Night Witches

Ok, here is where I totally fangirl. What happens when your country, desperate begrudgingly agrees to put women in combat, provides your unit with hand me down men’s uniforms and boots, no parachutes, old wooden and canvas bi-planes and 5 months to train on how to fly navigate and repair? Simple, you end up with the enemy’s army placing a bounty on your head.

 Marina Raskova formed three units and out of over 2ooo applicants selected around 400 women ranging in age from 17-26. They were sent to an avionics school outside St. Petersburg where they received crash course training on flying, navigating, and repairing their 1920s PO-2 bi-planes (image a crop duster made from canvas). 

The combined the 3 units flew over 30,000 missions lost less than 40 pilots. They were the most decorated units of the Russian Airforce but were not included in the victory parade at the end of the war… why? Because their planes were too slow.

Sources for more info:

I highly recommend A Dance With Death by Anne Noogle