Night Witches – all-female Soviet aviator regiment WW2

(en.wikipedia.org)

46 points | by gverrilla 3 days ago

8 comments

  • msabalau 2 hours ago
    There is also a (very niche) TTRPG about the Night Witches by Jason Morningstar.
  • derektank 1 hour ago
    In the US and the UK, members of the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) and the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) numbered in the tens of thousands, where they served as switchboard operators, air traffic controllers, and deployed barrage balloons. They occasionally got close to combat, the UK’s Flying Nightingales who served as air-ambulance nurses, first flew into Normandy just a week after D-Day to evacuate servicemembers injured during the initial assault. Both countries also employed many female aviators as training and cargo pilots, but they were almost all civilian employees of the armed forces unlike members of the WAAC and WAAF.
  • HelloUsername 1 hour ago
    In the Apple TV series "Star City" the head of the KGB surveillance department is referred to as the "Night Witch"
  • gustavus 2 hours ago
    Sabaton, a swedish historical power metal band, also wrote a song about these women if you're into that kind of thing.

    https://www.sabaton.net/discography/heroes/night-witches/

  • cjs_ac 1 hour ago
    There's a pretty good depiction of them in David L. Robbins' Last Citadel.
  • archerx 1 hour ago
    “An attack technique of the night bombers involved idling the engine near the target and gliding to the bomb-release point with only wind noise left to reveal their presence. Allegedly, German soldiers likened the sound to broomsticks and hence named the pilots "Night Witches".”

    That’s an interesting story behind the name.

  • bebe9494i4 1 hour ago
    [flagged]
    • delichon 1 hour ago
      From a military perspective, fertile women are also useful for producing more soldiers, logistics workers, and taxpayers, making males preferrable draftees where their warfighting qualities are similar.

      Russia has suffered ~1.4M casualties in Ukraine. If around half of those were fertile women it would increase the rate of their current demographic collapse by several percentage points.

      • bebe9494i4 1 hour ago
        Quite opposite, if Russia drafted women, there would be a baby boom in Russia.

        Based on data from US military (professionals, not draftees), female service members are very likely to get pregnant, just before combat deployment.

        So drafting women is a double win, it increases number of soldiers and increases fertility.

        • delichon 9 minutes ago
          So when they get pregnant at the last moment their training is wasted and a soldier is lost. And if they don't get pregnant with the right timing, they get fed into a meat grinder at the front? It seems suboptimal.
      • derektank 1 hour ago
        Also, men are just physically stronger, which makes them more effective as infantry forces. The advent of mechanical warfare and the creation of roles like pilot or sensor technician or satellite operator which don’t require physical strength have provided a lot more opportunities for women to serve effectively in conflict.
    • zulban 1 hour ago
      No need to put down men to talk about how awesome this women's pilot team sounds.