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The Hardcore Women of World War II Knew How to Take Care of Business

Khalid Elhassan October 19, 2020 32 min

World War II - Night Witches — Night Witches in front of a Po-2. Flite Test

20. The Soviets Were Initially Reluctant to Use Women in Combat

The Soviet Union grew increasingly desperate in the days and months following Operation Barbarossa, the sudden German onslaught in the summer of 1941 that came within a hair’s breadth of crushing the communist state. The Soviets threw all they could lay their hands on against the invaders, in a desperate attempt to stop or at least slow down the Nazis. Yet, even in those dire times, the authorities were reluctant to use women in the front lines.

Women were initially barred from combat. However, after repeated appeals, most notably from Major Marina Raskova, who made the case directly to Stalin, permission was granted to form women into combat units. On October 8^th, 1941, three female aviation units were formed, commanded by Raskova. They were consolidated into the 588^th Night Bomber Regiment, later renamed the 46^th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. They were more commonly known as The Night Witches.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.