Really like your channel. I've been familiar with the Night Witches for years. They were epic. Sharing their history helps Americans better understand the Soviet contribution to defeating Germany.
уважаемый! какой вклад? это МЫ-СССР уничтожили фашизм! ВЫ, вся ЕВРОПА должна!, должна! быть нам благодарна! ты о каком( вкладе) ты говоришь! читай историю!
@@schlymfrainkestxchieftains2623 : Dude, really? Psst, lean closer! Copy the Cyrillic text and go to Google Translate and paste it in for translation. It will open a whole new world for you to learn from. Best wishes. :)
@@schlymfrainkestxchieftains2623 : my reply to Sergey Evdokimov was: "You are absolutely right the USSR should be respected for fighting the Nazis. The losses of brave men and women are huge! However, the victory of the Nazi war machine required the joint efforts of all Allied forces. We need to remember all the sacrifices and contributions. Living in the West, I honor these brave men and women who fought in the Great Patriotic War."
My grandfather flew combat in the Royal Air Force. I wonder if my mother/his daughter had ever heard anything of these incredible women. My guess is not, for I believe she'd've passed it on to us kids. Fascinating video, THG. Thank you, as always.
In fact, there were three women's regiments in the Soviet air force in during War II. 1) the 588th (Night) Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th b.radikal.ru/b24/2006/a9/abb7776b37de.jpg 2) 125th Guards (Day) Bomber Aviation Regiment: ava.org.ru/bap/125g/captain-maria-dolina-color.jpg 3) 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment ( r3.mt.ru/r13/photo04BC/20354552246-0/jpg/bp.jpeg - Lydia Litvyak, died in an air battle during the battle of Kursk in 1943; pics2.pokazuha.ru/p201/9/o/9594567to9.jpg - Antonina Lebedeva, died in an air battle during the battle of Kursk in 1943
There were three regiments of women .... Also find out another story - 586th women Fighter Aviation Regiment: th-cam.com/video/w1ogph2KHA0/w-d-xo.html / 586th women Fighter Aviation Regiment / Lydia Litvyak, died in battle 1943 pbs.twimg.com/media/C1tY_6xWIAAK22v.jpg:large ; Antonina Lebedeva, died in battle 1943 3.bp.blogspot.com/-17gEMGS-jAM/W7q3hyZ9E5I/AAAAAAABcjA/TygE6PK7bMwsYlJvJTsMXlqtLqKiOesGgCLcBGAs/s640/tumblr_pd88hgam8B1xwynh4o1_1280.jpg ; Yekaterina Budanova, died in battle 1943 fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iekaterina_Boudanova#/media/Fichier:Katia_Bud%C3%A1nova.jpg ...so on. Today 2020 - 75 years of the end of World War II. These women are all all are beautiful, women this best representatives of all humanity... Alas, they all died in the battle against the Nazis. (Historical example of girls of 586th Fighter Squadron: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Pamyatnykh)
Former Stinger gunner, here. If you've never tried to find an airplane in the dark, try it sometime. You think you can rely on your ears, but sound is deceiving. For one, sound travels differently at night than day. If the aircraft is supersonic, you need to lead your ears and that works if you know how fast something is moving and how high it is, but if it's flying very low, sound bounces off terrain. You will hear it coming, but not exactly from where (again, depending on topography). You can really only see them if it's a very bright night and they're flying in just the right place. Even with night vision (not thermal) devices, it's only slightly better than your eyes.
Glad to have found this channel love your work on the Night Witches. Have you done anything on the Death Battalion of the Russian Army in WW1 I mean the female Battalion.
they are our heroes. We will always remember them with tears in our eyes. there were a lot of victims. The war gave us the belief that we should never repeat it.
Thank you so much, have a great aunt from St.Petersburg or Leningrad, surviver of the siege. Never heard about that regiment before and I know some about this times...best regards from Northern Germany Ludwig.
While I worked for the fire Department, we had a routine call to a nursing home. While in a old, nice ladie's home, I noticed black and white photos of a young hot girl with a pilot's uniform on posing beside antique fighter planes. Got talking to her, and it was her!!!! She was a USA fighter pilot when she was young, she told me a couple funny war stories. I could have listened to her all night long. What a beautiful, smart lady. Couldn't stay long, dont remember her name, and never saw her again. Bless that dear lady.
In the First World War there was the Women's Battalion of Death, which didn't fare so well. (Most of them died.) The Night Witches were more successful--and the reason for their name is a cool story! Thanks for another good one, History Guy.
Very interesting video, and thank you. A fellow writer friend of mine, Mirren Hogan, penned a (fiction) novel about the Night Witches, based on their exploits. There have been a number of novels--fictinonal as well as factual--but her novel is an excellent read.
See the book written by Amy Goodpaster Strebe regarding the Nachthexen and American women who flew in support of the US war effort , "Flying for her Country...."
History Guy... Great part of Russian WW2 history... The Night Witches... So smart and fierce at the same time... BTW, You look good without the Bow Tie... Thank you...
"Night Swallows" 1-2 Series (*with English subtitles) : th-cam.com/video/MNItO0XoSoQ/w-d-xo.html "Night Swallows" 3 Series (*with English subtitles) : th-cam.com/video/oOxo9Y09Brw/w-d-xo.html "Night Swallows" 4 Series (*with English subtitles) : th-cam.com/video/A3TPoouYIL4/w-d-xo.html "Night Swallows" 5 Series (*with English subtitles) : th-cam.com/video/xv3IJKJc8_k/w-d-xo.html
I just loved this: give a woman a slow, fragile, lightly armed flying sewing machine and she'll find a way to make it terrifyingly effective, with an eerie whistling noise as an extra. Brava, Night Witches! (What would the German have been: Nachtenhexen?)
The Soviet union was getting despret it was only a matter of time before women would be called to fight. Russia in its self may not have much in the line for combat rolls for women but Ukraine dose and they have them in combat rolls today as snipers, pilots, and in many other rolls fighting the terrorists and their Russian backers today.
Sadly incorrect. This myth is covered by Reena Pennington in her book, "Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat". In 1941, the Soviet Union had a population of almost 197 million people. Soviet men aged 18 to 51 were already subject to conscription. The Soviet Union was NOT short of men to fight. It was the pressure Soviet women put on Stavka, in writing to Stalin, in petitioning the Commissars, and Communist Party which wore them down to ultimately allow women to volunteer for military service. Approximately 800,000 women served (excluding partisans) out of a force of 34 million between 1941 - 1945.
This is a story that is "worth remembering." I would love you to do a story on two Canadian pilots who flew for General Denkins white Russians in 1919. I won't recount it here, but as a teaser, think DH9 bomber. Bullet hole in gas tank, finger in bullet hole, standing just aft the wing with leg jammed against exhaust manifold, soaked in fuel, and flying home with two other pilots on board. I know this channel is American centric and I appreciate that, but please do this story too! I can provide the details for you if you are so inclined.
I remember an interview with a German veteran who said the night witches always woke them up and made sleep so difficult at times it would demoralized his whole company for weeks
800,000 women! Night witches are only the most famous of them. Many know about pilots and snipers, but few think about everyone else. For example, about anti-aircraft gunners. 08/23/1942. Stalingrad. 1077th anti-aircraft artillery regiment. The girls are 18 years old. With the support of a militia battalion, they held positions against the 16th Panzer Division for 2 days. Almost everyone has died. The Germans, enraged by their losses, were not taken prisoner. Thanks to their sacrifice, the Soviet troops managed to pull up reinforcements and prevent the capture of the city. Pilots, snipers, partisans, saboteurs, doctors, tankmen, machine gunners, crews of warships. During World War II, 90 women became Heroes of the Soviet Union, of which more than half were awarded this title posthumously.
This was the only regiment in the history of aviation of second world war, which always went on a sortie without a parachute... Almost every girl from the regiment who survived the battle has more than 700 sorties ! Modern people are not able to comprehend this fact, because the Hell of the second world war remained only in the memory of a few old people... Such a large number of sorties, it turned out, because in one night, each crew made several sorties. Returning from the hell of battle back to the airfield, the plane was again loaded with bombs and again rose into the night sky, back to hell, and so several times a night. The sun was rising, a new day was beginning the flights ended until the next night, but the girls could not sleep, they closed their eyes and the memory returned the light of the floodlights of anti-aircraft artillery, like a razor blade between life and death.
That's why we holding a military parade in honor of the Victory Day, and that's why we willingly taking a part in the "Immortal Regiment procession". Just google for the "Immortal Regiment"...
Once again, I congratulate you for bringing to light to American audiences the life and deeds of those extraordinary Soviet women, and for being so respectfull for Soviet and Russian bravery and sacriface in WWII. If you need help to look for information, or translations from Russian to English, or suggestions about other WWII topics from the Soviet/Russian perspective, please just let me know.
My brother and I grew up hunting and became much interested in weapons and tactics from around the world. I spent 17 years in the military, but he didn't join. However, over the years both of us studied wars and other conflicts from all over the world. When I was about 40, I went to his place for Thanksgiving. It was fairly cold outside, and since he and his wife did not smoke, he and I would step outside and amble around the yard while I smoked. An oddity of mine is that I like looking at license plates on vehicles to see if any of the letters and numbers I could make words out of. I casually looked at the plate on his pickup, and I immediately got excited and almost couldn't talk. Finally, I said to him that I knew what his plate said. It was the last name of one of the best snipers from Russia during WW2. Zaytsev is what was on his plate. He asked me if I really knew it and I told him that I did. Vasily was the sniper's first name. He was amazed that I knew. I told him that I knew about him from my studies of WW2, and that there was also a movie about him, named 'Enemy at the Gate', with Jude Law, Ed Harris and Rachel Weisz. He did not know about the movie. He said that all of his friends and coworkers could not figure out what it was, and I have been the only one so far that did. He later told me that when he told his friends and coworkers that I knew, they were astounded. Thank you.
I have recently been watching, with great fascination, the u tube videos of the current generation of young people, in Russia, that volunteer their time and energy to the recovery of the remains of Russian soldiers that fell in the War. Seventy-five years later and still recovering remains ! We in the US will never fully understand the sacrifice the people of the Motherland made to defeat the Nazis. We, here, lost many young men in that conflict, but the numbers pale in comparison to the numbers of Russian men and women that died in the battles fought on Russian soil and all the way to Berlin. The Russian importance in the defeat of the Nazis is too often understated and not understood by my fellow Americans. We are not taught that aspect of the Second World War in our public educational system. It’s only been in the past few years that I, as a 75 year old American, have come to realize the huge sacrifices the people of Russia made. It’s not hard to understand why the Soviets insisted on keeping the Germans divided and suppressed for so many years. I hope the Russian young people will continue to honor their fallen by recovering their remains and giving them honorable resting places.
The Kurdish Pershmerga has all female units combating ISIS. The religious leaders of ISIS truly shot them self in the foot by declaring any ISIS fighter killed by a women will not get into heaven, making the Kurdish female fighters even more feared.
The not going to heaven thing is a complete myth, IS fighters have made this clear including one who ran a tumblr "chechclear" who said it does not matter who kills them as long as they're killed in the cause of jihad. Furthermore the Peshmerga have hardly any female units on the frontlines, it's pushed as great PR in the West but they really do not have a significant role, the YPG in Syria however made a much more serious effort to integrate women into fighting units and there is plenty of footage to substantiate this as well as accounts from western volunteers.
the ypg and ypj are both under the banner of the peshmerga. one of the 2 is all female and they have no different combat duties/exposure than the other. and show me one bit of verification that daesh aren't afraid of dying by female hands as i have yet to see any of these inarticulate 'sources' you want to quote in your adorably contrarian way.
"the ypg and ypj are both under the banner of the peshmerga." No, they're both armed wings of PYD, the dominant political party in Syrian Kurdistan. The Peshmerga is the armed wing of *Iraqi* Kurdistan, this is literally something that could be answered with a single google search "and show me one bit of verification that daesh aren't afraid of dying by female hands" Since his tumblr is dead and I'm not in IS, do *you* have any source of IS saying they're afraid of a woman killing them that *isn't* from a prisoner being paraded in front of camera by the Kurds or another of their enemies? What Islamic precedent is there for them to be denied heaven because of a woman? Because I have a feeling you don't have anything.
I love these biplanes and sound they make - first i saw them as a child, they were making training flights over our house, later jumped with parachute from them..... memories...
I imagine that you only heard it a moment before you heard the bomb release. Much like when ducks glide overhead. A faint swish that does not carry far.
Jumping out of a Po-2 is totally badass; but perhaps you are confusing it with the Antonov An-2, another venerable airplane? That one is the largest biplane ever produced, it has an enclosed passenger cabin with a door, so it's quite easy to jump out of. It's been extensively used for parachuting, I did a few jumps out of it too.
@@djcfrompt and that was if they survived the bombing campaigns for that long. Most wouldn't last 25 or so missions before being downed. The Night Witches were in a class of their own when it came to night combat aviation.
in 1943 after 2 years in regular infantry my mom was selected in to a Recon Spets Naz MVD 1st Beloruss Front. She was in a battle for Berlin. Mom past away as an American citizen in Santa Monica CA at 94 years young in 2016
I didn’t care about history when learning it was mandatory. But when I was in my final year of high school, one of the few good teachers I had ever had, told me “The only reason you don’t care about history, is because you never realized that you’re a part of its continuing story.” I wish I would’ve had more instructors like you throughout my life: someone who’s passionate about what they teach. You’ve earned a subscriber.
I simply feel schools were rubish not sure if they still are always remember my grand father who said Men amongs boys but boys amongs men I hated every minute of it but watching and listening to these up loads has made me realise what I have missed !!!!!!!!!!! so was it me or was it the teaching ??
Truly wish I could understand what you wrote I have the utmost respect for the brave and gallant women who were and are more brave than most men i know may your bravery live on for many generations to come
Ольга Юрченко5 posted (in Russian) "Congratulations to all on the upcoming Victory Day! Peaceful sky above your head" I replied (also in Russian) "I wish you also to live in peace and prosperity". Thanks to "Google Translate"
Thank you for posting this. I have been a fan of the night witches for years and built a model of their bomber from scratch as there were no models available to build from. And that was what intrigued me more than the fact that they were women, but the gliding in to drop the bombs so their noisy engine would not give them away, but also too, some of them said that using a paper (cardboard) tube, they could hear what was going on below and make sure their bombs hit the correct targets.
Please make a video on your model plane. I know many would love to hear their story and yours.... God bless you for helping to keep their memory alive!
At least in my experience, schools are eager to teach broader concepts like causation than specific people (or regiments in this case). I think that's a bit of a shame, we miss out on stories like this.
We must remember, or learn, that the Soviets were extremely secretive from 1917 on. There was very little news or history coming out of the U.S.S.R. for decades, for good or ill. That which did come out was blatant propaganda. No independent press. (ie.: There wasn't anything which they didn't "invent" or "create".) Much of the world simply discounted or dismissed anything they heard. Think North Korea. It's hard for young people today to realize that the Soviet Union was obsessed with spreading Communism and destabilizing all of the Western Powers.
I"m a 70 year old American from southwestern Virginia and I heard about them when I was in school. They were held as heroes in WW2. I thought it was cool back then and, I still think they were the coolest warriors. I was told they also had very successful female sharpshooters.
(кукуруза) kukaruza in Russian means corn. A better translation for "kukuruznik" is corn cutter. It also aptly describes the Po-2's use in their deadly low level operations. With good reason, to the Ruskies it will always be The Great Patriotic War. Their perseverance through, suffering and privation went beyond any western experience.
I think author of this story translated, and even pronounce it correct - "koo-koo-roo-znick" - which it crop duster. He also did overall good job conveying this story.
Well crop duster is a cohereant translation for kukuruznik since this is the way we refer to planes used to dust crops in general corn just happens to be one of them
@@raisagorbachov I had the chance to meet a couple of elderly Stalingrad veterans in their 80s while in Russia. They did not want to recall their memories of the battle. One of them of the grand-father of a friend. When I asked him about his experiences on the battle, he simply took a look at me during five or more agonizing seconds, and afterwards he simply began to cry.
My mother fought in the Crimea, at Kerch and up to the end at Sevastopol, 8 months in total, after that she was POW. Because of her nursing skills at front field hospitals later on she was deported via several concentration camps to western Austria where she had to work in hospital baracks for forced laborors. She told me about these planes as they were also in action then in the Odessa and Crimea region.
Not only at night. Litvyak Lydia Vladimirovana, 1921 - 1943. fighter pilot, commander of the aviation unit, guard Lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union. Best female ACE in history. Officially confirmed personally shot down 12 enemy aircraft, plus 4 group victories. Flew a Yak-1. The first downed reconnaissance aircraft Ju-88 over the city of Saratov. In September, it was transferred to the 437th fighter aviation regiment - in the area of Stalingrad. September 13 in the second sortie over Stalingrad shot down a u-88 bomber and a me-109 fighter. Pilot Me-109 was a German ACE, awarded the Knight's cross. Litvyak was nicknamed "White Lily of Stalingrad", and "Lily" became her radio nickname. March 22 near Rostov-on-don participated in the interception of a group of German bombers. During the fight she managed to bring down one plane. Noticing the six Me-109, joined with them in an unequal battle, giving his comrades to perform a combat mission. During the battle he was seriously wounded, but managed to bring damaged aircraft to the airfield. After treatment was sent home to convalesce, but after a week was back to the regiment. May 21, 1943 in the battle killed the husband of Lydia Litvyak Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Frolovich Solomatin. June 15 Lydia Litvyak shot down u-88, and then, fighting off six German fighters, shot down one of them. In this battle she suffered minor injuries and the hospital refused to go. July 18 in a fight with German fighters Litvyak and her best friend Katya Budanova (11 downed enemy aircraft, AC-woman number 2 in the world) was shot down. Litvyak managed to jump out with a parachute, and Budanova died. In late July - early August 1943 there were heavy fighting to break the German defense at the turn of the river Mius, closing the road to Donbass. Battles on the ground were accompanied by a stubborn struggle for air superiority. August 1, 1943 Lydia Litvyak made 4 sorties, during which he personally shot down two enemy aircraft and one in the group. She didn't come back from the fourth flight. The command of the division prepared a submission Lydia Litvyak the title of Hero of the Soviet Union[4], but have been rumors that the pilot got into German captivity, and the presentation was postponed. In the postwar years, fellow soldiers continued to search for the missing pilots. In 1969, the boys from the farm Kozhevnya found the remains of a fallen Yak, and in it - the remains of a girl. She was buried in a mass grave as an "unknown female pilot." In 1971, it was possible to identify the remains of the destroyed Yak. It was Lydia Litvyak's plane. In 1988, the order of the Deputy Minister of defense of the USSR amended paragraph 22 of the order of the Main Directorate of personnel from September 16, 1943 in relation to the fate of Litvyak: "Missing August 1, 1943 should read: died in the performance of combat missions August 1, 1943» On may 5, 1990 the Decree on assignment to Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak of a rank of the Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously was underwritten.
@@bitsnpieces11 Some languages use the same pronoun for both men and women. English defaults to "he" where the gender is unknown, so translated pieces often have "he" where English natives would use "she".
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These women were amazing. Kudos to Russia for recognizing the power and bravery of women.
There is a recently produced Russian language dramatic movie about these women. Spent 27 years in the army and never heard this story until I served with a Russian detachment in Bosnia. These women fought harder than you can possibly imagine
"The witches of the night" (USSR 1981) could be one. I prefer "Night Witches - Film by Gunilla Bresky". There is also a Russian TV series called "Night Swallows"
There is another song (in Itaian) about the Night Witches with original pictures and footages... please have a look... th-cam.com/video/wP9j_F_WASE/w-d-xo.html
@@gianpieromilanetti6213 : Thank you for your book on Raskova's Regiments!!! It is a must have resource in my combat women's resource collection. It is THE BEST collection of photos I've ever come across.
This is normal: the Russophobic ideology of the West does not allow for a wide distribution of such information. To the zombie masses - you can tell only about the brutality, the inhumanity of the Russians - after all, the common man, who can one day become cannon fodder in the possible new war with Russia - will be more easily kill the "Russian non-human" - as well as his "animal" children. The propaganda school of Dr. Goebbels is the basis of Western ideology.
There are so many unknown stories from wars... Attack of the dead men; battle of the castle Itter; story of Witold Pilecki; story of Franz Stigler; story of the Chasseurs Ardennais and many, many, many more. Have you heard about Stanislav Petrov? Or Vasily Arkhipov? Who knows them today and yet they are probably them most important people of last cca 50-60 years.
@@alexgainsborough4921 Thank you for this post. My ancestors waged war against Russia three times. First together with Napoleon. Then within the framework of the Habsburg Monarchy. In the Second World War, unfortunately, allied with the Germans. In all these three wars, my ancestors got to know the Russians as opponents, for whom they ultimately had more respect than for their allies. . Danke für diesen Beitrag. Meine Vorfahren haben dreimal gegen Russland Krieg geführt. Zuerst gemeinsam mit Napoleon. Dann im Rahmen der Habsburger Monarchie. Im II. Weltkrieg leider verbündet mit den Deutschen. In all diesen drei Kriegen haben meine Vorfahren die Russen als Gegner kennen gelernt, vor dem sie am Ende mehr Achtung hatten, als vor ihren Verbündeten.
Winter Weasel ok there Weasel. I think you should do some research. For one look at the basics of russia infrastructure vs german, russian snipers vs german, russian artillery vs german, russian air superiority vs german, and old plane vs new plane of the erra. You'll find that it was physically daunting for anyone in those two positions.
The Night Witches are incredibly inspiring and personal heroes to me. I mean roughly 25% of the pilots were awarded the Hero of X award (some weren't from the Soviet Union so they were given the award from their country), that's crazy, I don't think there's any other regiment with a higher % of people with that award. Imagine a US air regiment where 25% had the Medal of Honor. By any measure they're one of the best, most elite regiments of the entire war, on any side.
Interestingly, i've heard they have also lost just about 1/3 of their initial pilots in several years of war. If so - that is also extremely outstanding, as in most other aircraft regiments - only a few pilots had survived through the whole war.
@Либерал и патриот It's plausible that the pilots were favored. Kolobanov's story is complicated, though: in the Winter War he was busted down for "fraternizing with the enemy", and this might be the reason why he wasn't made a Hero.
@@p51mustang24 Yes you would. However, smart people would check the facts and compare the amounts of medals given to the amount of soldiers fielded in total, not to a single unit. Feed your thoughs better. I think they are starving.
2:17 Que Sabaton From the depths of hell in silence Cast their spells, explosive violence Russian night time flight perfected Flawless vision, undetected
iamrichrocker Netflix or Amazon Prime has a mini series that was made in Russia . Subtitles are available. It follows the history, but it isn't a documentary. I am sure military purists would snub their noses.
At 1:12 is Roza Georgiyevna Shanina KIA January 27th 1945. At 1:22 Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavichenko and I can not remember the girl on her right. There are lots of pictures of the night witches of WWII, my question is why use pictures of the Russian Female snipers? When you do a video on the Russian women snipers keep in mind most were killed in combat and most killed by artillery or mortar fire, like Roza.
The wind will whisper when the Night Witches come, Undetected,Unexpected, Wings of glory,Tell their story, Aviation,Deviation, Undetected, Stealth perfected.
Great video,thanks! On their bombs,there was inscription, "за родину". It translates as "For the motherland". Lyrics from the song Night witches,"Rodina awaits",by saying that,they meant "Bombs awaits".
As a VFW vet, my local high school had a take a vet to lunch program whereby we vets would give talks about military life, I would always blow them away with the story of the Night Witches and also Lidia Litvak, a bonifide fighter pilot and ace with 12 confirmed kills and 4 shared: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Litvyak There is a Russian tv series called "Night Swallows" (with English subs) which is a fictionalized account of an all female bomber squadron based on Night witches exploits: th-cam.com/video/MFK9wAOatGE/w-d-xo.html It is beyond comprehension to me why Hollywood has never exploited this bit of history, it would no doubt make for a franchise as rich as "Star Wars",.
Thank you so much for this video, I'm doing a public speaking class and I have to give an informative speech, and the first thing I thought to talk about was the night witches, Thanks for helping me with my research.
I always heard that Good History Teachers make it come alive and interesting. I guess this is what they were meaning. I took up playing the trumpet when I was in 5th grade, after 3 or 4 months of boring practice I gave it up. Years later I heard a professional trumpet player, and only then did I understand what the trumpet sounded like when I knew how to play. But not once did the teacher bring some kind of recording into class and show us what the trumpet could actually sound like and give us something to shoot for. Often wondered if all classes were run like that. How many people gave up not knowing or hearing what there instrument could sound like. I get nervous towards the end of History Guys videos, keep thinking hes going to give us a short quiz. But he dosent, Yea
The Po-2 was even used in Korea, in a similar fashion. They were known as "Bedcheck Charlies". Didn't cause a lot of direct damage, but kept the US forces from uninterrupted nights' sleep. The "Witches" had an interesting diversionary tactic; one would fly over and draw flak, while a second would make a low-level pass at right angles to the first one while the gunners were looking elsewhere.
Charlie was Vietnam. The Viet Cong = VC = Victor Charlie (Charlie for short)
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Kevin Billingsley Not 100% correct. In WW2, on Guadalcanal, American soldiers were harassed at night by a twin-synchronized engine bomber, that circled for hours making a racket and dropping the occasional bomb. It was nicknamed washing machine Charlie. In Korea, bed check Charlie would harass UN troops and once made a lucky hit on 5.5 million gallon fuel dump. The wood and fabric material of the plane coupled with the slow speed and low altitudes flown made intercept by American night fighters like Corsairs, Tigercats, and P-83 twin mustangs tricky. Jets flew too fast to even detect, not to mention engage, such super slow targets.
Fantastic, as per usual. I had just learned of the Night Witches about a year ago, of course online. It would seem that my history lessons (start with something big that I'd already known about, then bird crumb style over the course of... No sign of ever letting up) are superior to what I've ever experienced in school. That's not saying much these days, with 'teach to the test' and pretty much nothing else. But I went to school through the '70's, before class sizes rocketed, and the almighty SAT trumped an actual education. (Funny that - equating Trump with ignorance!)
Having read about these "Night Witches" several years ago, it is truly an amazing feat they pulled off! Once more, some of the absolute best snipers during WWII were, of course, women! Excellent material!
Nice story, I have heard about this elite USSR unit, but I did 't know the real impact they had for the ''great patriotic war''. Thank you History Guy, keep up the good work. Greetings from Greece.
Absolutely fantastic remembrance of these brave, creative and talented women air pilots of WWII. Thanks you for remembering them and making me aware. I learn something new every time I watch your podcasts. THANK YOU!!!
I've known about them for several decades and admire them greatly. I have a great respect for the "people" of the Soviet Union, the politicos of either side are a different story though.
dope soaked fabric is highly flammable! russian women have flown commercial airliners for years though. long before the west. check out the interesting 1950s promos from the likes of Ilyushin 18, Antonov 14 etc.
I met one of the Night Witches in 1980s when I was a kid and then a bunch of them visited our town for an event commemorating a Victory Day anniversary. They were extraordinary women. Of course, the Soviet Regime used them for propaganda purposes. Often, they would be travelling across the country and meeting people and telling their stories. They were still great women to meet.
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My grandmother was a night witch. Proud!!
Glad to hear that, I have written books about them could you tell me her name, please? ita.calameo.com/books/0007962970add6f969d44
@Sergej Kondrat yes she was, but little is known about her...
@Sergej Kondrat cpaccibo bolshoe, very kind, it would be useful to know more about her
Ohhh id share that constantly
You should be very proud of her!
Really like your channel. I've been familiar with the Night Witches for years. They were epic. Sharing their history helps Americans better understand the Soviet contribution to defeating Germany.
Soviet contribution to terrorizing Europe?
уважаемый! какой вклад? это МЫ-СССР уничтожили фашизм! ВЫ, вся ЕВРОПА должна!, должна! быть нам благодарна! ты о каком( вкладе) ты говоришь! читай историю!
@@Jud-Priest😂😂😂👍
@@schlymfrainkestxchieftains2623 : Dude, really? Psst, lean closer! Copy the Cyrillic text and go to Google Translate and paste it in for translation. It will open a whole new world for you to learn from. Best wishes. :)
@@schlymfrainkestxchieftains2623 : my reply to Sergey Evdokimov was: "You are absolutely right the USSR should be respected for fighting the Nazis. The losses of brave men and women are huge!
However, the victory of the Nazi war machine required the joint efforts of all Allied forces. We need to remember all the sacrifices and contributions.
Living in the West, I honor these brave men and women who fought in the Great Patriotic War."
My grandfather flew combat in the Royal Air Force. I wonder if my mother/his daughter had ever heard anything of these incredible women. My guess is not, for I believe she'd've passed it on to us kids.
Fascinating video, THG. Thank you, as always.
In fact, there were three women's regiments in the Soviet air force in during War II. 1) the 588th (Night) Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th b.radikal.ru/b24/2006/a9/abb7776b37de.jpg 2) 125th Guards (Day) Bomber Aviation Regiment: ava.org.ru/bap/125g/captain-maria-dolina-color.jpg
3) 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment ( r3.mt.ru/r13/photo04BC/20354552246-0/jpg/bp.jpeg - Lydia Litvyak, died in an air battle during the battle of Kursk in 1943; pics2.pokazuha.ru/p201/9/o/9594567to9.jpg - Antonina Lebedeva, died in an air battle during the battle of Kursk in 1943
This is one of the coolest stories I've have ever heard.
Never heard about this before. Thanks for this history guy.
There were three regiments of women .... Also find out another story - 586th women Fighter Aviation Regiment: th-cam.com/video/w1ogph2KHA0/w-d-xo.html / 586th women Fighter Aviation Regiment / Lydia Litvyak, died in battle 1943 pbs.twimg.com/media/C1tY_6xWIAAK22v.jpg:large ; Antonina Lebedeva, died in battle 1943 3.bp.blogspot.com/-17gEMGS-jAM/W7q3hyZ9E5I/AAAAAAABcjA/TygE6PK7bMwsYlJvJTsMXlqtLqKiOesGgCLcBGAs/s640/tumblr_pd88hgam8B1xwynh4o1_1280.jpg ; Yekaterina Budanova, died in battle 1943 fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iekaterina_Boudanova#/media/Fichier:Katia_Bud%C3%A1nova.jpg ...so on. Today 2020 - 75 years of the end of World War II. These women are all all are beautiful, women this best representatives of all humanity... Alas, they all died in the battle against the Nazis. (Historical example of girls of 586th Fighter Squadron: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Pamyatnykh)
Former Stinger gunner, here. If you've never tried to find an airplane in the dark, try it sometime. You think you can rely on your ears, but sound is deceiving. For one, sound travels differently at night than day. If the aircraft is supersonic, you need to lead your ears and that works if you know how fast something is moving and how high it is, but if it's flying very low, sound bounces off terrain. You will hear it coming, but not exactly from where (again, depending on topography). You can really only see them if it's a very bright night and they're flying in just the right place. Even with night vision (not thermal) devices, it's only slightly better than your eyes.
First watched this presentation over a year back, and it still resonates today!
Glad to have found this channel love your work on the Night Witches. Have you done anything on the Death Battalion of the Russian Army in WW1 I mean the female Battalion.
Steven Lower there is certainly a good story there. I will add it to the list of topics and you can expect an episode about them soon.
they are our heroes. We will always remember them with tears in our eyes.
there were a lot of victims. The war gave us the belief that we should never repeat it.
Thank you so much, have a great aunt from St.Petersburg or Leningrad, surviver of the siege. Never heard about that regiment before and I know some about this times...best regards from Northern Germany Ludwig.
While I worked for the fire Department, we had a routine call to a nursing home. While in a old, nice ladie's home, I noticed black and white photos of a young hot girl with a pilot's uniform on posing beside antique fighter planes. Got talking to her, and it was her!!!! She was a USA fighter pilot when she was young, she told me a couple funny war stories. I could have listened to her all night long. What a beautiful, smart lady. Couldn't stay long, dont remember her name, and never saw her again. Bless that dear lady.
In the First World War there was the Women's Battalion of Death, which didn't fare so well. (Most of them died.) The Night Witches were more successful--and the reason for their name is a cool story! Thanks for another good one, History Guy.
Very interesting video, and thank you. A fellow writer friend of mine, Mirren Hogan, penned a (fiction) novel about the Night Witches, based on their exploits. There have been a number of novels--fictinonal as well as factual--but her novel is an excellent read.
Night Witches (true story) - Film by Gunilla Bresky:
1) th-cam.com/video/y-5cVgjJZu4/w-d-xo.html
2) th-cam.com/video/qeN8PnEPB4w/w-d-xo.html
3) th-cam.com/video/17ZHHEQQdUg/w-d-xo.html
4) th-cam.com/video/MbbVc4mQ7H4/w-d-xo.html
5) th-cam.com/video/wOoNw8ORnr4/w-d-xo.html
6) th-cam.com/video/tnW9Fbne89Q/w-d-xo.html
My 1st exposure to this story was an Audiobook. Nadia of The Night Witches. LOL, The Soviets used armed crop dusters. Now, so are we.
Very well presented sir
"And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male"
Rudyard kipling
Great video as usual!
Just one thing: "Kukuruz" means "maize", or as you americas would say "corn"...
See the book written by Amy Goodpaster Strebe regarding the Nachthexen and American women who flew in support of the US war effort , "Flying for her Country...."
History Guy... Great part of Russian WW2 history... The Night Witches... So smart and fierce at the same time... BTW, You look good without the Bow Tie... Thank you...
"Night Swallows" 1-2 Series (*with English subtitles) : th-cam.com/video/MNItO0XoSoQ/w-d-xo.html
"Night Swallows" 3 Series (*with English subtitles) : th-cam.com/video/oOxo9Y09Brw/w-d-xo.html
"Night Swallows" 4 Series (*with English subtitles) : th-cam.com/video/A3TPoouYIL4/w-d-xo.html
"Night Swallows" 5 Series (*with English subtitles) : th-cam.com/video/xv3IJKJc8_k/w-d-xo.html
I just loved this: give a woman a slow, fragile, lightly armed flying sewing machine and she'll find a way to make it terrifyingly effective, with an eerie whistling noise as an extra. Brava, Night Witches! (What would the German have been: Nachtenhexen?)
Excellent.
It seems I remember a movie made about the Night Witches of WWll. ,but I'm not sure. Love this story.
The Soviet union was getting despret it was only a matter of time before women would be called to fight. Russia in its self may not have much in the line for combat rolls for women but Ukraine dose and they have them in combat rolls today as snipers, pilots, and in many other rolls fighting the terrorists and their Russian backers today.
Sadly incorrect. This myth is covered by Reena Pennington in her book, "Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat". In 1941, the Soviet Union had a population of almost 197 million people. Soviet men aged 18 to 51 were already subject to conscription. The Soviet Union was NOT short of men to fight.
It was the pressure Soviet women put on Stavka, in writing to Stalin, in petitioning the Commissars, and Communist Party which wore them down to ultimately allow women to volunteer for military service. Approximately 800,000 women served (excluding partisans) out of a force of 34 million between 1941 - 1945.
Parabéns pelo documentário sobre os pilotos de Rússia.
This is a story that is "worth remembering." I would love you to do a story on two Canadian pilots who flew for General Denkins white Russians in 1919. I won't recount it here, but as a teaser, think DH9 bomber. Bullet hole in gas tank, finger in bullet hole, standing just aft the wing with leg jammed against exhaust manifold, soaked in fuel, and flying home with two other pilots on board. I know this channel is American centric and I appreciate that, but please do this story too! I can provide the details for you if you are so inclined.
Good vid !!!
Very interesting
Henschel had a bi-plane the Luftwaffe flew that also worked well at night bombing.
From the depths of hell in silence, cast their spells explosive violence,
Russian night time flights perfected,
Flawless mission undetected.
Just in time for Holloween! Go girls!
Thank you to much Sir!!!
I remember an interview with a German veteran who said the night witches always woke them up and made sleep so difficult at times it would demoralized his whole company for weeks
Daughters of the Night Sky is a great book about these brave and talented women.
John Harrill audio books abt.15 yrs ago: Nadia of The Night Witches. sorry,don't recall author name.
Thank you!
Nadia of the Nightwitches by Tom Townsend. Great book for young adults. He has a few other good young adult books taking place during WWII
i am reading that book
800,000 women! Night witches are only the most famous of them. Many know about pilots and snipers, but few think about everyone else. For example, about anti-aircraft gunners.
08/23/1942. Stalingrad.
1077th anti-aircraft artillery regiment. The girls are 18 years old. With the support of a militia battalion, they held positions against the 16th Panzer Division for 2 days. Almost everyone has died. The Germans, enraged by their losses, were not taken prisoner. Thanks to their sacrifice, the Soviet troops managed to pull up reinforcements and prevent the capture of the city.
Pilots, snipers, partisans, saboteurs, doctors, tankmen, machine gunners, crews of warships. During World War II, 90 women became Heroes of the Soviet Union, of which more than half were awarded this title posthumously.
FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL IN SILENCE
CAST THEIR SPELLS, EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE
RUSSIAN NIGHTIME, FLIGHT PERFECTED
FLAWLESS VISION, UNDETECTED
SABATON!!!!!!!
respect from the U.S.A !!
Assassin Xeno 5
Wow...just...wow
Respect.
This was the only regiment in the history of aviation of second world war, which always went on a sortie without a parachute... Almost every girl from the regiment who survived the battle has more than 700 sorties ! Modern people are not able to comprehend this fact, because the Hell of the second world war remained only in the memory of a few old people... Such a large number of sorties, it turned out, because in one night, each crew made several sorties. Returning from the hell of battle back to the airfield, the plane was again loaded with bombs and again rose into the night sky, back to hell, and so several times a night. The sun was rising, a new day was beginning the flights ended until the next night, but the girls could not sleep, they closed their eyes and the memory returned the light of the floodlights of anti-aircraft artillery, like a razor blade between life and death.
That's why we holding a military parade in honor of the Victory Day, and that's why we willingly taking a part in the "Immortal Regiment procession".
Just google for the "Immortal Regiment"...
This is exactly why I've chosen to go back to school and get a degree in history. History deserves to be remembered.
Good for you!
Once again, I congratulate you for bringing to light to American audiences the life and deeds of those extraordinary Soviet women, and for being so respectfull for Soviet and Russian bravery and sacriface in WWII. If you need help to look for information, or translations from Russian to English, or suggestions about other WWII topics from the Soviet/Russian perspective, please just let me know.
You look just like joe drugay md who was a radiologist in Chicago.
Elrusoargentino Maybe we should talk about Katyn massacre?
My brother and I grew up hunting and became much interested in weapons and tactics from around the world. I spent 17 years in the military, but he didn't join. However, over the years both of us studied wars and other conflicts from all over the world. When I was about 40, I went to his place for Thanksgiving. It was fairly cold outside, and since he and his wife did not smoke, he and I would step outside and amble around the yard while I smoked. An oddity of mine is that I like looking at license plates on vehicles to see if any of the letters and numbers I could make words out of. I casually looked at the plate on his pickup, and I immediately got excited and almost couldn't talk. Finally, I said to him that I knew what his plate said. It was the last name of one of the best snipers from Russia during WW2. Zaytsev is what was on his plate. He asked me if I really knew it and I told him that I did. Vasily was the sniper's first name. He was amazed that I knew. I told him that I knew about him from my studies of WW2, and that there was also a movie about him, named 'Enemy at the Gate', with Jude Law, Ed Harris and Rachel Weisz. He did not know about the movie. He said that all of his friends and coworkers could not figure out what it was, and I have been the only one so far that did. He later told me that when he told his friends and coworkers that I knew, they were astounded. Thank you.
I have recently been watching, with great fascination, the u tube videos of the current generation of young people, in Russia, that volunteer their time and energy to the recovery of the remains of Russian soldiers that fell in the War. Seventy-five years later and still recovering remains ! We in the US will never fully understand the sacrifice the people of the Motherland made to defeat the Nazis. We, here, lost many young men in that conflict, but the numbers pale in comparison to the numbers of Russian men and women that died in the battles fought on Russian soil and all the way to Berlin. The Russian importance in the defeat of the Nazis is too often understated and not understood by my fellow Americans. We are not taught that aspect of the Second World War in our public educational system. It’s only been in the past few years that I, as a 75 year old American, have come to realize the huge sacrifices the people of Russia made. It’s not hard to understand why the Soviets insisted on keeping the Germans divided and suppressed for so many years.
I hope the Russian young people will continue to honor their fallen by recovering their remains and giving them honorable resting places.
@@jesscast5122 careful your ignorance and racism are showing. And your rantings are ridiculous nonsense. Just so you know I am not Jewish.
The Kurdish Pershmerga has all female units combating ISIS. The religious leaders of ISIS truly shot them self in the foot by declaring any ISIS fighter killed by a women will not get into heaven, making the Kurdish female fighters even more feared.
The not going to heaven thing is a complete myth, IS fighters have made this clear including one who ran a tumblr "chechclear" who said it does not matter who kills them as long as they're killed in the cause of jihad. Furthermore the Peshmerga have hardly any female units on the frontlines, it's pushed as great PR in the West but they really do not have a significant role, the YPG in Syria however made a much more serious effort to integrate women into fighting units and there is plenty of footage to substantiate this as well as accounts from western volunteers.
the ypg and ypj are both under the banner of the peshmerga. one of the 2 is all female and they have no different combat duties/exposure than the other. and show me one bit of verification that daesh aren't afraid of dying by female hands as i have yet to see any of these inarticulate 'sources' you want to quote in your adorably contrarian way.
"the ypg and ypj are both under the banner of the peshmerga."
No, they're both armed wings of PYD, the dominant political party in Syrian Kurdistan. The Peshmerga is the armed wing of *Iraqi* Kurdistan, this is literally something that could be answered with a single google search
"and show me one bit of verification that daesh aren't afraid of dying by female hands"
Since his tumblr is dead and I'm not in IS, do *you* have any source of IS saying they're afraid of a woman killing them that *isn't* from a prisoner being paraded in front of camera by the Kurds or another of their enemies? What Islamic precedent is there for them to be denied heaven because of a woman? Because I have a feeling you don't have anything.
They are the most persuasive interrogators.
@@joeyjoejoshabbadu7963 Sad, but I have to agree with you.
Biplanes like these have steel wires bracing the structure. It is the wires vibrating in the slipstream that generate the eerie sounds.
An Aeolian harp, right?
I love these biplanes and sound they make - first i saw them as a child, they were making training flights over our house, later jumped with parachute from them..... memories...
I imagine that you only heard it a moment before you heard the bomb release. Much like when ducks glide overhead. A faint swish that does not carry far.
It probably wouldn't be too scary in the light, but knowing what it is and not seeing the source... it would be hard.
Jumping out of a Po-2 is totally badass; but perhaps you are confusing it with the Antonov An-2, another venerable airplane? That one is the largest biplane ever produced, it has an enclosed passenger cabin with a door, so it's quite easy to jump out of. It's been extensively used for parachuting, I did a few jumps out of it too.
800 combat missions is an astonishing number.
Daniel Cooper Some did even over 1000.
and most were only 17-22 years old
Nadezhda Popova said she herself had no idea how they managed to do it all.
Especially when you consider that the standard for an American bomb crew was 50 missions and then rotated on home
@@djcfrompt and that was if they survived the bombing campaigns for that long. Most wouldn't last 25 or so missions before being downed. The Night Witches were in a class of their own when it came to night combat aviation.
in 1943 after 2 years in regular infantry my mom was selected in to a Recon Spets Naz MVD 1st Beloruss Front. She was in a battle for Berlin.
Mom past away as an American citizen in Santa Monica CA at 94 years young in 2016
Damn battle for Berlin. Omfg she's a baddie
Spetsnaz were Special Forces .... the elite !
Sabaton have a great song about them .
*deep breath* FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL IN SILENCE-
Chris Listener CAST THEIR SPELLS EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE
Pavao t RUSSIAN NIGHT TIME FLIGHT PERFECTED
DerAllesKommentierer FLAWLESS VISION UNDETECTED
Pushing on and on, their planes are going strong
I didn’t care about history when learning it was mandatory. But when I was in my final year of high school, one of the few good teachers I had ever had, told me “The only reason you don’t care about history, is because you never realized that you’re a part of its continuing story.”
I wish I would’ve had more instructors like you throughout my life: someone who’s passionate about what they teach.
You’ve earned a subscriber.
I simply feel schools were rubish not sure if they still are always remember my grand father who said Men amongs boys but boys amongs men I hated every minute of it
but watching and listening to these up loads has made me realise what I have missed !!!!!!!!!!! so was it me or was it the teaching ??
Поздравляю всех с наступающим Днём Победы! Мирного неба над головой!
Thanks Olga !
Желаю вам также жить в мире и процветании.
Truly wish I could understand what you wrote I have the utmost respect for the brave and gallant women who were and are more brave than most men i know may your bravery live on for many generations to come
Ольга Юрченко5 posted (in Russian) "Congratulations to all on the upcoming Victory Day! Peaceful sky above your head"
I replied (also in Russian) "I wish you also to live in peace and prosperity". Thanks to "Google Translate"
*Salutes* Likewise, Olga, right back at you. ^_^
Thank you for posting this. I have been a fan of the night witches for years and built a model of their bomber from scratch as there were no models available to build from. And that was what intrigued me more than the fact that they were women, but the gliding in to drop the bombs so their noisy engine would not give them away, but also too, some of them said that using a paper (cardboard) tube, they could hear what was going on below and make sure their bombs hit the correct targets.
Genius.
That's awesome u should make a video a share it . I'd watch it.
@@litebrite3030 good job man)
@@litebrite3030 I fully agree!
Please make a video on your model plane. I know many would love to hear their story and yours.... God bless you for helping to keep their memory alive!
These women rocked! And why didn’t my school teach us about them, hmmm. I love history! Thank you for sharing.
At least in my experience, schools are eager to teach broader concepts like causation than specific people (or regiments in this case).
I think that's a bit of a shame, we miss out on stories like this.
I agree, but they only taught US history, imagine if they did women would have been combative fighter's alot sooner
@@notrod5341 They don't want you to admire Russia so no history on mother land. They may call you a commie.
@@zumaanandrade3486
I dunno. In my classes we covered events such as stalingrad, as well as the unions overall contribution to the war.
We must remember, or learn, that the Soviets were extremely secretive from 1917 on. There was very little news or history coming out of the U.S.S.R. for decades, for good or ill. That which did come out was blatant propaganda. No independent press. (ie.: There wasn't anything which they didn't "invent" or "create".) Much of the world simply discounted or dismissed anything they heard. Think North Korea. It's hard for young people today to realize that the Soviet Union was obsessed with spreading Communism and destabilizing all of the Western Powers.
I"m a 70 year old American from southwestern Virginia and I heard about them when I was in school. They were held as heroes in WW2. I thought it was cool back then and, I still think they were the coolest warriors. I was told they also had very successful female sharpshooters.
(кукуруза) kukaruza in Russian means corn.
A better translation for "kukuruznik" is corn cutter. It also aptly describes the Po-2's use in their deadly low level operations. With good reason, to the Ruskies it will always be The Great Patriotic War. Their perseverance through, suffering and privation went beyond any western experience.
I think author of this story translated, and even pronounce it correct - "koo-koo-roo-znick" - which it crop duster. He also did overall good job conveying this story.
10 million soldiers From the Soviet Union died and 18 million civilians I believe.
Well crop duster is a cohereant translation for kukuruznik since this is the way we refer to planes used to dust crops in general corn just happens to be one of them
I am very lucky to have spoken with a friends Mother who was a hero of the Soviet .union. She was not a pilot though. She fought at Stalingrad.
James Reilly I gather she never told her family much if it though the nightmares must have been awful. She passed away a couple of years ago.
James Reilly it was her time. I was glad to have spoken with her.
@@raisagorbachov I had the chance to meet a couple of elderly Stalingrad veterans in their 80s while in Russia. They did not want to recall their memories of the battle. One of them of the grand-father of a friend. When I asked him about his experiences on the battle, he simply took a look at me during five or more agonizing seconds, and afterwards he simply began to cry.
OMG dude so sorry to hear... I know we are losing so many veterans
My mother fought in the Crimea, at Kerch and up to the end at Sevastopol, 8 months in total,
after that she was POW. Because of her nursing skills at front field hospitals later on she was deported via several concentration camps to western Austria where she had to work in hospital baracks for forced laborors. She told me about these planes as they were also in action then in the Odessa and Crimea region.
Not only at night.
Litvyak Lydia Vladimirovana, 1921 - 1943. fighter pilot, commander of the aviation unit, guard Lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union.
Best female ACE in history. Officially confirmed personally shot down 12 enemy aircraft, plus 4 group victories.
Flew a Yak-1. The first downed reconnaissance aircraft Ju-88 over the city of Saratov. In September, it was transferred to the 437th fighter aviation regiment - in the area of Stalingrad.
September 13 in the second sortie over Stalingrad shot down a u-88 bomber and a me-109 fighter. Pilot Me-109 was a German ACE, awarded the Knight's cross.
Litvyak was nicknamed "White Lily of Stalingrad", and "Lily" became her radio nickname.
March 22 near Rostov-on-don participated in the interception of a group of German bombers. During the fight she managed to bring down one plane. Noticing the six Me-109, joined with them in an unequal battle, giving his comrades to perform a combat mission. During the battle he was seriously wounded, but managed to bring damaged aircraft to the airfield.
After treatment was sent home to convalesce, but after a week was back to the regiment.
May 21, 1943 in the battle killed the husband of Lydia Litvyak Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Frolovich Solomatin.
June 15 Lydia Litvyak shot down u-88, and then, fighting off six German fighters, shot down one of them. In this battle she suffered minor injuries and the hospital refused to go.
July 18 in a fight with German fighters Litvyak and her best friend Katya Budanova (11 downed enemy aircraft, AC-woman number 2 in the world) was shot down. Litvyak managed to jump out with a parachute, and Budanova died.
In late July - early August 1943 there were heavy fighting to break the German defense at the turn of the river Mius, closing the road to Donbass. Battles on the ground were accompanied by a stubborn struggle for air superiority. August 1, 1943 Lydia Litvyak made 4 sorties, during which he personally shot down two enemy aircraft and one in the group. She didn't come back from the fourth flight.
The command of the division prepared a submission Lydia Litvyak the title of Hero of the Soviet Union[4], but have been rumors that the pilot got into German captivity, and the presentation was postponed.
In the postwar years, fellow soldiers continued to search for the missing pilots.
In 1969, the boys from the farm Kozhevnya found the remains of a fallen Yak, and in it - the remains of a girl. She was buried in a mass grave as an "unknown female pilot."
In 1971, it was possible to identify the remains of the destroyed Yak. It was Lydia Litvyak's plane.
In 1988, the order of the Deputy Minister of defense of the USSR amended paragraph 22 of the order of the Main Directorate of personnel from September 16, 1943 in relation to the fate of Litvyak: "Missing August 1, 1943 should read: died in the performance of combat missions August 1, 1943»
On may 5, 1990 the Decree on assignment to Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak of a rank of the Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously was underwritten.
Wooow
I'm a bit confused, you say 'she' and a little bit later say 'he'. I guess I need to read it a bit closer.
@@bitsnpieces11 typo im assuming
Nice!!
@@bitsnpieces11 Some languages use the same pronoun for both men and women. English defaults to "he" where the gender is unknown, so translated pieces often have "he" where English natives would use "she".
These women were amazing. Kudos to Russia for recognizing the power and bravery of women.
There is a recently produced Russian language dramatic movie about these women. Spent 27 years in the army and never heard this story until I served with a Russian detachment in Bosnia. These women fought harder than you can possibly imagine
What movie??
@@youronetruefanthisisstan5898 "Night witches in the sky", I think
"The witches of the night" (USSR 1981) could be one. I prefer "Night Witches - Film by Gunilla Bresky". There is also a Russian TV series called "Night Swallows"
Yep, watched it on Amazon, it was a good movie!
I wanted to know more about them after listening to that Sabaton song.
Sabaton brought me here, no lie
me to
There is another song (in Itaian) about the Night Witches with original pictures and footages... please have a look... th-cam.com/video/wP9j_F_WASE/w-d-xo.html
CaptainChaos88 check out Night Sparrows on youtube
@@gianpieromilanetti6213 : Thank you for your book on Raskova's Regiments!!! It is a must have resource in my combat women's resource collection. It is THE BEST collection of photos I've ever come across.
I am shocked this story isn't more widely known. I had never heard if this before.
Brave pilots to cut the engine and glide in. Wow!
This is normal: the Russophobic ideology of the West does not allow for a wide distribution of such information. To the zombie masses - you can tell only about the brutality, the inhumanity of the Russians - after all, the common man, who can one day become cannon fodder in the possible new war with Russia - will be more easily kill the "Russian non-human" - as well as his "animal" children.
The propaganda school of Dr. Goebbels is the basis of Western ideology.
There are so many unknown stories from wars... Attack of the dead men; battle of the castle Itter; story of Witold Pilecki; story of Franz Stigler; story of the Chasseurs Ardennais and many, many, many more. Have you heard about Stanislav Petrov? Or Vasily Arkhipov? Who knows them today and yet they are probably them most important people of last cca 50-60 years.
I'm watching and sharing this on Mother's day!
@@alexgainsborough4921
Thank you for this post. My ancestors waged war against Russia three times. First together with Napoleon. Then within the framework of the Habsburg Monarchy. In the Second World War, unfortunately, allied with the Germans. In all these three wars, my ancestors got to know the Russians as opponents, for whom they ultimately had more respect than for their allies.
.
Danke für diesen Beitrag. Meine Vorfahren haben dreimal gegen Russland Krieg geführt. Zuerst gemeinsam mit Napoleon. Dann im Rahmen der Habsburger Monarchie. Im II. Weltkrieg leider verbündet mit den Deutschen. In all diesen drei Kriegen haben meine Vorfahren die Russen als Gegner kennen gelernt, vor dem sie am Ende mehr Achtung hatten, als vor ihren Verbündeten.
AND some of the greatest Russian snipers were female.
I may do an episode on them in the future.
Yes Yes, I just finished reading War of the Rats.
you dont need physical strength to fly a plane or shoot a sniper from 3 KM away.
Ludmilla Pavlichenko aka Lady Death. Nina Lobkovskaya and Roza Shanina.
Winter Weasel ok there Weasel. I think you should do some research. For one look at the basics of russia infrastructure vs german, russian snipers vs german, russian artillery vs german, russian air superiority vs german, and old plane vs new plane of the erra. You'll find that it was physically daunting for anyone in those two positions.
The Night Witches are incredibly inspiring and personal heroes to me. I mean roughly 25% of the pilots were awarded the Hero of X award (some weren't from the Soviet Union so they were given the award from their country), that's crazy, I don't think there's any other regiment with a higher % of people with that award. Imagine a US air regiment where 25% had the Medal of Honor. By any measure they're one of the best, most elite regiments of the entire war, on any side.
They were all from the Soviet Union. Those with different awards were given them after the collapse of the Soviet Union
If 25% of a unit had medal of honor's, I would assume the medal of honor isnt worth as much as I previously thought. Food for thought.
Interestingly, i've heard they have also lost just about 1/3 of their initial pilots in several years of war. If so - that is also extremely outstanding, as in most other aircraft regiments - only a few pilots had survived through the whole war.
@Либерал и патриот It's plausible that the pilots were favored. Kolobanov's story is complicated, though: in the Winter War he was busted down for "fraternizing with the enemy", and this might be the reason why he wasn't made a Hero.
@@p51mustang24 Yes you would. However, smart people would check the facts and compare the amounts of medals given to the amount of soldiers fielded in total, not to a single unit.
Feed your thoughs better. I think they are starving.
2:17 Que Sabaton
From the depths of hell in silence
Cast their spells, explosive violence
Russian night time flight perfected
Flawless vision, undetected
what a movie it would be..and a helluva title...The Night Witches....with consultation with..The History Guy!
iamrichrocker Netflix or Amazon Prime has a mini series that was made in Russia . Subtitles are available. It follows the history, but it isn't a documentary. I am sure military purists would snub their noses.
There is a comic book, as well as an independent RPG.
Enjoy th-cam.com/video/GnZvbBYS9gQ/w-d-xo.html
wont happen no time soon. Russia is no longer in our good grace.
As a former owner of a fairly slow airplane, I can greatly appreciate this episode.
I love this story! :) I salute the night witches for their amazing and outstanding bravery and fortitude!!...
At 1:12 is Roza Georgiyevna Shanina KIA January 27th 1945. At 1:22 Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavichenko and I can not remember the girl on her right. There are lots of pictures of the night witches of WWII, my question is why use pictures of the Russian Female snipers? When you do a video on the Russian women snipers keep in mind most were killed in combat and most killed by artillery or mortar fire, like Roza.
The intention is to show Soviet women in military combat roles.
Who is the beauty at 6:02 ?
I believe the Soviets had a couple thousand female snipers too
Спасибо что помните и рассказываете об этом!!!
Spasebo, gospodin!
always heard of the 'night witches' but never saw anything about them. great vid as always ;)
th-cam.com/video/MFK9wAOatGE/w-d-xo.html
The wind will whisper when the Night Witches come, Undetected,Unexpected, Wings of glory,Tell their story, Aviation,Deviation, Undetected, Stealth perfected.
Great video,thanks!
On their bombs,there was inscription, "за родину". It translates as "For the motherland".
Lyrics from the song Night witches,"Rodina awaits",by saying that,they meant "Bombs awaits".
From the depths of hell In silence.
Cast their spells, explosive violence.
Russian night time, flight perfected.
Flawless vision, undetected
As a VFW vet, my local high school had a take a vet to lunch program whereby we vets would give talks about military life, I would always blow them away with the story of the Night Witches and also Lidia Litvak, a bonifide fighter pilot and ace with 12 confirmed kills and 4 shared:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Litvyak
There is a Russian tv series called "Night Swallows" (with English subs) which is a fictionalized account of an all female bomber squadron based on Night witches exploits:
th-cam.com/video/MFK9wAOatGE/w-d-xo.html
It is beyond comprehension to me why Hollywood has never exploited this bit of history, it would no doubt make for a franchise as rich as "Star Wars",.
Thank you so much for this video, I'm doing a public speaking class and I have to give an informative speech, and the first thing I thought to talk about was the night witches, Thanks for helping me with my research.
I've never once heard mention of these incredible women. Thank you so much and please keep up the good work!
I always heard that Good History Teachers make it come alive and interesting. I guess this is what they were meaning.
I took up playing the trumpet when I was in 5th grade, after 3 or 4 months of boring practice I gave it up.
Years later I heard a professional trumpet player, and only then did I understand what the trumpet sounded like when I knew how to play. But not once did the teacher bring some kind of recording into class and show us what the trumpet could actually sound like and give us something to shoot for. Often wondered if all classes were run like that. How many people gave up not knowing or hearing what there instrument could sound like.
I get nervous towards the end of History Guys videos, keep thinking hes going to give us a short quiz. But he dosent, Yea
I thank Sabaton for teaching me about these awesome women 😁
I knew there had to be a Sabaton reference here 😁😁
Some years ago I wrote an article about the Nachtenhexen. Quite the heroines!
Entschuldigung! The word is correctly spelled "Nachthexen".
The Po-2 was even used in Korea, in a similar fashion. They were known as "Bedcheck Charlies". Didn't cause a lot of direct damage, but kept the US forces from uninterrupted nights' sleep.
The "Witches" had an interesting diversionary tactic; one would fly over and draw flak, while a second would make a low-level pass at right angles to the first one while the gunners were looking elsewhere.
IT'S 5 O'CLOCK CHARLIE, FOLKS! BETS ARE NOW CLOSED!
Charlie was Vietnam. The Viet Cong = VC = Victor Charlie (Charlie for short)
Kevin Billingsley Not 100% correct.
In WW2, on Guadalcanal, American soldiers were harassed at night by a twin-synchronized engine bomber, that circled for hours making a racket and dropping the occasional bomb. It was nicknamed washing machine Charlie.
In Korea, bed check Charlie would harass UN troops and once made a lucky hit on 5.5 million gallon fuel dump. The wood and fabric material of the plane coupled with the slow speed and low altitudes flown made intercept by American night fighters like Corsairs, Tigercats, and P-83 twin mustangs tricky. Jets flew too fast to even detect, not to mention engage, such super slow targets.
Fantastic, as per usual. I had just learned of the Night Witches about a year ago, of course online. It would seem that my history lessons (start with something big that I'd already known about, then bird crumb style over the course of... No sign of ever letting up) are superior to what I've ever experienced in school. That's not saying much these days, with 'teach to the test' and pretty much nothing else. But I went to school through the '70's, before class sizes rocketed, and the almighty SAT trumped an actual education. (Funny that - equating Trump with ignorance!)
Having read about these "Night Witches" several years ago, it is truly an amazing feat they pulled off! Once more, some of the absolute best snipers during WWII were, of course, women! Excellent material!
UNDETECTED, UNEXPECTED, WINGS OF GLORY, TELL THEIR STORY
rantom äiä FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL IN SILENCE
CAST THEIR SPELLS EXPLOSIVE VIOLENCE
@Justin Vancuran PUSHING ON AND ON THEIR PLANES ARE GOING STRONG
@@AybarX SOMEWHERE DOWN BELOW THEIR LOOKING FOR THEIR FOE.
@ŇøHă Ģ. RAIDERS IN THE DARK
Nice story, I have heard about this elite USSR unit, but I did 't know the real impact they had for the ''great patriotic war''.
Thank you History Guy, keep up the good work. Greetings from Greece.
Kukuruznik comes from the russian word Kukuruza - Corn ....planes were used to crop dust corn :)
nik as in beatnik, so a corn(ish/person/booster/style)
plus, that plane fuselage definitely looks like a green corn husk !! :)
Soviet units distinguished in battle are designated as 'guards'
Absolutely fantastic remembrance of these brave, creative and talented women air pilots of WWII. Thanks you for remembering them and making me aware. I learn something new every time I watch your podcasts. THANK YOU!!!
The legend has it that the fallen Night Witches still guard the skies of the motherland.
Just as an interesting side note, During WWII the U.S. Merchant Marine operated a Liberty ship (one of 2,710) named the SS Marina Raskova.
Thanks for the information! Raskova is one of my hero's! I never knew she was honoured by America that way.
That is so ironic, America named a ship after a RUSSIAN, almost 100 years before they could name one after a AFRICAN-AMERICAN. !!!
I've known about them for several decades and admire them greatly. I have a great respect for the "people" of the Soviet Union, the politicos of either side are a different story though.
The stupidest thing you can do is give your enemy the coolest nickname ever, come on....
Last year Krasnodar military pilot school enlisted several girls to train as military pilots for the first time.
Here a book with hundreds of pictures... ita.calameo.com/books/0007962970add6f969d44
And todays american women throw a fit to their mothers if they dont have the money for the daughters yearly cruise ship trip. Night Tramps instead..
You should do a presentation on the Soviet female snipers of WW2. They killed more Nazis than their male counterparts.
nice guy....very informative...those gals had balls..turn engine off..glide in..wow!
Tom Ortale they would crash or get shot down, and just walk back to the airfield and start again. They were truly an amazing group.
That's an impressive spirit, just walk back and try again.
Tom Ortale at night!!!!
Now that you mention it, I don’t recall ever hearing anything about Soviet air power during World War II on History Channel.
Well, the channel once known as Discovery Wings produced a mini-series, "Wings of the Red Star" narrated by Sir Peter Ustinov.
Поздравляю всех с праздником победы.
Dearest friends. There's a very good Russian tv series free on TH-cam about these brave women/ young girls ! It's called in English Night Witches .
Nothing came up with that title
This came 'Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat'
USArmyWarCollege
th-cam.com/video/4uObDK4gslU/w-d-xo.html
I knew about the Night Witches from Martin Caidin's. book 'The Tigers are Burning'.
Of course they sounded even more scary in the original German: Nacht hexen!
dope soaked fabric is highly flammable! russian women have flown commercial airliners for years though. long before the west. check out the interesting 1950s promos from the likes of Ilyushin 18, Antonov 14 etc.
I met one of the Night Witches in 1980s when I was a kid and then a bunch of them visited our town for an event commemorating a Victory Day anniversary. They were extraordinary women. Of course, the Soviet Regime used them for propaganda purposes. Often, they would be travelling across the country and meeting people and telling their stories. They were still great women to meet.
I'm so, so glad I found this channel. Thank you as one of the young history geeks out there. :)
oh journals as one of the old history geeks, you are very welcome!
This would make a fantastic movie. True feminism, not the forced Hollywood liberal crap.
There is a series on them I found a couple years ago on Amazon called Night Swallows. Pretty well done I thought.