EducationHistory

46 Guards female regiment of night bombers ("Night Witches")

In the Second World War, not only young seventeen-year-old boys went to the front, but also female students. Young beauties, who yesterday were preparing for the exams, met with the guys and dreamed of a wedding dress, today they fought for the life of their compatriots and the freedom of the Motherland. Someone from the brave girls became a military nurse, someone - a scout, someone - a machine gunner, and someone - a military pilot. They fought against fascism on a par with men, often in the same regiment.

"Night Witches"

The most famous and the only women's regiment in the national and world history is the 46th Guards Women's Regiment of night bombers, affectionately called the regular army of the Soviet Union "Dunkin's Regiment" and fearfully nicknamed the "Night Witches" by the fascist soldiers.

"Night witches" at first caused the German army only contemptuous laughter, since they flew on plywood planes "U-2", which, with a direct hit, it was easy to bring down from a large-caliber machine gun. However, in the course of battles, fearless warriors managed to show what they were doing, instilling fear of the "night swallows" (the way the girls called their planes).

The female aviation regiment of night bombers made an invaluable contribution to the victory.

"U-2" - a cardboard corn mower or a combat "Heavenly slug"?

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

With the onset of darkness out of nowhere 46 women's aviation regiment of night bombers appeared and bombarded enemy positions.

The Germans were afraid of girls and endowed with supernatural powers 46 regiments, Not believing, That, flying on such primitive vehicles, an ordinary person can achieve such results. However, few knew how hard the pilots managed to maintain their fantastic image. After all, for a long time, in order to accommodate more bombs on the "swallows", the girls did not even take parachutes with them, and only TTs were carried from the weapons. In the second half of the war, the pistols were replaced with machine guns, which greatly increased the ability of pilots to defend and resist. But, even in spite of the improvement of the weapon, when there was a spotlight in the beams of the "Heavenly Walkers", there was no chance.

During the night, the planes that were operated by the 46th Guards Women's Regiment of night bombers made from eight sorties, and on long winter evenings their number doubled. The mechanics of the regiment, who, incidentally, were also women, pierced and burnt pieces of plywood "floors" in a matter of hours, and the warriors again went on assignment.

Who knows, maybe, indeed, the 46th female aviation regiment enjoyed the favor of the higher powers? Otherwise how to explain the fact that the "night swallows" returned to the airfield in a state in which any other aircraft would not have flown even five meters?

I saw in the plywood "U-2" bombers known to the whole world experienced pilot, Marina Raskova.

Battle baptism of the "Taman" regiment

A real baptism of the girls can be considered an operation to break through the "Blue Line". The so-called fighting in Novosibirsk. Having liberated the Taman Peninsula, the 46th Guards Women's Regiment of night bombers, whose photo you can find in any textbook of world history, received the nickname "Tamansky".

The local battles were the bloodiest operation in the history of the Night Witches. The regiment sustained invaluable losses: 11 heavenly valkyrs gave their lives for the freedom of Novosibirsk.

On the last night of July 1943 alone, the regiment lost 8 servicemen and 4 crews in the searchlight.

Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova

Marina Mikhailovna Raskova was born on March 28, 1912. Her father was a singing teacher, and a girl gifted with musical talent wanted to become an opera singer. But fate decided otherwise - in the family Raskov died breadwinner. To help her mother and younger brother, reaching the age of sixteen, Marina went to work at Butyrsky Chemical Plant. A year later in the life of the future pilot there was a fateful change of profession - the girl got a job as a laboratory assistant in the Air Force Academy named after Zhukovsky.

The work, to which she agreed from despair, grew into a hobby and became a matter of life. The famous girl graduated from the Institute of Civil Air Fleet and began teaching navigational work. She also set several world records in the flying business.

In 1938 Raskova went to the front, where she became the first navigator of the fair sex.

By the way, the idea to create 46 Guards female regiment of night bombers was filed by Marina Raskova. For three months with her help, two regiments of professional pilots were organized.

There is a well-known story in which it is told that when the plane with the girls-bombers made a forced emergency landing in the taiga, Raskova jumped with a parachute and was found ten days later, barefoot, but not losing the will to win. For her courageous leap the woman was awarded the Order of Lenin and the medal "Golden Star".

Commander of the regiment

The commander of the "Dunkin's Regiment", as jokingly called 46 women's regiment of night bombers, their combat brothers - soldiers of the Soviet Army, was an experienced pilot Evdokia Davydovna Bershanskaya.

Evdokia was born on February 6, 1913 in the Stavropol region, in the village of Dobrovolnoye, in the family of a blacksmith. During the Civil War, the girl lost her parents, her upbringing was taken up by her uncle George Sereda. Perhaps, it was thanks to the patriotic instructions of his uncle, who was on the commission of the 286th Infantry Regiment, and his friends, among whom were such famous personalities as Voroshilov, Budyonny and Apanasenko, a girl with a masculine character who decided to become a conqueror of the sky. After completing her studies at the Blagodarnoy school No. 1, she entered the Bataysk school of pilots, after which she began teaching in her the same instructor.

In 1941, Evdokia Davydovna was appointed commander of the 46th Guards Women's Regiment of night bombers, under her command was more than thirty aircraft. Was awarded the Order of Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky.

After the war, she married the commander of the regiment of night bombers Konstantin Bocharov and gave birth to three children.

Awards and titles of "Night Witches"

The Taman women's regiment also excelled in the number of women presented to the award. Twenty-three of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

After the collapse of the USSR, Akimova Alexandra Feodorovna and Sumarokova Tatiana Nikolaevna were awarded the title of Hero of Russia, and Dospanova Khiuaz was awarded the title of Hero of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Losses

Unfortunately, the women's flight regiment did not do without losses. During the war, 32 pilots were killed, but all of them are buried, thanks to the efforts of Evdokia Yakovlevna Rachkevich and other surviving servicemen of the regiment.

Also, the girls died in accidents during training exercises, from serious illnesses and injuries in military hospitals and under other circumstances not associated with military operations.

Revelations of Irina Rakobolskaya

Irina Rakobolskaya, a veteran and chief of staff of the women's bomber regiment, gave an interview to reporters.

In her revelations, she told me how horrified she was when she heard on the radio about the beginning of the war. This terrible news overtook her when she was preparing with her friend for the physics exam. After weeping, the girls decided to go to defend the Motherland.

Since small-size uniforms were not let out in the USSR, the pilots were forced to wear a form with a man's shoulder and shoes 41-43 sizes. Only in the middle of the war the regiment received a normal outfit, which was manufactured on the orders of General Tyulenev.

Rakobolskaya respectfully talks about Raskova, who made a professional regiment of night bombers from the "unformed, shaggy, dirty army hair". Laughing recalls the ninety-year-old Irina Vyacheslavovna about her maiden's resentment, when, like the whole women's regiment, the command ordered her hair to be cut short, and the annoyance that arose when she learned how their combat brothers refer to their unit.

A woman who fought for the people, for the future of her children, with tears in her eyes, tells how the fate of some girls from the "Dunka's Regiment" after the war, after all, not all of them found their calling in peacetime. However, the wise Irina Vakaslavovna Rakobolskaya, does not hold evil either for power or for the eccentric youth. She believes that, start a war in our time, the young guys and girls, without a moment's hesitation, would go to defend the Motherland.

"Night Witches" in art

Glory also overtook the regiment in the field of art. About brave girls shot a lot of films and sung a lot of songs.

The first film about 46 Guards female regiment of night bombers with the name "1100 nights" was shot by Semyon Aronovich still under the Soviet Union, in 1961. In 20 years on the screens there was one more film - "In the sky" Night Witches ".

In the well-known and beloved work "Only Old Men Are Going to Battle", the story of Night Witch by Nadezhda Popova and pilot Semyon Kharlamov was taken as the basis of the plot.

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

Similar articles

 

 

 

 

Trending Now

 

 

 

 

Newest

Copyright © 2018 en.birmiss.com. Theme powered by WordPress.