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.
"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.
Natalya Fyodorovna Kravtsova née Meklin was a flight commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, one of the three women's aviation regiments founded by Marina Raskova after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The regiment later came to be known as the "Night Witches" by German targets. She was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in February 1945 for completing 840 sorties, and gained significant publicity.
Engels Air Force Base is a strategic bomber military airbase in Russia located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east of Saratov. Engels is a major bomber operations base, and is Russia's sole operating location for the Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber. The base has a 3,500-metre (11,500 ft) runway and about 10 large revetments. It is named after the nearby city of Engels, which is named after the Communist philosopher, Friedrich Engels.
Soviet women played an important role in World War II. While most toiled 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.
Vera Lukianovna Belik was a flight navigator and lieutenant in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment who frequently flew with pilot Tatyana Makarova. They died when their Po-2 was shot down by a German fighter after completing a bombing mission; both were posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1945.
An Aviation Regiment was a type of unit employed to organise aircraft and their crews in air combat in the Military Air Forces of the Red Army during the Second World War, the Soviet Air Forces, Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) and Soviet Naval Aviation, and since 1991 remain major formations within the Russian Air Force and the Russian Naval Aviation.
Battlefields is a comic book metaseries written by Garth Ennis, comprising several mini-series, each illustrated by a different artist and published by Dynamite Entertainment.
Nadezhda Vasilveyna Popova was a squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Regiment during the Second World War who achieved significant domestic publicity after completing 18 bombing sorties in one night with navigator Yekaterina Ryabova. Awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1945 for completing 737 sorties, she was featured on the cover of Komsomolskaya Pravda and in many other major Soviet publications during the war.
Raisa Yermolayevna Aronova was a Soviet Polikarpov Po-2 navigator and pilot of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, later renamed 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment during World War II. She received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on 15 May 1946 for completing 914 night bombing missions against Axis forces.
Khiuaz Qayrkyzy Dospanova was a Kazakh pilot and navigator who served during World War II in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, nicknamed the "Night Witches." In addition to being the first Kazakh woman officer in the Soviet Air Force, she was the only Kazakh woman to serve in the "Night Witches". Despite sustaining multiple fractures in her legs in a ground collision in 1943, she returned to active duty and continued to participate in sorties against doctor's recommendations; she was eventually awarded the title Hero of Kazakhstan in 2004 for her perseverance.
Mariya Vasilyevna Smirnova was a squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces during the Second World War. For her actions during the war, she was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on 26 October 1944.
Maguba Guseynovna Syrtlanova was a senior lieutenant and deputy squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during the Second World War. She was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on 15 May 1946 for having completed 780 sorties during the war.
Tatyana Petrovna Makarova was a flight commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, one of the three women's aviation regiments founded by Marina Raskova. She and her navigator Vera Belik were posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union after their plane was shot down by the Axis forces over Nazi-occupied Poland.
Olga Aleksandrovna Sanfirova was a captain and squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during World War II. She was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1945, making her the first Tatar woman awarded the title.
Antonina Fyodorovna Khudyakova was a senior lieutenant and deputy squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, nicknamed the "Night Witches" during World War II. For successfully completing 926 sorties she was declared a Hero of the Soviet Union on 15 May 1946.
Yevdokiya Ivanovna Nosal was a junior lieutenant and deputy squadron commander in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment during World War II. She was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 24 May 1943, making her the first woman pilot to be honored with the title during the war.
Yevgeniya Andreyevna Zhigulenko was a pilot and navigator in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces during World War II who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
Polina Makogon was a squadron commander in an all-female Soviet air unit, the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, also known as the Night Witches.
