the highest scoring sniper in the Russian military with the most confirmed kills was a woman. Our female flyers were not recognized, even those who were shot down delivering planes to Europe. I will never forget an article in the Parade magazine (Sunday paper) when I was a teenager. It was written by a man who fought along side his wife in the Resistance in Europe, in remembrance of his wife and tell her story. They were cornered by the Germans and got into a gun battle in which she was gravely wounded. She directed him to shoot her dead, so that she would not fall into German hands and be tortured, and then run. He did as she told him, and lived to marry again and have a family. Women have fought heroically all over the world without being afforded the glory. Ethiopians. Peshmerga. IDF. Yesterday, I watched a 94-year-old woman interviewed, who watched the skies for suspicious planes coming our way, until she was thrown out of our military for being a lesbian.
rupol2000
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The Bolsheviks love matriarchy. Most of them are Jews, their wives are heads of families and clans are considered along the female line.
In the peasant environment of the Muscovites, this was also widespread. There, a woman is stronger than a man and had power, and a man drank
In the peasant environment of the Muscovites, this was also widespread. There, a woman is stronger than a man and had power, and a man drank
rupol2000
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the peasant woman was about the size and build of a man
In the Cossacks, a man is usually much more than a woman.
And the Austro-Hungarian aristocraty had men at all, 2 meters each, this also applies to the Russian aristocraty of the 19th century, after Napoleon, there were very large kings.
I think it's related to patriarchat
In the Cossacks, a man is usually much more than a woman.
And the Austro-Hungarian aristocraty had men at all, 2 meters each, this also applies to the Russian aristocraty of the 19th century, after Napoleon, there were very large kings.
I think it's related to patriarchat
whitehall
Diamond Member
How could the Germans possibly know the gender of Russian bomber crews?
- Thread starter
- #12
By shooting down a few of them.
whitehall
Diamond Member
Maybe the Germans shot down more than a few Russian babes who probably had a month of training. May the German word for "witches" has a different meaning.
DudleySmith
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They were brought up in a thread here some time back, and also in several books. They recieved about 6 months training. The website is now defunct, but here is an excerpt:
The Night Witches
In 1942 the Soviet Union formed three regiments of women combat pilots. The 586th Fighter (IAP) Regiment (Yak-1s and later Yak-7Bs), the 587th Day Bomber Regiment (Petylakov PE-2s) and the 588th Night Bomber Regiment (Polikarpov Po-2s). The 'Night Witches' were the women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. All of the mechanics and ordnance loaders of this regiment, as in the 586th Fighter (IAP) and the 587th DayBomber Regiment, were also women.
Trained for six months at the town of Engels on the River Volga near Stalingrad, they flew obsolete Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, that were otherwise used as trainers. Generally unarmed they carried a variety of droppable ordnance consisting of bombs/grenades (even Molotov Cocktails) thrown from the aircraft by the observer, and on later aircraft, underwing racks for up to 264 lbs (120 kg) of bombs or four RS-82 rockets. Like most Night Bomber Regiments, they were nuisance raiders with targets usually of little strategic importance, but the psychological effect of the terror raids had a major effect on the Germans who soon gave the women pilots the nickname of Nachthexen or Night Witches, presumably because of the fact that they were women and flew wooden aircraft at night.
Because of the aircraft's wooden frame and fabric covering contruction combined with the low heat signature of the small 100 hp (74.6 kW) engine, and flying very low to the ground, they were difficult (if not impossible) for radar equipped night fighters to detect them. Flying close to the target and then cutting their engines and gliding in to attack, also added to thier terrifying effect.
Harassment night bombing was very difficult to do, considering the low performance of the Po-2 biplanes was even less than most World War I fighters. Very slow, but it was also very maneuverable. When a German fighter tried to intercept it, the Russian plane could turn violently and nimbly at a speed much less than the pursuing fighters stalling speed, requiring that the German make a wide circle to come in for another pass. Then he was again met with the same evasive tactic, time after time, hoping that in frustration he would break off the attack altogether.
The Germans later devised a defence to their attacks, that the Russians later called a 'Flak Circus' wherein searchlights and flak guns encircled probable targets. The 'Night Witches' adopted a dangerous tactic in which, flying in formations of three aircraft, the first two aircraft would fly into the target drawing the searchlights and flak onto themselves and away from the third aircraft that would attack the target. After a successful attack they would regroup and switch places with each aircraft taking its turn as the bait.
The Soviet women bomber pilots earned in total 23 Hero of the Soviet Union medals and dozens of Orders of the Red Banner. Altogether, the Po-2 pilots flew more than 24,000 sorties and dropped 23,000 tons of bombs earning their place in history.
Can't get the link to come up on Wayback, but there is a link at Axis History Forum, if that helps; we're not supposed to link to other forums for some reason.
They were able to use old biplanes because the Allied bombing campaigns forced Hitler to strip the Eastern Front of planes and anti-aircraft gunnery, leaving the Soviets with almost total air superiority.
The Night Witches
In 1942 the Soviet Union formed three regiments of women combat pilots. The 586th Fighter (IAP) Regiment (Yak-1s and later Yak-7Bs), the 587th Day Bomber Regiment (Petylakov PE-2s) and the 588th Night Bomber Regiment (Polikarpov Po-2s). The 'Night Witches' were the women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. All of the mechanics and ordnance loaders of this regiment, as in the 586th Fighter (IAP) and the 587th DayBomber Regiment, were also women.
Trained for six months at the town of Engels on the River Volga near Stalingrad, they flew obsolete Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, that were otherwise used as trainers. Generally unarmed they carried a variety of droppable ordnance consisting of bombs/grenades (even Molotov Cocktails) thrown from the aircraft by the observer, and on later aircraft, underwing racks for up to 264 lbs (120 kg) of bombs or four RS-82 rockets. Like most Night Bomber Regiments, they were nuisance raiders with targets usually of little strategic importance, but the psychological effect of the terror raids had a major effect on the Germans who soon gave the women pilots the nickname of Nachthexen or Night Witches, presumably because of the fact that they were women and flew wooden aircraft at night.
Because of the aircraft's wooden frame and fabric covering contruction combined with the low heat signature of the small 100 hp (74.6 kW) engine, and flying very low to the ground, they were difficult (if not impossible) for radar equipped night fighters to detect them. Flying close to the target and then cutting their engines and gliding in to attack, also added to thier terrifying effect.
Harassment night bombing was very difficult to do, considering the low performance of the Po-2 biplanes was even less than most World War I fighters. Very slow, but it was also very maneuverable. When a German fighter tried to intercept it, the Russian plane could turn violently and nimbly at a speed much less than the pursuing fighters stalling speed, requiring that the German make a wide circle to come in for another pass. Then he was again met with the same evasive tactic, time after time, hoping that in frustration he would break off the attack altogether.
The Germans later devised a defence to their attacks, that the Russians later called a 'Flak Circus' wherein searchlights and flak guns encircled probable targets. The 'Night Witches' adopted a dangerous tactic in which, flying in formations of three aircraft, the first two aircraft would fly into the target drawing the searchlights and flak onto themselves and away from the third aircraft that would attack the target. After a successful attack they would regroup and switch places with each aircraft taking its turn as the bait.
The Soviet women bomber pilots earned in total 23 Hero of the Soviet Union medals and dozens of Orders of the Red Banner. Altogether, the Po-2 pilots flew more than 24,000 sorties and dropped 23,000 tons of bombs earning their place in history.
Can't get the link to come up on Wayback, but there is a link at Axis History Forum, if that helps; we're not supposed to link to other forums for some reason.
They were able to use old biplanes because the Allied bombing campaigns forced Hitler to strip the Eastern Front of planes and anti-aircraft gunnery, leaving the Soviets with almost total air superiority.
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Shawnee_b
Platinum Member
"Night Swallows" on prime. Many books available too.
Russian women were also snipers in WW2 and some with very high counts, one lady over 400 confirmed.
Russian women were also snipers in WW2 and some with very high counts, one lady over 400 confirmed.
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- #16
Lyudmila was good but her number of kills may have been inflated for propaganda purposes. Roza Shanina was a deadly shot. Sad she died so young.
Otis Mayfield
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Sounds like propaganda.
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- #18
the Red Army began enlisting women because of many casualties among the men. Roza Shanina who had lost both her brothers to the nazis enlisted as a sniper. She had 54 or 59 confirmed kills depending on the record. Sorry she did not survive the war so she could have written a book. We do have her diary of her experiences.
Propaganda from the soviets. They wanted the Germans to know they were being bombed by women.
- Thread starter
- #20
That and a number of them were shot down.
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