March 30th, 2021

The "Night Witches", more formally known as the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, was a nickname given by German armed forces to a daring all-female coalition of military fighter pilots for the Soviet Union, who moved quietly and fiercely during the night, wreaking havoc on the armed forces of Nazi Germany during WWII and helping win the war for the Allied powers.

In 1942, women were barred from combat in the Soviet Union. That did not stop Major Marina Raskova, the first woman in the Soviet Union to achieve the title of professional air navigator, from using her contacts with Joseph Stalin to obtain permission to form their first all-female combat units during WWII. This helped create the 599th Regiment, which was a group of 261 female volunteers, primarily in their late teens and early twenties.

Initially, the all-female aviation unit was not welcomed into the military with open arms. Male counterparts treated them with a lack of respect and the women were given hand-me-down uniformed, ill-fitting shoes, and lessor-grade tools. This would not stop the 599th regiment from having an outsized impact on the war.

The 599th Regiment would fly under the cover of darkness and perform stealthy and unique attacks on the German military in order to harass, disrupt, and damage their operations. The night bombers would often idle their engines as they would approach their targets and glide in smoothly, leaving only wind noise to reveal their incoming danger. German soldiers likened the sound to a sweeping broom hence where the pilots earned their fierce nickname, the "Night Witches."

The Night Witches in total dropped over 3,000 tons of bomb and 26,000 incendiary shells, damaging or destroying over 17 Nazi-controlled river crossings, nine railways, two stations, 26 warehouses, 12 fuel depots 176 armored cars, and 86 firing points. The heroes also dropped 155 supply drops of food and ammo for the Allied forces.

261 brave women served in the regiment during WW2 and out of those, 23 women from the regiment were awarded the titled "Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest earning distinction at the time. The Night Witches did not have great planes, equipment, superior bombs, or even support from their peers, but in spite of that, became one of the more remarkable and impactful fighting forces of WWII.