Marina Raskova - World War Two

World War Two

When World War II broke out, there were numerous women who had training as pilots and many immediately volunteered. While there were no formal restrictions on women serving in combat roles, their applications tended to be blocked, run into red tape, etc. for as long as possible in order to discourage the applicants. Raskova is credited with using her personal connections with Joseph Stalin to convince the military to form three combat regiments of women. Not only would the women be pilots, but also the support staff and engineers for these regiments. This military unit was initially called Aviation Group 122 while the three regiments received training. After their training, the three regiments received their formal designations as follows:

The 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment (586 IAP/PVO): This unit was the first to take part in combat (April 16, 1942) of the three female regiments. Equipped with Yakovlev Yak-1, Yak-7B and Yak-9, it flew 4,419 flights. destroying 38 enemy aircraft in 125 air battles. Commanders were Tamara Kazarinova and Aleksandr Gridnev.

The 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment: This was the best known of the regiments and was commanded by Yevdokia Bershanskaya. It originally began service as the 588th Night Bomber Regiment (588 NBAP), but was redesignated in February 1943 as recognition for service which would tally 24,000+ combat missions by the end of the war. The regiment produced 24 Heroes of Soviet Union. Their aircraft was the Polikarpov Po-2, a very outdated biplane. The Germans were the ones however who gave them the name by which they are best known: The Night Witches (die Nachthexen). They were also the only one of the three regiments to remain solely female throughout the war, a distinction they went to some lengths to maintain.

The 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment: Marina Raskova commanded this unit until her death in a flying accident, while leading two other Petlyakovs to their first operative airfield, near Stalingrad, whereupon the unit was given to Valentin Markov. It started service as the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment (587 BAP) until it was given the Guards designation in September 1943. The unit was given the very best of the Soviet bombers, the Petlyakov Pe-2, while many male units used obsolete aircraft, a factor which led to much resentment. The unit flew 1,134 missions, dropping over 980 tons of bombs. It produced five Heroes of Soviet Union.

As mentioned, Raskova was the commander of the 125th Guards Bomber Aviation regiment. She died on January 4, 1943, when her aircraft crashed attempting to make a forced landing on the Volga bank, while leading two other Pe-2s to first operative airfield near Stalingrad. The entire crew perished. She received the first state funeral of the war.