Andrei LindeA new episode of the BBC’s Secret Heroes Podcast focuses on the Night Witches, a group of Russian female pilots who bombed German troops under the cover of darkness.
World War II is filled with so many extraordinary stories of heroism that not everyone has reached a deadline. Currently, the History’s Secret Heroes Podcast for BBC Radio 4, narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, set out to celebrate these unhonored war heroes. And, undoubtedly, nothing more surprising than the one covered in new episodes. A squadron of Russian female pilots who flew under the cover of the night and performed secret bombing missions.
Germans keep calling these women Death Nacht Hexenor the Witch of the Night. They were an elite band of pilots, navigators, ground crews and mechanics who led a passion for aviation and a strong sense of obligation, and who began to break gender barriers.
Andrei LindeThose who were part of the squadron included the aspiring pilot and his best friends Polina Germain and Galilla Doctovich. Both learned to fly when they were young – and in October 1941, the famous Soviet aviator Marina Rascova was given an order to recruit women to a female flight squad, including the Night Witches.
“They were definitely adrenaline addicts. They wanted to fly, they were hooked on flying,” says Liuba Vinogradova, author of Reging Angels: Soviet Female Snipers, about the two women. “And they were very patriotic, so they both volunteered.”
Their commander, Lascova, was an inspiration. “She was a great celebrity of her time. Her name, her photos, her face was known all over. [the country]. She was a role model. She was the woman who showed that this kind of flight was perfectly capable,” says Vinogradova.
Make limits advantageous
The night witch had to be trained near the Volga River near Engels in Russia and fitted with what was usually three years of training. The women found themselves chosen as navigators rather than pilots. At first it disappoints Doctobic. She rose to the air and became more positive about this outcome.
Andrei LindeDue to the lack of aircraft in the Soviet army, women were issued wooden PO-2 planes that were not suitable for combat, which were normally used to spray pesticides. Plus, they were not given guns, radios or parachutes. As a result, they prioritized carrying bombs.
When it came to airplanes, they used their limits to their advantage. The PO-2 produced little noise. It was too small to show up on the infrared locator, unable to track it at the radio location. This allowed women to fly across German territory, lock out their engines and glide, allowing them to release bombs more easily without detection.
According to Vinogradova, the pace of their operations was unforgiving. “Every four minutes the aircraft takes off, bombs the target and returns, and the other aircraft are replaced.”
The Germans spread the tales of attacks in the areas they occupied, depicting the Witch of the Night as a supernatural force. They were given a name Death Nacht Hexenor the Witch of the Night, their wooden aircraft were likened to brooms, so their tactics made them feel as if they could appear and disappear without traces.
The Secret Hero of History
A secret hero of history, Helena Bonham Carter tells the untold story of the World War II heroes, in which acts of resistance, deception and courage helped defeat fascism. From the opera singer who helped dozens of Jews escape Nazi Germany to the woman Winston Churchill calls his favorite spy, we learn everything about forgotten survival, courage and the forgotten stories of spies.
If you want to listen to the full podcast episode of Night Witches, look for the secret heroes of history anywhere and wherever you go with the podcast.
The victory of the Night Witch distinguished them, and in 1943 they officially became the 46th security guard’s Night Bomber Air Regiment. However, in July 1943, the Germans surprised the pilot with new tactics. They silenced the anti-aircraft guns and instead launched night fighter attacks on the bombers. Doctovich was murdered on July 31st, along with seven of her fellow “witches,” whom Vinogradova calls “probably the worst night in the entire history of the regiment.” Nevertheless, the women quickly continued to fight until the allies declared victory in May 1945.
“They were on the airfield ready to fly the mission when it was announced to them,” Vinogradova said of Germain and the other witches’ commitment to the cause.
[InOctober1945theregimentofficiallydisbandedretainingthedistinctionthatbytheendofWorldWarIItheywerestilltheonlyunitwithintheRedArmystillcompletelyfemaleGermainlaterjoinedtheInstituteofForeignLanguageMilitaryStudiesandnameditafterhisdaughter’sfriendwhocollapsedinGaul[1945年10月、連隊は正式に解散し、第二次世界大戦の終わりにはまだ完全に女性である赤軍内の唯一のユニットであるという区別を保持していました。ジェルマンは後に外国語軍事研究所に参加し、娘のガリアに倒れた友人にちなんで名前を付けました。
Germain passed away in 2005, and towards the end of her life, she reflects on why the witch was so successful. Speaking to historian Reina Pennington, German said, “It is their free will, and what is done with the call of the heart is always better done than what is done out of duty.”
*This article is taken from a script by Alex Von Tunzelmann.
