'Night Witches:' The All-Female Russian Bombing Unit Of WWII

June 11, 2021

At the height of World War II, Joseph Stalin, besieged by the Nazis turned to a group of aeronautical women that eventually struck such fear in the Germans, they named them Nachthexen or “Night Witches.” Led by the “Soviet Amelia Earhart,” Colonel Marina Raskova, the Night Witches bombarded the Nazis with over 23,000 tons of munitions over 30,000 bombing raids, exclusively at night.

Commander of the Taman Guards Women's Regiment night bomber Yevdokia Bershanskaya (left) and navigator of the regiment Larissa Rozanova. (Klimbim)

They faced sexual harassment and outright derision due to their “unwomanly” desire to fight. Nevertheless, 24 of the flyers earned the title of “Hero of the Soviet Union.” And the Night Witches helped turn the tide of WWII despite laughable planes and equipment. As Nadezhda Popova, flyer of 852 missions, said, “We did have clever, educated, very talented girls.”

Russia’s Darkest Hour

The Soviet's Amelia Earhart in 1938, Colonel Marina Raskova. (AlamyStockPhoto)

When the Nazis unleashed Operation Barbarossa upon the Soviet Union, roughly four million German soldiers marched from the west. That incursion threatened the heart of Russia, Moscow. Only then did Stalin acquiesce to Raskova’s request to command an all-woman group of bombers. The “Soviet Earhart” selected 1,200 women from 2,000 volunteers, most between 17 and 26. From there they underwent intensive training in Engels, a small town north of Stalingrad.