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The Night Witches and Other Warrior Women of World War II

Khalid Elhassan December 8, 2019 31 min

Lyudmila Pavlichenko - World War II — WWII Red Army snipers. Pintrest

38. The Night Witches Gather

Members of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, AKA the Night Witches. Flite Test

Ignoring and overcoming the skepticism of naysayers, enthusiastic young Soviet women flocked to the 588^th Night Bomber Regiment. Many had lost family and loved ones to the Nazi invaders, and were itching for an opportunity to dish out some payback. Hitherto, they had only been allowed to contribute to the war effort in support roles, but many had wanted to be and knew they could be if given the chance, pilots and gunners.

The volunteers were mostly in their early twenties, but some were as young as seventeen. Not only were the pilots in these all female squadrons women, but so were the ground staff and ground crews. They were determined to demonstrate that female pilot and female aerial squadrons could make a valuable contribution to the defense of the Motherland. By June of 1942, training and organization had been completed, and the Soviet female aviatrixes were ready for combat.

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.