Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat

Modern War Studies

by Reina Pennington

The Soviet Union was the first nation to allow women pilots to fly combat missions. During World War II the Red Air Force formed three all-female units—grouped into separate fighter, dive bomber, and night bomber regiments—while also recruiting other women to fly with mostly male units. Their amazing story, fully recounted for the first time by Reina Pennington, honors a group of fearless and determined women whose exploits have not yet received the recognition they deserve.

Pennington chronicles the creation, organization, and leadership of these regiments, as well as the experiences of the pilots, navigators, bomb loaders, mechanics, and others who made up their ranks, all within the context of the Soviet air war on the Eastern Front. These regiments flew a combined total of more than 30,000 combat sorties, produced at least thirty Heroes of the Soviet Union, and included at least two fighter aces.

Among their ranks were women like Marina Raskova ("the Soviet Amelia Earhart"), a renowned aviator who persuaded Stalin in 1941 to establish the all-women regiments; the daredevil "night witches" who flew ramshackle biplanes on nocturnal bombing missions over German frontlines; and fighter aces like Liliia Litviak, whose twelve "kills" are largely unknown in the West. She also tells the story of Alexander Gridnev, a fighter pilot twice arrested by the Soviet secret police before he was chosen to command the women's fighter regiment.

Pennington draws upon personal interviews and the Soviet archives to detail the recruitment, training, and combat lives of these women. Deftly mixing anecdote with analysis, her work should find a wide readership among scholars and buffs interested in the history of aviation, World War II, or the Russian military, as well as anyone concerned with the contentious debates surrounding military and combat service for women.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Womens, Russian History, Military History

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers an in-depth viewpoint on the lives of female Soviet aviators during WWII. As the knowledge of their existence beyond Russian border lines is very limited, it was extremely interesting to hear about their successes and their failures during WWII. As Pennington was able to interview some of the pilots, navigators, and mechanics themselves who survived the war, the book offers incredibly accurate and interesting accounts of the events and raids.

[Leanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great research, including some new details that I hadn't seen elsewhere and I really appreciated the focus of each of the chapters on an individual unit. I thought Pennington got a little repetitive making her point about women in combat, but overall a very good book.

[Nicole Parren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most knowledgeable book about the Nachthexen and other female aviation units within the Soviet Army during WWII. It’s a must read for any WWII buff or student of women’s history.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about the three women’s regiments that flew and fought in combat for the Soviet Union in World War II. It’s a fairly academic book but a fast read and really riveting.

[Liz Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally read the last chapter of this one. Very interesting look at Soviet airwomen, what we can know about them, what information is lost to time, and the social setting in which they worked.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much more analytical than Myles. The author specifically stated this as her goal in the introduction, having not many nice things to say about Myles' work. But while her intentions were good her execution needed a little work. The writing was dry and not very cohesive. The opening chapters were very repetitive, and the later chapters on individual units either were a string of poorly transitioned war stories or had an unusual focus that failed to communicate the entirety of their story. If I hadn't read Myles first, I wouldn't have an overall understanding of anything she discussed in the book.

I did learn a lot about the historiography of the topic in an essay lodged in the appendix, which made the book well worth my time if nothing else.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

How interesting and quite readable for an academic book.