The 588th Night Bomber Regiment was the only all-female combat unit in the Soviet Air Forces and the most decorated. Formed in 1941 by Marina Raskova, who personally petitioned Stalin, the regiment consisted of women aged 17 to 26 who flew Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes — aircraft originally designed as crop dusters, top speed 93 mph. A Me-109 could fly at 400 mph. Yet the Night Witches conducted 23,672 combat sorties and dropped 23,000 tons of bombs.
They would cut their engines and glide silently to their targets. The Germans called them Nachthexen — Night Witches. The sound of wind through the fabric wings resembled a broom sweeping across the sky. Pilots made 8 to 10 flights per night, returning exhausted at dawn.
Nadezhda Popova flew 852 missions total. She survived being shot down, strafed, and caught in flak. The Germans tried searchlights, anti-aircraft fire, but the biplanes flew so low that enemy fighters could not track them. She was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union.
Lilya Litvyak, the White Rose of Stalingrad, flew with the all-female 586th Fighter Regiment and became the world's top female fighter ace with 12 confirmed kills. She was killed in action on August 1, 1943, at age 21. She was not awarded Hero of the Soviet Union until 1990. Many of the 588th's women returned to civilian life without telling anyone what they had done.