August 01, 2021

Soviet Terror of the Skies: Marina Raskova and the Night Witches


Soviet Terror of the Skies: Marina Raskova and the Night Witches
Pilots of the Night Witches regiment preparing for a mission. Sovfoto, Getty Images

In the beating heart of Moscow, right off Red Square, there's an incongruous bit of space behind Lenin's Mausoleum. The surprisingly quiet spot is emphasized by busts and Cyrilic plaques, and broken up by a few pines. This is the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, the honored burial grounds for some of the USSR's biggest names. It's a little claustrophobic: on one side is the towering wall of the Kremlin, on the other, the squat, red, brutalist marble holding Lenin's body.

Among the likes of Stalin, Brezhnev, and Gagarin lies Marina Raskova, protagonist of one of the most fascinating stories of the Second World War. Or, as the Russians call it, the Great Patriotic War.

Raskova stamp
A 1939 stamp of Marina Raskova, celebrating a record-breaking flight. | Public domain

Raskova was a famous Soviet pilot in the 1930s: she made a name for herself as the Soviet equivalent of America's Amelia Earhart. Her most famous exploit was navigating a crew of herself and two other women on a record-breaking 26-hour nonstop flight from Moscow to the Far East— a distance of nearly 3,700 miles. While the crew was forced to bail out at the last minute when poor visibility prevented a safe landing, they were instant celebrities, becoming the first women ever to be named  Heroes of the Soviet Union.

According to (possibly true) legend, following the sudden invasion of Russia by the Germans in June 1941, several women reached out to Raskova, asking how they could help defend their homeland (while women weren't outright barred from military service in the USSR, they were discouraged). Raskova, then 29, used her clout and fame to petition Stalin to let her raise a regiment of female pilots. Stalin consented, forming the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, tasked with destroying German trenches, encampments, and other targets under cover of darkness.

Most of the pilots were young students under age 25, and 400 of them arrived at the southern front on May 27, 1942. They would soon become one of the most well-known air regiments to fight in the Second World War.

A Polikarpov Po-2, the type used by the Night Witches. | Alan Wilson, Wikimedia Commons

With more high-tech planes and equipment going to male soldiers and pilots (even uniforms were second-hand), the 588th was stuck with obsolete aircraft: Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, nicknamed "Kukuruznik," which roughly translates to "crop-duster."

In an era where aircraft were becoming rapidly more advanced, the wood-and-canvas Po-2, which was designed in 1928, would have seemed out of place, even suicidal: the Po-2 had such a low capacity for additional weight that pilots weren't able to wear parachutes or use radios. The biplanes did have an upside, though: they could fly at very slow speeds. If a faster, more technologically advanced German plane tried to match a Po-2's speed, it would stall, or fall from the sky from going too slowly.

To prevent detection by enemy troops on nighttime raids (and thereby avoid disadvantageous combat), pilots took to approaching their targets with their engines idling or off. This caused the wooden airframe to make an unnerving wooshing sound, leading the Germans to call the attackers "Nachthexen," "Night Witches."

night witch prep by plane
A member of the 588th prepares by her plane. | AP Images

While the Night Witches began their tenure in southern Russia, pushing the German army out of the Kerch Strait and Crimea, they were soon moved along with the front, fighting in Belarus, Poland, and, finally, Germany.

Over the course of the war, the Night Witches flew nearly 24,000 sorties (That's twenty-four thousand times that a pilot took off, flew, and landed), dropping 3,000 tons of bombs and 26,000 incendiary shells. One source reports: "They damaged or destroyed 17 river crossings, 9 railways, 2 railway stations, 26 warehouses, 12 fuel depots, 176 armored cars, 86 prepared firing positions, and 11 searchlights." More difficult to quantify is the psychological impact the near-silent night bombings had on German soldiers.

The regiment produced 24 more Heroes of the Soviet Union before it was demobilized in October 1945. Of the 261 women in the regiment, only 32 died in the course of the war. Unfortunately, Marina Raskova was one of them: she was killed in a flying accident near Stalingrad in 1943, and her remains were interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, a place of high honor.

However, the Night Witches live on as a legendary episode of Soviet World War II history. They've made appearances in film, books, comics, and even a table-top RPG, if you want to imagine yourself in the Night Witches' ill-fitting, hand-me-down boots. It might not win you a Hero of the Soviet Union medal, but it's as close as you can get.

 

You Might Also Like

Women Combat Aviators of the Patriotic War
  • August 08, 2000

Women Combat Aviators of the Patriotic War

Told that the Rodina was not in so bad a shape that she needed girls to protect her, these future heroes were sent home to their mothers.  Soon, they were called back and became a crucial element in the protection of their homeland and victory over Nazi Germany.
Why Invading Russia was Hitler's Downfall
  • June 22, 2020

Why Invading Russia was Hitler's Downfall

June 22, 2020, marks the 79th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Russia that changed the course of WWII and, perhaps, history itself.
Grandpa Lenin and General Lee
  • July 06, 2020

Grandpa Lenin and General Lee

A considering of differing Russian and American views on monuments, history, racism, and coming to terms with history
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955