"night witches" defenders of the fatherland. "Night Witches"

On the evening of July 31, 1943, Galya Dokutovich had severe back pain; she took painkillers, but did not feel any relief. Immediately after sunset, the navigator of the 46th Bomber Women's Regiment Dokutovich, along with everyone else, received the order - Destroy enemy troops in locality"Red". Having barely climbed into the cockpit of the Po-2 aircraft, Galina and her partner Anna Vysotskaya flew out for a night bombing. After 35 minutes, when all the bombs were dropped, their plane fell into the beam of a German searchlight, and within a few seconds their wooden “corn stand” turned into a flaming torch. 35 minutes later, when all the bombs were dropped, their plane fell into the beam of a German searchlight , and within a few seconds their wooden “corn stand” turned into a flaming torch. What happened on the night of August 1, 1943 with her fighting friends was told to the Zvezda TV channel former boss of the headquarters of this regiment, Irina Vyacheslavovna Rakobolskaya: “In the morning, I, as the chief of staff, had to write a report. Even today I remember it by heart: point number 4 – “A total of 15 sorties were carried out against the given targets. Flight time - 14 hours 23 minutes. Ammunition consumed - 140 pieces. 4 crews did not return from the mission: Vysotskaya, navigator Dokutovich; Krutova, Salikov’s navigator; Polunina, Kashirin's navigator; Rogova, navigator Sukhorukov.” The death of eight pilots in one night became an emergency. During all the years of the war, the women's air regiment, nicknamed the “Night Witches” by the Germans, lost only 32 people killed. The death of Galina Dokutovich was received by everyone with special feeling. Dokutovich's recipe: 120 combat missions instead of a hospital bed At the beginning of the war, Galya Dokutovich was a student at MAI, the Moscow Aviation Institute. She went to war at the call of the Komsomol Central Committee. On one of the first nights at the front, in the Salsky steppes, when she was flying with Irina Dryagina, their plane was fired upon, and while the mechanics were putting patches on the plane, Galya lay down in the soft grass on the edge of the airfield and fell asleep. In the dark, a gas station driver ran over her... Irina Viktorovna Dryagina turned 94 years old this year. The famous pilot told the Zvezda TV channel about how she miraculously escaped on that fateful day: “This car flew towards us from the darkness, I was next to Galya. Only she fell asleep, but I didn’t, so I managed to jump to the side. A loaded fuel tanker literally ran over her, but she did not scream, even though she suffered a spinal injury, but calmly waited for the ambulance. She was a tall, slender girl with an open, clear face and large black eyes.” When the regiment was formed, Galya was appointed adjutant of the squadron. This was a blow for her, since adjutants could not fly on combat missions every night, she did not have “her own” pilot and plane, she shared them with the communications chief. An adjutant is like the chief of staff of a squadron... “I remember Galya lying on a stretcher, her bloodless face with compressed lips. Before she was taken away, she asked me: “Ira, promise me, when I return to the regiment, you will no longer appoint me as an adjutant, I will be a navigator, I will have my own plane and pilot.” At that moment I could promise her anything! We retreated, almost fled, and there was no hope that Galya would remain alive, not to mention returning to the regiment...” recalls war veteran Irina Rakobolskaya. After the hospital, Galina returned to her air regiment, hiding her assignment for six months of treatment and rest, and secretly from everyone, took painkillers. In front of the chief of staff, Irina Rakobolskaya, Dokutovich did a handstand - she so wanted to fly again. Before her death, Galya managed to make about 120 flights and receive her first order... Stalin “surrenders” to Senior State Security Lieutenant Marina Raskova Before the war, the profession of a pilot was very popular and prestigious in the Soviet Union. Hundreds of girls followed the men into gliding schools to get their flight tickets. Immediately after June 22, 1941, Soviet female pilots began asking to go to the front, but every single one of them was refused. Only an experienced pilot, senior lieutenant of state security, Hero of the Soviet Union Marina Raskova was able to turn the situation around. This happened after her personal appeal to the People's Commissar of Defense Joseph Stalin. “She was a fragile woman, but she could knock on the table with her tiny fist... She taught us: “A woman can do anything!” These words became my motto for the rest of my life,” says Irina Rakobolskaya. Raskova received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union even before the war - on November 2, 1938 for the women's world aviation flight distance record. Then she served in the NKVD. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Raskova began organizing women's aviation regiments; on October 8, 1941, Stalin “respected” the famous pilot and gave order No. 0099 on the formation of three women’s aviation regiments. Two of them were mixed, and only the 46th Night Bomber Regiment did not have a single man. Forget-me-nots on foot wraps On October 26, 1941, on the platform of the Engels station, the future “Night Witches” received the first order for a universal “boy-like” haircut and “hair in the front to half the ear.” “Our hair began to look like tow, in wrinkled long overcoats we looked little like an army unit. Braids could be left only with Raskova’s personal permission. But how could we girls turn to a famous respectable woman with such trifles as braids! And that same day our hair lay like a motley carpet on the floor of the garrison hairdresser. More than 60 years have passed, but my hair is still “half-length in front,” says today 95-year-old Irina Vyacheslavovna Rakobolskaya, former chief of staff of the 46th regiment. In the first week at the front, the pilots felt that they were being given unrealistic goals – German anti-aircraft guns did not fire at them, they were not caught by searchlights. And the fact that the crew of squadron commander Lyuba Olkhovskaya and navigator Vera Tarasova did not return from the very first flight was taken as an accident, for loss of orientation, for a malfunction in the machine. “When Irina Dryagina arrived with a hole in the plane, everyone ran to the plane, touched this hole and rejoiced - “finally we are fighting for real!” Of course, the girls remained girls: they carried kittens on planes, danced in bad weather at the airfield, right in overalls and fur boots, embroidered forget-me-nots on foot wraps, unraveling blue knitted underpants for this, and cried bitterly if they were suspended from flights,” says the veteran Rakobolskaya war. At first, the Germans, seeing plywood planes descending towards them with their engines turned off, flown only by young girls, decided that they were all criminals whom Stalin forced by force to fly at night and manually drop bombs on their positions. Then the pilots of the 46th Air Regiment received the nickname “witches”, and after this, “Night Witches”. “We learned about this from local residents of the villages that we left in 1941 and then liberated. We even liked that the Germans called us that. The regiment was secret, nothing was written about us in the newspapers for a long time, journalists never came to us. Our glory was known to very few,” says Irina Rakobolskaya. "Fire Land"

The 46th Guards Bomber "Taman" Regiment passed a glorious battle path from the Salsky steppes and the Don to fascist Germany. On Po-2 night bombers, brave pilots delivered crushing blows to the enemy, destroying crossings and defensive structures, destroying enemy equipment and manpower. The regiment took part in offensive operations in the Mozdok area, on the Terek River and in the Kuban; contributed to the liberation of the Crimean peninsula, the cities of Sevastopol, Mogilev, Bialystok, Warsaw, Gdynia, Gdansk (Danzig); helped ground units in breaking through enemy defenses on the Oder. “Our regiment was sent to carry out the most difficult tasks, we flew until complete physical exhaustion. There were cases when crews were unable to leave the cabin due to fatigue, and they had to be helped. The flight lasted about an hour - long enough to reach a target in the immediate enemy rear or front line, drop bombs and return home. For one summer night managed to make 5-6 combat sorties, in winter - 10-12. We had to work in the dagger beams of German searchlights and under heavy artillery fire,” recalls Hero of the Soviet Union Evdokia Borisovna Pasko. In November 1943, our troops landed in the Crimea, south of Kerch, in the small fishing village of Eltigen, but the Germans managed to surround it. Our soldiers had to fight off up to twenty attacks a day. From enemy bombs and artillery fire, Eltigen flared up with continuous fire. “For several nights our regiment flew to destroy artillery points around Eltigen. But the moment came when the paratroopers of the “Terra del Fuego,” as it was called in our regiment, ran out of ammunition, food, and medicine. The weather at that time was unflyable; the airfields of daytime bombers and attack aircraft were covered with dense fog. And we began to fly, despite bad weather and heavy anti-aircraft fire. Instead of bombs, they hung sacks of bread, canned food, ammunition and off they went. We focused on the light that the paratroopers lit for us. When he was not there, they shouted: “Polundra, where are you?” recalls Evdokia Pasko. After this operation, the “night witches” were told that the paratroopers, who had not previously known about the existence of a women’s air regiment, were shocked when they “heard girls’ voices from heaven " Then Pasko’s crew made 12 flights to “ Tierra del Fuego", dropping 24 bags of ammunition, food and medicine with sniper precision. "Armed Soldiers" Millions of people learned about the exploits of the pilots of the 46th regiment after the war. 25 “night witches” received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. And only the technicians of the women’s air regiment are almost never remembered. By staffing table at the front they were masters of weapons; the “witches” themselves called their irreplaceable assistants “armed men.” Tanya Shcherbinina, a military woman, attached bombs to the wings of the plane throughout the war. But first, the bombs had to be accepted, taken out of the box and uncapped, the fuses wiped off grease, and screwed into the “infernal machine.” For each flight, as a rule, 24 of them were taken. “The technician shouts: “Girls! For manpower!” This means that you need to hang fragmentation bombs, the lightest ones - 25 kilograms. And if they fly to bomb, for example, railway, then 100-kilogram bombs were attached to the wing. In this case, we worked together. As soon as you raise it to shoulder level, your partner Olga Erokhina will say something funny, we’ll both laugh, “infernal machine” - from our hands to the ground. You should cry, but we laugh! Again we take on the heavy “ingot” with the words: “Mom, help me!”, - Tatyana Shcherbinina, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, later recalled. Tatyana Shcherbinina says that the most the best gift for the weapons masters there was an invitation from female pilots to fly at night on a combat mission. This happened rarely, only in those cases when, for one reason or another, the navigator could not fly: “They just click: “Get into the cockpit, let’s fly!”, and the fatigue disappeared as if by hand. Wild laughter filled the air. Maybe this was compensation for the tears on earth? SAB parachute bras There is a lot of evidence about the difficult everyday life of female pilots. One of them is given by the “night witch” Galina Bespalova: “For us, days were considered a holiday when a “hair breaker” arrived at the unit’s location - tunics, underwear, and trousers were fried in it. More often we washed things in gasoline. At the same time, our girls managed to wash themselves, comb their hair and even put on makeup every morning after the bombing.” Once, after a battle, one of the crews was left unused with a luminous aerial bomb (GAB) - a burning torch that parachuted down over the target and illuminated the area. Usually the navigator would hold these bombs directly on his lap and throw them over the side of the plane. Two soldiers opened the bomb remaining after the flights, took out the parachute and sewed themselves panties and bras (for the first three years of the war, women at the front received only men’s underwear). And the parachutes for the bombs were made from real silk! “One of them was called Raya, yes - exactly! Raya Kharitonov, but the second one... I don’t remember. I'm like a deputy. I can say from the political commander that they were punished severely, very seriously. There was a Military Tribunal, they were sentenced to 10 years. But at our request, they were left in the unit, so to speak, to “atone” for their guilt. One of her friends reported them, she later admitted that she never expected such a turn of events,” war veteran Irina Vyacheslavovna Dryagina recalls today. “After some time, Raya Kharitonova and Tamara Frolova had their criminal records cleared, they trained to be navigators. One of these girls, Tamara Frolova, burned on the plane during the storming of the German Blue Line, the other, Raya Kharitonova, remained alive, both received awards as they deserved...” says war veteran Rakobolskaya. 20 thousand combat missions without parachutes and machine guns During the fighting on the Taman Peninsula, an entire squadron of fascist aces was deployed to fight the “female Soviet night warriors”. For each downed plane, German pilots received the highest award - the “iron cross.” “Night witches” flew the U-2 (trainer), but with the beginning of the war, this plywood training aircraft received a new name - Po-2 (N.N. Polikarpov - aircraft designer). Po-2 could be controlled by both the pilot and the navigator. The plane did not have any armor protection; it did not have any weapons on board almost until the very end of the war. Machine guns appeared on these aircraft only in 1944. Before this, the only weapons the pilots had were TT pistols. Until August 1943, the brave pilots did not even take parachutes with them, preferring to take another 20 kilograms of bombs instead. “We were more afraid than death of being captured alive, so we didn’t take parachutes. Before departure, we made sure to leave all documents with the regiment. Because of this, the graves of some of our dead friends It was not possible to find it immediately after the war,” says Irina Rakobolskaya. In October, the 46th Guards Taman Women's Night Aviation Bomber Regiment was disbanded. According to Irina Vyacheslavovna Rakobolskaya, not all of her combat friends were able to find their place in life, because they went to the front immediately after graduating from high school. Hero of the Soviet Union Evdakia Borisovna Pasko still produces new varieties of iris in memory of her departed fellow soldiers : “I called this handsome guy “Heavenly Slug” - that’s what our Po-2 was called. Do you know how many of our girls’ “low-movers” dropped bombs on the Krauts? Almost 3 million! Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General of Aviation Grigory Rechkalov said well about us: “Flying during the day and drinking at night is not at all like flying at night and not drinking at all.” Like all pilots, after intense combat missions we were given 100 grams of vodka or dry wine. We united several people, poured the alcohol into a bottle and gave it to the tailors and shoemakers of the aviation service battalion, who altered our overcoats and tunics, but, most importantly, adjusted chrome men's boots of size 42 to fit our feet." This photo shows a meeting of veterans 46th Air Regiment "Night Witches" made in 2006 by Bolshoi Theater. At this place, according to tradition, the legendary female pilots gather every year on May 2 and 8. This year, only Olga Filippovna Yakovleva, Irina Vyacheslavovna Rakobolskaya, Irina Viktorovna Dryagia and Evdokia Borisovna Pasko will be able to attend the meeting.

Defender of the Fatherland Day - military date, we should remember and congratulate not only the defenders, but also the defenders - the brave fighting girls. During the war they showed courage and heroism.
I recently read memoirs about the years of the great Patriotic War, written by pilots Rakobolskaya Irina and Kravtsova (Meklin) Natalya - “We were called night witches.” Reading the lines of the diaries, you become a witness to military events, imagine their experiences, sadness and laughter. The hero pilots were 17-20 years old.

The air regiment of female pilots, as in the film “Heavenly Slug”, really existed.
The enemy called the pilots “Night Witches,” who suddenly appeared silently on small planes. The girls flew on U-2 (Po-2) planes. They took part in the liberation of Novorossiysk, battles in Kuban, Crimea, Belarus, Poland, and reached Berlin.

“Let these quiet and modest U-2s,
The chest is not made of metal and the wings are not made of steel,
But legends will form in words
The fairy tale will intertwine with reality...”
Pilot Natalya Meklin wrote

The pilot of the Normandy-Niemen regiment, Francois de Joffre, admired:
“...Russian pilots, or “night witches,” as the Germans call them, fly out on missions every evening and constantly remind themselves of themselves. Lieutenant Colonel Bershanskaya, a thirty-year-old woman, commands a regiment of these lovely “witches” who fly light night bombers designed to operate at night. In Sevastopol, Minsk, Warsaw, Gdansk - wherever they appeared, their courage aroused the admiration of all male pilots.”

Lieutenant Colonel V.V. Markov recalled:
“Sometimes, watching how the armed girls hang bombs large caliber How technicians prepare planes at night, in blizzards and frosts, how female pilots go on combat missions, I thought: “Well, okay, we men are supposed to do all this: go on attacks, freeze in the trenches, attack the enemy from the air. Well, what about them?! For them, mostly still girls who have seen little in life? How they must love their Motherland in order to voluntarily take upon themselves the full brunt of the hardships of the front!”

I often visited the men's regiments located at the same airfield as us, and I had, not without pleasure, to hear how the commander summoned the offending pilot and angrily reprimanded him:
- How did you land the plane today? A? Did you see how the girls sat down? How can I show myself to them now! It’s a shame and nothing more!”

Irina Rakobolskaya (Linde), headed the headquarters at 23 years old.

Natalya Meklin (Kravtsova), at the age of 20, was enrolled in the air regiment. Hero of the Soviet Union.
Co-author of the book "We were called night witches"

Natalya Meklin wrote her “Pilot’s Prayer”:
Lord, deliver us from the drill,
Give us a purpose on the front line
Send it to us combat mission
And a moonlit night to boot...
Take me from hell to heaven
Let us bomb the front line,
And so as not to torment us for a long time,
You send us a warehouse with fuel...

In 1941, three women's air regiments were formed: the 586th Fighter Regiment (Yak-1), the 587th Bomber Regiment (Pe-2) and the 588th Night Bomber Regiment (Po-2), which the enemies nicknamed "Night Witches".

Women's air regiments were founded by pilot Marina Raskova, who in 1938, together with Valentina Grizodubova and Polina Osipenko, made a non-stop flight from Moscow to the Far East. For the successful flight, the pilot received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Marina Raskova - founder of the women's air regiment

In 1941, Marina Raskova was 29 years old.

Konstantin Simonov wrote about Marina Raskova, whom he met in 1942: “Marina Raskova struck me with her calm and gentle Russian beauty. I hadn’t seen her before and didn’t think she was so young and had such a beautiful face.”

Marina Raskova

The pilots remembered Raskova with warmth; she died in a plane crash in 1943, she was 31 years old:
“Raskova said a touching goodbye to us, wished us to receive orders and become guardsmen (how far away it seemed to us!). She said that we must prove that women can not fight worse than men, and then in our country women will also be taken into the army. She was amazingly beautiful and feminine, and at the same time there was no word “impossible” for her... Some kind of special strength and confidence came from Marina Raskova.” –

Warplane "Night Witches"

The “Night Witches” flew on a U-2 plane, which later received the name Po-2.
“Our training aircraft was not created for military operations. A wooden biplane with two open cockpits, located one behind the other, and dual controls for the pilot and navigator. (Before the war, pilots were trained on these machines). Without radio communications and armored backs capable of protecting the crew from bullets, with a low-power engine that could develop maximum speed 120 km/h. The plane did not have a bomb bay; bombs were hung in bomb racks directly under the plane of the plane. There were no sights, we created them ourselves and called them PPR (simpler than a steamed turnip). The amount of bomb cargo varied from 100 to 300 kg. On average we took 150-200 kg. But during the night the plane managed to make several sorties, and the total bomb load was comparable to the load of a large bomber.

Machine guns on airplanes also appeared only in 1944. Before that, the only weapons on board were TT pistols,” the pilots recalled.

The girls were trained in the city of Engels.
The pilots had to learn a lot during the war; due to their inexperience, accidents occurred. At first it was difficult for young girls to get used to army rules and drill training.

“...The first weeks at the front... Not everything was smooth, there was bitterness and pain of the first losses, and accidents due to inexperience, and difficulties with military discipline. There was embarrassment about our unpreparedness in the army, which, no matter how hard we tried, came out here and there. Sometimes German tanks We were almost close to our airfield, we had to urgently fly somewhere to the east, where no one was preparing sites for us, and the planes were in the air and there was no radio contact with them. Bershanskaya waited for the last crew to inform him of the flight direction, and before that, one of the most experienced pilots found a suitable site in the dark and lit a fire on it.”- (Rakobolskaya I.V., Kravtsova N.F. - “We were called night witches”).

The air regiment was entirely female; the mechanics and engineers of the regiment were students of technical universities. Mechanics were trained to be navigators, and the navigator became a pilot.
The pilot and navigator were flying around the yard. Often the navigator herself would land the plane if the pilot was injured.

The girls took part in the fighting in the Caucasus, the pilots recalled the difficulties of flying in the mountains.

Pilot Marina Chechneva, at the age of 21 became commander of the 4th squadron

Marina Chechneva recalls:
“Flying over the mountains is difficult, especially in the fall. Suddenly, clouds roll in, pressing the plane to the ground, or rather to the mountains, and you have to fly in gorges or over peaks of different heights. Here, every slight turn, the slightest decline threatens disaster, and besides, near the mountain slopes, ascending and descending air currents arise that powerfully pick up the car. In such cases, the pilot is required to have remarkable composure and skill in order to remain at the required altitude...

These were “maximum nights” when we were in the air for eight to nine hours at a time. After three or four flights, the eyes closed by themselves. While the navigator went to the checkpoint to report on the flight, the pilot slept for several minutes in the cockpit, and meanwhile the armed forces hung bombs, the mechanics refueled the plane with gasoline and oil. The navigator returned, and the pilot woke up...

“Maximum nights” brought us enormous strain of physical and mental strength, and when dawn broke, we, barely moving our legs, walked to the dining room, dreaming of quickly having breakfast and falling asleep. At breakfast we were given some wine, which pilots were entitled to after combat work. But still the dream was disturbing - they dreamed of searchlights and anti-aircraft guns, some had persistent insomnia..."

Evdokia Bershanskaya (Bocharova), at the age of 29 she commanded a women's air regiment

The regiment commander was Evdokia Bershanskaya. The women's air regiment was sometimes jokingly called the "Dunkin Regiment". She was a wise commander, as her colleagues write.

“In a combat situation, we could appreciate the courage and composure of Evdokia Davydovna Bershanskaya, her ability to organize the activities of the regiment so that we, girls, felt at the front in all respects on equal terms with men. No one ever gave us any concessions as the “weaker sex,” and we never lagged behind the male regiments in combat work. Strict, modest, self-possessed, she did not stoop to trifles that could overshadow the lofty goals for which we fought.

Bershanskaya was a real commander, and we were all proud of her. She never praised or scolded anyone. But one look from her was enough for you to feel doubly guilty if you were guilty, or doubly happy if you did something good.

She generally tried to avoid a commanding tone. And at the same time her firm hand was felt everywhere. Somehow, imperceptibly, she knew how to support the initiative where it was needed, and, conversely, stop what she considered wrong. During flights, she was constantly present at the start and, if necessary, flew on a mission herself. On the night when we received the first combat mission, Bershanskaya opened the account of the regiment’s sorties...” (Rakobolskaya I.V., Kravtsova N.F. - “We were called night witches”).

The girls did not think that they would receive awards for their military services.

Bershanskaya recalls: “One day the chief of staff of the division, Colonel Luchkin, came to our regiment and said: “Why, comrade commander, don’t you nominate your people for government awards? Some pilots and technicians deserve it.” I remember well how the chief of staff I. Rakobolskaya and I looked at each other and said uncertainly: “Is it really possible? After all, we haven’t done anything special yet.” The preparation of award materials has begun. And what a joy it was when, on October 27, General K. Vershinin presented orders to forty pilots, navigators and technicians.”

Sometimes accidents, like the croaking of frogs, helped save us from death.

“On the night of May 1, 1943, on the third combat mission, they were shot down in the Krymskaya area. Olga managed to land the car, but in enemy territory. For two days they made their way across the front line. What saved them was that there were floodplains nearby: a swamp and reeds, in which they hid from the Germans. They found these floodplains by the croaking of frogs...

Rufa writes in the literary magazine of the 2nd squadron: “Only now I cannot indifferently endure the croaking of frogs. Tears of tenderness and gratitude involuntarily well up. It depends on everyone, of course, but to me a frog’s song is more valuable than a nightingale’s trill...”

Pilots heroes of the Soviet Union - Rushina Gasheva (left) and Natalya Meklin

Female pilots went on missions without parachutes, but took them instead more bombs. The logic was simple: “ If they shoot down over enemy territory, then it’s better to die than to fall into the hands of the fascists, but if it’s over ours, then somehow we’ll land, our car can parachute perfectly.”

Every night the pilots went on a mission, the flight lasted an hour, then the plane returned to base to refuel and hang bombs. The time to prepare the aircraft between flights took five minutes. During the long winter night the girls made 10-12 flights.

In their memoirs, the pilots describe the feat of the mechanics who had to work around the clock. Aircraft refueling at night, aircraft maintenance and repairs during the day.
“...The flight lasts about an hour, and mechanics and armed forces are waiting on the ground. They were able to inspect, refuel, and hang bombs in three to five minutes. It’s hard to believe that young thin girls each hung up to three tons of bombs with their hands and knees, without any equipment, throughout the night. These humble pilot assistants showed true miracles of endurance and skill. What about the mechanics? We worked all night at the start, and during the day we repaired cars, preparing for the next night. There were cases when the mechanic did not have time to jump away from the propeller when starting the engine and her hand was broken...

And then we entered new system maintenance - by shift teams on duty. Each mechanic was assigned specific operation on all planes: meeting, refueling or release... Three soldiers were on duty at the cars with bombs. One of the senior AE technicians was in charge.

Fighting nights began to resemble the work of a well-functioning factory assembly line. The plane returning from the mission was ready for a new flight within five minutes. This allowed the pilots to some winter nights do 10–12 combat missions.”

In the summer of 1943, the air regiment was awarded the rank of Guards and presented with the Guards banner:

“The hot Kuban summer of 1943. Sunny June day. In the morning the whole regiment was excited: today we are being presented with the Guards banner...
...We iron and comb our hair in the most careful way. And, of course, we wear skirts. True, no one has shoes, but it doesn’t matter - we polish our boots until they shine.
The ceremony of presenting the Guards banner takes place in a large clearing near the pond. All personnel of the regiment are in formation, in squadrons. The solemn moment arrives. Commander of the 4th Air Army Vershinin reads the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In chorus we repeat the oath of the guardsmen..."

The war will not end soon,
The thunder of the anti-aircraft guns will not cease soon.
Silence over the crossing
And the sky is covered with clouds.
The engine is calling - fly quickly,
Hurry, crashing into the darkness of the night.
German battery fire
Measured and extremely accurate.
Another minute - and then
The darkness will explode into blinding light.
But maybe after a year,
I will see all this in my dreams.
War and night and your flight,
Below the fires there is a bloody light,
And a lonely plane
Among the fire above the crossing...
Natalya Meklin

Before the battle for Novorossiysk, base near Gelendzhik

The pilots took part in the liberation of the city of Novorossiysk. Victory in the battle came at a high price for the girls.

“The last night came before the assault on Novorossiysk, the night of September 15-16. Having received a combat mission, the pilots taxied to the start. On command post the airfield was attended by the command of the air and ground armies. Everyone was in tense anticipation, looking impatiently at their watches. And suddenly thousands of lights flashed around, everything rattled and rumbled. The artillery preparation continued for several minutes. It seemed that the mountains were also humming, the earth was shaking.

It was an unforgettable, scary and at the same time exciting picture. At the end of the artillery preparation, the regiment received orders to fly out. All night the planes suppressed pockets of enemy resistance, and at dawn an order was received: to bomb the headquarters of the fascist troops, located in the center of Novorossiysk near the city square, and the crews flew again. The headquarters was destroyed.

When we returned, we read a radiogram received from the front line, from the sailors who were fighting on the ground: “We thank our fellow night warriors for their air support.” They didn’t even know that along with their “brothers” their “sisters” were also flying...

Experience of fighting for the liberation of Novorossiysk, experience collaboration ground troops and night bombers was very useful during the crossing Kerch Strait, when creating a bridgehead already on the Crimean coast, and then on the Oder, and then on the Vistula.” (From the book by I. Rakobolskaya, N. Kravtsova “We were called night witches”)

Novorossiysk is taken - the girls are dancing

During one of the flights, four crews were killed.

“...At that moment, spotlights came on ahead and immediately caught the plane flying in front of us. In the crosshairs of the beams, Po-2 looked like a silver moth caught in a web.
...And again the blue lights started running - right into the crosshairs. The plane was engulfed in flames and it began to fall, leaving behind a winding trail of smoke.
The burning wing fell off, and soon Po-2 fell to the ground, exploding...
...That night four of our Po-2s burned out over the target. Eight girls..."
(I. Rakobolskaya, N. Kravtsova “We were called night witches”)

Minutes of rest

“Of course, the girls remained girls: they carried kittens on planes, danced in bad weather at the airfield, right in overalls and fur boots, embroidered forget-me-nots on foot wraps, unraveling blue knitted underpants for this, and cried bitterly if they were suspended from flights.”

The girls made up their own humorous rules.
“Be proud, you are a woman. Look down on men!
Don't push the groom away from his neighbor!
Don't be jealous of your friend (especially if he's dressed up)!
Don't cut your hair. Save femininity!
Don't trample your boots. They won't give you new ones!
Love the drill!
Don't pour it out, give it to a friend!
Don't use bad language!
Don't get lost!"

The pilots in their memoirs describe their baggy uniforms and huge boots. They did not immediately sew uniforms to fit them. Then two types of uniforms appeared - casual with trousers and formal with a skirt.
Of course, they flew out on missions in trousers; the uniform with a skirt was intended for ceremonial meetings of the command. Of course, the girls dreamed of dresses and shoes.

“After the formation, the entire command gathered at our headquarters, we reported to the commander about our work and our problems, including the huge tarpaulin boots... He was also not very pleased with our trousers. And after some time, they took everyone’s measurements and sent us brown tunics with blue skirts and red chrome boots - American ones. They just let water through like a blotter.
For a long time after this, our uniform with Tyulenevskaya skirts was considered, and we put it on according to the order of the regiment: “Dress uniform.” For example, when they received the Guards Banner. Of course, it was inconvenient to fly in skirts, or hang bombs, or clean the engine...”

Correspondent with female pilots

In moments of relaxation, the girls liked to embroider:
“In Belarus, we began to actively “get sick” of embroidery, and this continued until the end of the war. It started with forget-me-nots. Oh, what beautiful forget-me-nots you would get if you unraveled the blue knitted pants and embroidered flowers on thin summer foot wraps! You can make a napkin from this and use it for a pillowcase. This disease, like chickenpox, took over the entire regiment...

During the day I come to the dugout to see the armed forces. The rain has soaked her through, pouring from every crack, and there are puddles on the floor. In the middle there is a girl standing on a chair and embroidering some kind of flower. Only there are no colored threads. And I wrote to my sister in Moscow: “I have a very important request to you: send me colored threads, and if you could make a gift to our women and send more. Our girls care deeply about every thread and use every rag for embroidery. You will do a great job, and everyone will be very grateful.” From the same letter: “And this afternoon we have a company: I’m sitting embroidering forget-me-nots, Bershanskaya is embroidering roses, cross-stitching, Anka is embroidering poppies, and Olga is reading aloud to us. There was no weather..."

Fighting girlfriends

Different stories brought girls to war; the sad story of Evdokia Nosal, whose newborn son died during the bombing of a maternity hospital.

Evdokia Nosal. Hero of the Soviet Union, died at the age of 25.

“The first days of the war found her in maternity hospital Brest, she had a son. At that time, he and Gryts lived in a border town in Belarus. The Germans bombed the city, the building of the maternity hospital where Dusya was lying collapsed. Dusya miraculously remained alive. But she could not leave the place where until recently there had been a large, bright house. There, under the rubble, lay her son...
She scraped the ground with her nails, clinging to the stones, they pulled her away by force... Dusya tried to forget all this. She flew and flew and every night managed to make more combat missions than others. She was always first."

“She came to us, flew brilliantly, and on the dashboard of her plane there was always a portrait of her husband, also a pilot - Gritsko, and so she flew with him. We were the first to nominate Dusya for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union...”


"April 24
Yesterday morning I came to the navigators who were going to bomb, scolded them for the lack of wind forecasters and asked Nina Ulyanenko: “Yes, Nina, you were on the flights, how was everything okay?” Nina looked at me strangely and in an overly calm voice asked: “What, is everything okay?”
- Well, is everything okay?
- Dusya Nosal was killed. Messerschmitt. At Novorossiysk...
I just asked who the navigator was. “Kashirina. She brought the plane and landed it.” Yes, we always have something new. And usually all sorts of incidents at the start happen without me. Dusya, Dusya... The wound is in the temple and the back of the head, she lies as if alive... And her Gritsko is in Chkalov...
And Irinka is great - after all, Dusya leaned on the handle in the first cabin, Ira stood up, pulled her by the collar and with great difficulty piloted the plane. Still hoping that she fainted...
No matter what I did yesterday, I kept thinking about Dus. But not the same as it was a year ago. Now it became much harder for me, I knew Dusya closely, but I myself, like everyone else, became different: drier, callous. Not a tear. War. Just the day before yesterday I flew to this target with Lyusya Klopkova... In the morning, she and I drank with laughter because we weren’t hit: we heard anti-aircraft guns exploding under the planes, but they didn’t reach us...”

“...In the coffin she lay stern, with her head bandaged. It was difficult to say which was whiter - her face or the bandage... A rifle salute sounded. A pair of fighters flew low and low. They shook their wings, sending farewell greetings."

"Stargazer" Evgenia Rudneva, died at 24 years old

“...And then, in 1942, instead of Olkhovskaya and Tarasova, Dina Nikulina was appointed squadron commander, and Zhenya Rudneva, our “stargazer,” as the girls affectionately called her, was appointed navigator.

Dina Nikulina - bright man, one might say, a “dashing” pilot... Zhenya Rudneva is a modest, soft girl, a dreamer, in love with distant sparkling stars. Back in 1939, Zhenya wrote in her diary: “I know very well that the hour will come when I can die for the cause of my people... I want to devote my life to science, and I will do this, but if necessary, I will forget astronomy for a long time and I’ll become a fighter...”

Dina Nikulina - Hero of the Soviet Union. She survived the war.

Dina Nikulina is a professional pilot with excellent piloting technique. Her character is cheerful and cheerful. She flew fearlessly. And at amateur performance evenings she enthusiastically tap-danced until she was wounded in the leg. After that we found out that she sings great..."
(Rakobolskaya I.V., Kravtsova N.F. - “We were called night witches”).

Zhenya Rudneva wrote in her diary:
“On January 5, for the first time in my life I was in the air for 10 minutes. This is a feeling that I don’t undertake to describe, because I still won’t be able to. It seemed to me later on earth that I was born again on that day. But on the 7th it was even better: the plane did a spin and performed one flip. I was tied with a belt. The earth shook and swayed and suddenly stood above my head. Below me there was a blue sky, clouds in the distance. And at that moment I thought that when the glass rotates, the liquid does not pour out of it...
After the first flight, it was as if I was born again, I began to look at the world with different eyes... and sometimes I even get scared that I could live my life and never fly..."

Colleagues wrote in their diaries about Zhenya Rudneva; she died on the eve of the wedding. During the war, letters arrived late, the girl was no longer alive, but letters from the groom continued to arrive.

"First and last love, pure, bright and deep, like everything that was in her life, came to her unexpectedly. And how good it is, how simply Zhenya writes about this in her diary: “Why should I the whole world? I need a whole person, but so that he is “mine.” Then the world will be ours.” Once the tank engineer Slava managed to come to our regiment, and then he was sent to Iran... Thousands of kilometers separated them, but kind words love and friendship reached from Iran to Taman.”

He wrote to her:
“...My dear Zhenechka! From now on mine later life gets a new color! Everything I do, I will do as best as possible, honoring your lovely image in my heart. I ask you only one thing - take less unnecessary risks in your work and remember that you are very dear to me... ...Everything, everything reminds me of you.

This has never happened to me before! I miss you. And how many times have I taken your photo out of the tablet... ...For some time now, you, my dear, have been a second life for me. I didn’t worry about anyone before, but now I’ll think about you all the time, and probably no work or danger will be able to distract me from this. I will live only for you...

As for the fact that you are an ordinary girl, you won’t convince me. Ordinary girls work in factories and study at institutes in the rear. They don’t know the high price of life, they didn’t feel the breath of death, and most importantly, they didn’t destroy the Nazis, the most terrible threat to our Motherland.”

Fighting girlfriends

Colleagues bitterly describe their friend's last flight:
“On the night of April 9, the moon shone brightly over Kerch, and at an altitude of 500–600 meters the sky was covered with a thin layer of clouds illuminated by the moon. Against the background of the clouds, you could clearly see, as if on a screen, a plane slowly crawling across the sky. That night Zhenya Rudneva made her 645th flight with pilot Panna Prokopyeva. In general, she was an experienced pilot, but she had recently arrived in the regiment and had no more than 10 combat missions. Following her rule, Zhenya checked the young...

Over the target, their plane was fired upon by Oerlikon automatic anti-aircraft guns and caught fire. A few seconds later, bombs exploded below - the navigator managed to drop them on the target. For some time, the burning plane continued to fly west, it was necessary to drop leaflets, then it turned east, and then the crews of other aircraft saw missiles begin to fly out of the first cabin.
At first, slowly, in a spiral, and then more and more quickly, the plane began to fall to the ground, it seemed that the pilot was trying to put out the flames. Then rockets began to fly out from the plane like fireworks: red, white, green. The cabins were already burning... or maybe Zhenya was saying goodbye to us. The plane crashed behind the front line. You could see how he flashed brightly last time and began to fade...

I was on duty that night; the arriving crews reported that they saw a burning falling plane. Based on the timing, it became clear to me that it was Prokopyeva and Rudneva... Until the morning, the armed forces wrote “For Zhenya” on the bombs...

After the war, pilot Evgenia Zhigulenko made the film “Night Witches in the Sky”

“Zhenya Zhigulenko is a tall, slender girl with a broad nature, a lover of poetry and flowers, her bouquets were of exorbitant size and unprecedented beauty. She studied at a flying club before the war, so after flying as a navigator, she then moved to the first cabin. After the war, unexpectedly for us, she graduated from the Institute of Cinematography and became a director. And she released a film based on the history of our regiment, “Night Witches in the Sky.” There is both fiction and truth in it.”

Victory is coming!

In 1945, everyone believed that victory would come soon, the enemy was retreating. Rokossovsky himself took care of the pilots’ awards and personally visited the girls.

"In Dalek we met New Year- 1945. This year, we had no doubt, would bring Victory. All that remains is to gather one’s strength one last time and rush to the west...
We were preparing for a big offensive, a decisive blow to the Nazis - we studied the areas from the Vistula to the Oder and beyond on maps. Our 2nd Belorussian Front headed west north of Berlin, its right flank was the coast Baltic Sea.
In early February 1945, we were already approaching the borders of East Prussia. The regiment was stationed 10 kilometers from Mlava. Next point, where we were supposed to relocate, was on primordially German soil - Charlottenwerder. Our advance team was sent there, but it was forced to return, having met along the way large group Germans breaking through to their troops. When everything calmed down, we flew to a new place.”

“After the combat night, we go to the dining room for breakfast and on the way we learn that in the newspapers there is a Decree of February 23, 1945 on awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to nine pilots and navigators of our regiment.

The large hall of the local theater in the city of Tukholya, where we recently flew. We are having a celebration here. The Commander of the Second Belorussian Front, Marshal Rokossovsky, came to present the awards. When he, tall and thin, entered the hall, Bershanskaya loudly and clearly reported to him. The marshal, a little at a loss, quietly greeted us and, hearing the general thunderous response, became embarrassed: apparently, he had a different idea of ​​the “girl” regiment that he was told about. Then he made a short speech and began to present Gold Stars and orders.”
(Rakobolskaya I.V., Kravtsova N.F. - “We were called night witches”).

Preparing for the victory parade

“At the end of May, K.K. Rokossovsky came to us again with his main staff commanders and the command of the 4th VA. He decided to arrange a Victory Day for us. This coincided with the third anniversary of our stay at the front. He even brought the front orchestra with him. We rejoiced - it was all over, a thousand and one hundred nights had passed, our planes would no longer burn! We danced, sang, drank wonderful wine... And again the marshal surprised me. While dancing in a straight line, Stalin called him. The music got in the way, Rokossovsky couldn’t understand the words well, but he didn’t stop the orchestra, he said out of place to Stalin “that’s right”...

The marshal told us about the Victory dinner in the Kremlin, Stalin sat him down next to him, then took his glass and put it on the floor. Rokossovsky froze... Stalin put his glass on the floor. Then he took it, Konstantin Konstantinovich did the same, and they clinked glasses. And then Stalin said: “I respect you like Mother Earth”...
In the morning, the general's team played volleyball against the team of the 2nd air squadron. Rokossovsky told me that he knows how to extinguish well. However, the generals lost to our girls with a completely devastating score."

Among her impressions after the victory, Natalya Meklin describes the long-awaited shoes; it was like a kind of sign that the war was over:
“Victory has come. On this day we put on dresses. True, they were in uniform, with shoulder straps. And shoes. Not boots, but shoes made to order. They were brought by car. Full body - choose! Real shoes, brown, with a medium heel... Of course, not so great, but still shoes. After all, the war is over!

Victory! This word sounded unusual. It excited, pleased and at the same time, oddly enough, a little alarmed..."

“For me, the Motherland is a painful feeling when I want to cry from melancholy and happiness, pray and rejoice”- wrote Natalya Meklin.

Dead girlfriends

Malakhova Anna and Vinogradova Masha Engels, March 9, 1942
Tormosina Liliya and Komogortseva Nadya Engels, March 9, 1942
Olkhovskaya Lyuba and Tarasova Vera Donbass, shot down in June 1942.
Efimova Tonya died of illness, December 1942.
Valya Stupina died of illness in the spring of 1943.
Makagon Polina and Svistunova Lida crashed during landing on April 1, 1943, Pashkovskaya
Yulia Pashkova died on April 4, 1943 after an accident in Pashkovskaya
Nosal Dusya was killed on a plane on April 23, 1943.
Anya Vysotskaya and Galya Dokutovich burned over the Blue Line on August 1, 1943.
Rogova Sonya and Sukhorukova Zhenya - -
Polunina Valya and Kashirina Ira - -
Krutova Zhenya and Salikova Lena - -
Belkina Pasha and Frolova Tamara shot down in 1943, Kuban
Maslennikova Luda died in a bombing, 1943.
Volodina Taisiya and Bondareva Anya lost their bearings, Taman, March 1944.
Prokofieva Panna and Rudneva Zhenya burned over Kerch on April 9, 1944.
Varakina Lyuba died at the airfield in another regiment in 1944.
Tanya Makarova and Vera Belik burned to death in Poland on August 29, 1944.
Sanfirova Lelya was blown up by a mine after jumping from a burning plane on December 13, 1944, Poland
Anya Kolokolnikova crashed on a motorcycle, 1945, Germany

After the war, colleagues found the graves of their dead friends.

“If it were possible to collect flowers from all over the world and lay them at your feet, then even with this we would not be able to express our admiration for the Soviet pilots!”- wrote the French soldiers of the Normandie-Niemen regiment.

In conclusion, a song from the good old movie about female pilots, which was filmed on the eve of the victory.

During World War II, not only young seventeen-year-old boys, but also female students went to the front. Young beauties who just yesterday were preparing for exams, meeting guys and dreaming about wedding dress, today they fought for the lives of their compatriots and the freedom of the Motherland. Some of the brave girls became a military nurse, some became a scout, some became a machine gunner, and some became a military pilot. They fought against fascism along with men, often in the same regiment.

"Night Witches"

The most famous and at the same time the only women's regiment in Russian and world history is the 46th Guards Women's Night Bomber Regiment, affectionately called regular army Soviet Union “Dunka Regiment” and fearfully nicknamed “Night Witches” by fascist soldiers.

"Night witches" initially called German army only contemptuous laughter, since they flew on plywood U-2 planes, which in the event of a direct hit were not difficult to shoot down. However, during the battles, the fearless warriors were able to show what they were worth, instilling horror in the enemy before the “night swallows” (so girls named their planes).

The Women's Night Bomber Aviation Regiment made an invaluable contribution to the victory.

"U-2" - a cardboard corn truck or a combat "Heavenly Slug"?

"U-2" and "Po-2" are light plywood airplanes, the hulls of which were not protected from hits large-caliber weapons. They caught fire at the slightest contact with fire. Slow cars, whose speed limit was just above 100 km/h, gained altitude up to 500 meters, but in the skillful hands of female pilots they turned into a formidable weapon.

As darkness fell, the 46th Women's Aviation Regiment of night bombers appeared out of nowhere and bombarded enemy positions.

Rakobolskaya speaks with respect of Raskova, who turned an “unformed, shaggy, dirty-haired army” into a professional regiment of night bombers. With a laugh, ninety-year-old Irina Vyacheslavovna recalls her girlish resentment when she, like the entire female regiment, was ordered by the command to cut her hair short, and about the annoyance that arose when she found out what their battle brothers called their unit.

A woman who fought for the people, for the future of her children, talks with tears in her eyes about how the fate of some girls from the “Dunka Regiment” turned out after the war, because not every one of them found her calling in peacetime. However, the wise Irina Vyacheslavovna Rakobolskaya holds no grudge against either the authorities or the eccentric youth. She believes that if a war started in our time, young boys and girls, without a moment’s doubt, would go to defend their Motherland.

"Night witches" in art

Glory overtook the regiment in the field of art. Many films have been made about brave girls and many songs have been sung.

The first film about the 46th Guards Women's Regiment of Night Bombers with the title “1100 Nights” was shot by Semyon Aronovich back in the Soviet Union, in 1961. 20 years later, another film was released - “In the Sky “Night Witches”.

In the well-known and beloved work “Only Old Men Go to Battle,” the plot was based on the story “ Night Witch» Nadezhda Popova and pilot Semyon Kharlamov.

Some foreign groups, such as Hail of Bullets and Sabaton, glorify the 46th Guards Women's Regiment in their compositions.

The entire Soviet people contributed to the victory over Nazi Germany. Men fought the enemy face to face, women, teenagers and old people tried, to the best of their ability, to organize supplies, agriculture and the work of the rear in general. But there were exceptions to this rule. Unique exceptions.

In 1941, in the city of Engels, under the personal responsibility of senior lieutenant of state security Marina Raskova, the 46th Guards Night Bomber Women's Aviation Regiment was founded, which in the future was dubbed " Night witches". To do this, Marina had to use her personal resources and personal acquaintance with Stalin. No one really counted on success, but they gave the go-ahead and provided us with the necessary equipment.

What exactly was the plan? Using silent and almost invisible to radar U-2 aircraft, loaded with bombs to the max, the girls flew up to German positions under the cover of darkness and dumped explosive surprises on their heads. The idea was good, but, as practice later showed, it was almost suicidal. The fact is that the U-2 is an outdated TRAINING biplane made of plywood, which could reach a speed of no more than 120 km/h. That is, if they notice, they can even shoot you down with a submachine gun, not to mention more powerful weapon. Plus, at first the girls basically did not take parachutes with them in order to increase their ammunition load.

I mean, imagine. Winter 1943. Frost is minus thirty, the Germans are still successfully resisting, and you, late at night, with virtually no lighting, lift into the air a slow car that looks like a wooden coffin and loaded with bombs, fly behind the front line, miraculously find the enemy, and without attracting the attention of the sentries you dump it on them everything I took. Oh yes, there is no auto-reset or sight either - only improvised devices. And then we have to come back. And sit down. At night. No lighting. Repeat 12 times. An ordinary February night.

Of course, there were losses. Of the 115 women who went to the front on May 27, 1942, 32 people died. Some were shot down while approaching the enemy, some crashed unsuccessfully landing in complete darkness, some were shot down by enemy night fighters, which, by the way, were specially created to fight "night witches". After the war, regimental commissar Evdokia Rachkevich, using money collected by the regiment, traveled to all the disaster sites and found the remains of all her dead friends. So none of the " Night witches“Isn’t missing and isn’t lying in an unknown place.

« Night witches"- the only unit that consisted entirely of girls, even technical and maintenance personnel. And if you think that it was hard only for female pilots, imagine what it was like for the girls to attach bombs weighing one hundred kilograms to the wings of the plane in the bitter cold. And then repair the fuselages that were shot through.

As already mentioned, initially as part of “ Night witches“There were 115 people who flew in 20 cars. Then the number of cars increased to 40. A total quantity There were 265 military personnel of the 46th Guards Bomber Regiment. More than 23 thousand combat missions were carried out and a huge number of enemy infrastructure elements were destroyed. . And all this in absolutely suicidal conditions. The Germans were afraid night witches"to the point of stupor - they came up with a terrifying name, specially created a night fighter regiment so that at least somehow they could be resisted. They succeeded a couple of times. 23 pilots were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

My grandfather himself was a pilot. Civil aviation, true, but I heard enough stories from him in my time. And about flying in a thunderstorm, and about landing in extreme conditions, and about emergency situations. It was scary, yes. But there is no comparison with what these girls experienced every day. And if this is not real heroism, then I don’t know who can be called heroes. So yeah, " Night witches» forever inscribed on the pages heroic story Russia.

In the days of celebrating the Great Victory, one cannot help but remember the women warriors who fought side by side alongside men and were almost in no way inferior to them.

46th Guards Taman Red Banner Order of Suvorov 3rd degree night bomber aviation regiment (46th Guards nbap) - a women's aviation regiment as part of the USSR Air Force during the Great Patriotic War.

The aviation regiment was formed in October 1941 by order of the USSR NPO No. 0099 dated 10/08/41 “On the formation of women’s aviation regiments of the Red Army Air Force.” The formation was led by Marina Raskova. Evdokia Bershanskaya, a pilot with ten years of experience, was appointed commander of the regiment. Under her command the regiment fought until the end of the war. Sometimes it was jokingly called: “Dunkin Regiment,” with a hint of an all-female composition and justified by the name of the regiment commander.

The party and political leadership of the regiment was headed by Maria Runt. For some time, Maria Alexandrovna Fortus was the chief of staff of the regiment.

The formation, training and coordination of the regiment was carried out in the city of Engels. The air regiment differed from other formations in that it was entirely female. Created under the same order, two other women's air regiments became mixed during the war, but the 588th Air Regiment remained entirely female until its disbandment: only women occupied all positions in the regiment, from mechanics and technicians to navigators and pilots.

Commander of the women's air regiment E.D. Bershanskaya sets a combat mission for her pilots

On May 23, 1942, the regiment flew to the front, where it arrived on May 27. Then its number was 115 people - the majority were aged from 17 to 22 years. The regiment became part of the 218th Night Bomber Division. The first combat flight took place on June 12, 1942. Then it was the territory of the Salsky steppes. It was then that the regiment suffered its first losses.

Flight personnel of the regiment. Assinovskaya 1942.

Until August 1942, the regiment fought on the Mius and Don rivers and in the suburbs of Stavropol. From August to December 1942, the regiment took part in the defense of Vladikavkaz. In January 1943, the regiment took part in breaking through enemy defensive lines.

Faithful friends of T. Makarov and V. Belik. Assinovskaya 1942

By order of the NKO of the USSR No. 64 of February 8, 1943, for the courage and heroism of the personnel shown in battles with the Nazi invaders, the regiment was awarded the honorary title “Guards” and it was transformed into the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment.

Presentation of the Guards Banner to the regiment. June 10, 1943. Ivanovskaya.

During the war, the pilots of the 46th Guards Night Light Bomber Aviation Regiment traveled a glorious battle path from the Caucasus Mountains to Nazi Germany. The regiment's crews took to the skies 23,672 times and dropped almost three million kilograms of bombs on the enemy! For their fearlessness and skill, the Germans nicknamed the regiment's pilots “night witches.”

Group of female pilots of the 46th guards regiment. Kuban, 1943.

From March to September 1943, the regiment's pilots took part in breaking through the Blue Line defenses on the Taman Peninsula and liberating Novorossiysk. From November 1943 to 1944, the regiment supported the landings on the Kerch Peninsula (including the famous Eltigen), the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula and Sevastopol.

Pilots at the front-line dugout in Gelendzhik.
Vera Belik and Ira Sebrova are sitting, Nadezhda Popova is standing.

There were no men in the 46th Guards; all its soldiers - from pilots and navigators to technicians - were women. Yesterday's students, students of flying clubs, factory workers. Young, fragile, at the call of their hearts, they joined the military ranks and walked the difficult road of war with honor until the great Victory Day. 23 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among them are Marina Raskova, Vera Belik, Tatyana Makarova, Evgenia Rudneva, Marina Chechneva, Olga Sanfirova, Marina Smirnova, Nadezhda Popova.

Navigators. R. Gasheva, N. Meklin are sitting. Standing N. Ulyanenko, Kh. Dospanova, E. Ryabova, T. Sumarokova. Autumn 1942. Assinovskaya.

The 46th Aviation Regiment flew U-2 (Po-2) light night bombers. The girls affectionately called their cars “swallows,” but their widely known name is “Heavenly Slug.” Plywood airplane at low speed. Every flight on the Po-2 was fraught with danger. But neither enemy fighters nor anti-aircraft fire that met the “swallows” on the way could stop their flight to the target.

“Our training aircraft was not created for military operations. A wooden biplane with two open cockpits, located one behind the other, and dual controls for the pilot and navigator. (Before the war, pilots were trained on these machines). Without radio communications and armored backs that could protect the crew from bullets, with a low-power engine that could reach a maximum speed of 120 km/h.

The plane did not have a bomb bay; bombs were hung in bomb racks directly under the plane of the plane. There were no sights, we created them ourselves and called them PPR (simpler than a steamed turnip). The amount of bomb cargo varied from 100 to 300 kg. On average we took 150-200 kg. But during the night the plane managed to make several sorties, and the total bomb load was comparable to the load of a large bomber.” - Rakobolskaya I.V., Kravtsova N.F. “We were called night witches.”

T. Sumarokova, G. Bespalova, N. Meklin, E. Ryabova, M. Smirnova, T. Makarova, M. Chechneva.

The controls were dual: the plane could be controlled by both the pilot and the navigator. There were cases when navigators brought planes to the base and landed them after the pilot died. Until August 1943, female pilots did not take parachutes with them, preferring to take another 20 kg of bombs instead. Machine guns on airplanes also appeared only in 1944. Before this, the only weapons on board were TT pistols.

S. Amosova and T. Alekseeva

We had to fly at an altitude of 400-500 meters. Under these conditions, it was easy to shoot down slow-moving Po-2s simply with a heavy machine gun. And often planes returned from flights with riddled surfaces. Technicians patched them up a quick fix, and subsequently the wings of many cars began to look like patchwork quilts. In order not to expose the airfield, technicians had to work in complete darkness, in any weather, in the open air.

The division commander presents the military order to navigator N. Reutskaya. 1944

The girls worked simply miracles, as it was often necessary to return a crippled car to operation within a seemingly impossible time frame. Technicians and mechanics - Galya Korsun, Katya Broiko, Anya Sherstneva, Masha Shchelkanova and others - laid the foundation for military success in the sky with their work on earth.

Technical composition of the regiment. 1943

One day, two pilots returned from a mission in a completely destroyed plane: as soon as their “swallow” reached the airfield?.. Thirty holes, the landing gear was broken, the center section and fuselage were damaged. The friends were sure that they would have to be horseless for three days. But imagine their surprise when the plane was restored in 10 hours!

Before flights. A meteorologist reports to the regiment's flight crew about the weather. Peresyp. Spring 1944.

Our little Po-2s gave the Germans no rest. In any weather, they appeared over enemy positions at low altitudes and bombed them. The girls had to make 8-9 flights per night. But there were nights when they received the task: to bomb “to the maximum.” This meant that there should be as many sorties as possible.

Vera Khurtina, Tanya Osokina, Lena Nikitina, Tonya Rozova, Shura Popova, Masha Rukavitsyna. 1944-45.

And then their number reached 16-18 in one night, as was the case on the Oder. The breaks between flights were 5-8 minutes. The female pilots were literally taken out of the cockpits and carried in their arms - they fell off their feet. One prisoner German officer During interrogation, he complained that the “Russfaner” did not give them peace at night and called our pilots “night witches” because of whom they could not sleep.

For flights. N. Studilina, N. Khudyakova, N. Popova, N. Meklin, J. Glamazdina,?, S. Akimova

We had to fly mostly at night, approaching the target with the engine turned off. These were dangerous flights in the night sky, cut by the blades of searchlights and pierced by tracer shells. These were risk and courage, overcoming one’s own weakness and fear, an indispensable will to win. Each flight was difficult for them in its own way, and therefore memorable. But among them there were those that are especially remembered, those when minutes are worth weeks and months of life, flights after which the first gray hair appears.

Pilots Tonya Rozova, Sonya Vodyanik and Lida Golubeva before a combat flight.

The regiment's combat losses amounted to 32 people. Despite the fact that the pilots died behind the front line, not one of them is considered missing. After the war, regimental commissar Evdokia Yakovlevna Rachkevich, using money collected by the entire regiment, traveled to all the places where planes had crashed and found the graves of all those killed.

Seated from left to right: pilot Anya Vysotskaya, photojournalist for Ogonyok magazine Boris Tseytlin, navigator Irina Kashirina, squadron commander Marina Chechneva; standing: squadron navigator and adjutant Maria Olkhovskaya and flight navigator Olga Klyueva. A few days before the death of Anya and Irina. July 1943 Kuban.Ivanovskaya.

However, in addition to combat, there were others. So, on August 22, 1943, the regiment’s communications chief, Valentina Stupina, died of tuberculosis in the hospital. And on April 10, 1943, already at the airfield after the next flight, 3 girls died: one plane, landing in the dark, landed directly on another, which had just landed. Crews died even before they were sent to the front, in accidents during training.

The crew of a combat aircraft

Since May 15, 1944, it was part of the 325th Night Bomber Division. In June-July 1944, the regiment fought in Belarus, helping to liberate Mogilev, Cherven, Minsk, and Bialystok. Since August 1944, the regiment operated in Poland, participating in the liberation of Augustiv, Warsaw, and Ostroleka. During the liberation of Crimea in May 1944, the regiment was temporarily part of the 2nd Guards Night Bomber Air Division.

Heavenly slug over the defeated Reichstag.

In January 1945, the regiment fought in East Prussia. In March 1945, guardsmen of the regiment took part in the liberation of Gdynia and Gdansk. In April 1945 and until the end of the war, the regiment helped break through enemy defenses on the Oder. During three years of fighting, the regiment never left for reorganization. On October 15, 1945, the regiment was disbanded, and most of the female pilots were demobilized.

Natalia Meklin (right, 980 combat missions) and Rufina Gasheva (left, 848 combat missions).
The photo was taken after the victory.

According to incomplete data, the regiment destroyed and damaged 17 crossings, 9 railway trains, 2 railway stations, 46 warehouses, 12 fuel tanks, 1 aircraft, 2 barges, 76 cars, 86 firing points, 11 searchlights. Now, looking back, it is difficult to imagine that these young, fragile girls brought down a deadly load on the enemy and destroyed the fascists with targeted fire. Each flight was an exam - a test of flying skill, courage, resourcefulness, and endurance. They passed it with "excellent" marks.

“Group portrait of female pilots of the 46th Aviation Regiment.” 1985 Sergey Bocharov.