Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova was the first woman in the Soviet Union to achieve the diploma of professional air navigator. Raskova went from a young woman with aspirations of becoming an opera singer to a military instructor to the Soviet's first female navigator. She was the navigator to many record-setting as well as record-breaking flights and the founding and commanding officer of the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment, which was renamed the 125th M.M. Raskova Borisov Guards Dive Bomber Regiment in her honor. Raskova became one of over 800,000 women in the military service, founding three female air regiments, one of which eventually flew over 30,000 sorties in World War II and produced at least 30 Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak, also known as Lilya, was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. Historians estimate for her total victories range from thirteen to fourteen solo victories and four to five shared kills in her 66 combat sorties. In about two years of operations, she was the first female fighter pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft, the first of two female fighter pilots who have earned the title of fighter ace and the holder of the record for the greatest number of kills by a female fighter pilot. She was shot down near Orel during the Battle of Kursk as she attacked a formation of German aircraft.
Yekaterina Vasilyevna Budanova, nicknamed Katya (Катя), was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. Usually credited with five or more aerial victories, along with Lydia Litvyak, she is often considered one of the world's two female fighter aces. She was shot down by either Luftwaffe ace Georg Schwientek of JG 52 or ace Emil Bitsch, of JG 3.
"Night Witches" was a World War II German nickname for the all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, of the Soviet Air Forces. Though women were officially barred from combat at the time, Major Marina Raskova used her position and personal contacts with the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to obtain permission to form female combat units. "Combat facilitated and ushered in a reluctant acceptance of women in military, based more upon practicality and necessity than for equality". On October 8, 1941, an order was issued to deploy three women's air-force units, including the 588th Regiment. The regiment, formed by Raskova and led by Major Yevdokiya Bershanskaya, was composed primarily of female volunteers in their late teens and early twenties.
Jagdgeschwader 53 was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. It operated in Western Europe and in the Mediterranean. Jagdgeschwader 53 - or as it was better known, the "Pik As" (Ace of Spades) Geschwader - was one of the oldest German fighter units of World War II with its origins going back to 1937. JG 53 flew the various models of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 throughout World War II.
Soviet women played an important role in World War II. While most worked in industry, transport, agriculture and other civilian roles, working double shifts to free up enlisted men to fight and increase military production, a sizable number of women served in the army. The majority were in medical units.
Raisa Nefedovna Surnachevskaya was a Soviet fighter pilot and squadron commander during World War II, as well as one of the very few pregnant women to have flown in combat. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 she volunteered to join a women's aviation regiment founded by Marina Raskova and underwent training to fly Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters at Engels military Aviation School. She was assigned to the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment for the war; on a mission with Tamara Pamyatnykh she shot down two Junkers Ju 88 bombers while patrolling a railway junction after a formation of 42 bombers approached. After they each shot down two planes and Pamyatnykh attempted to ram a third the formation turned around without dropping their payloads on the railways.
Yevgeniya Filippovna Prokhorova was a Soviet aviator who briefly served as the acting commander of the 586th Fighter Regiment before she was killed in action during World War II. She is still the record holder of a World Record in height gain for a single-place glider.
Valeria Dmitrievna Khomyakova was a Soviet fighter pilot and military officer during World War II. She was widely reported as the first woman pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft, but later changed to the first in a night battle. Khomyakova was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, but was killed in a flight accident only two weeks later.
Igor Alexandrovich Kaberov was a Soviet Naval Aviation colonel, flying ace, and Hero of the Soviet Union. He fought in the Siege of Leningrad and was awarded the title for downing eight enemy aircraft. Kaberov shot down eleven and shared credit for eighteen enemy aircraft during World War II. He was withdrawn from combat in the summer of 1943 and became an instructor pilot, fighting in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. He retired from the service in 1960 and lived in Veliky Novgorod, where he was a deputy of the city council.
Tamara Ustinovna Pamyatnykh was a fighter pilot for the Soviet Air Forces during the Second World War. Following an action while on patrol on 19 March 1943, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The 125th Borisov Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment named after Marina Raskova was one of the three Soviet women's aviation regiments founded by Marina Raskova at the start of the Second World War. The unit was founded as the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment in the 223rd Bomber Air Division, 2nd Bomber Aviation Corps of the 16th Air Army on 8 October 1941, and later honored with the guards designation, being renamed 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment in September 1943 and reorganized into 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Division, 1st Bomber Aviation Corps, 3rd Air Army, in the 1st Baltic Front. Unlike the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, which used Polikarpov Po-2 utility aircraft, the unit was assigned modern Petlyakov Pe-2 aircraft, which caused some resentment among male units that had older aircraft. Throughout the course of the war, the unit flew 1,134 missions and dropped over 980 tons of bombs on the Axis.
Galina Pavlovna Ermak née Burdina was a fighter pilot for the Soviet Air Forces during the Second World War.
Serafima Tarasovna Amosova was the deputy commander of flight operations in the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during the Second World War.
Tamara Aleksandrovna Kazarinova was a Soviet pilot and the commander of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment during the Second World War until she was transferred to the General Directorate of Fighter Aviation Defense.
Mariya Mikhailovna Kuznetsova was a Soviet fighter pilot who originally flew with the women's 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment but was later transferred to the 437th Fighter Aviation Regiment with Yekaterina Budanova, Lydia Litvyak, and several other members of the unit in September 1942. While she did not become an ace, she made it through Battle of Stalingrad unlike many of her colleagues transferred there.
Klavdiya Andreevna Nechaeva was a Soviet fighter pilot during World War II who was killed in action protecting her squadron commander during the battle of Stalingrad.
Aleksandr Vasilevich Gridnev was a Soviet military officer and flying ace who commanded the Women's 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment after the departure of its previous commander, Tamara Kazarinova.
Valentin Vasilevich Markov was the Soviet Air Force officer posted to command the women's 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment after the death of its original commanding officer and founder, Marina Raskova.
Klavdiya Mikhailovna Kudlenko née Blinova was a Soviet fighter pilot. Originally assigned to the women's 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, an air defense regiment, she went on to fly in several predominantly male regiments, in which she engaged in intense aerial combat during the Battle of Stalingrad. Despite being shot down and taken prisoner by the Nazis during the Battle of Kursk, she soon escaped and returned to combat.
Soviet Union 
Soviet Air Force