The Night Witches

The 588th continuously flew harassment bombing and precision bombing missions against the German military from 1942 until wars end. They flew over 23,000 sorties and is said to have dropped over 3,000 tons of ordnance, with each pilot averaging over 800 missions by the end of the war and twenty-three having been awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title. Sadly, thirty of the 588th died in combat.

The "Night Witches" flew underpowered and slow, wood and canvas Polikarpov Po-2 trainer/crop-duster biplanes. The P0-2 could only be loaded with six bombs per flight, so multiple missions per night were necessary.

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The attack technique of the "Night Witches" were to cut power to the engine when approaching the target, and glide to the bomb release point. The engineless sound of the wood and canvas aircraft caused a whistling creaking noise noise that German soldiers likened the sound to broomsticks. The pilots of the 588th came to be known as "Night Witches."

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Low and slow in a plane that burns faster than kindling wood, these women flew mission after mission in the dark, and in the interest of saving weight for the bombs......without parachutes.

Many of you have never heard of the "Night Witches", but we promise you one thing, the Germans did.

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