During World War II, not only young seventeen-year-old boys, but also female students went to the front. Young beauties who just yesterday were preparing for exams, dating guys and dreaming of wedding dress, today they fought for the lives of their compatriots and the freedom of the Motherland. Some of the brave girls became a military nurse, some became a scout, some became a machine gunner, and some became a military pilot. They fought against fascism along with men, often in the same regiment.

"Night Witches"

The most famous and at the same time the only women's regiment in Russian and world history is the 46th Guards Women's Night Bomber Regiment, affectionately called the regular army. Soviet Union“Dunka’s Regiment” and fearfully nicknamed “Night Witches” by fascist soldiers.

At first, the “Night Witches” evoked only contemptuous laughter from the German army, since they flew on plywood U-2 planes, which, in the event of a direct hit, were not difficult to shoot down. However, during the battles, the fearless warriors were able to show what they were worth, inspiring the enemy horror of “night swallows” (that’s what the girls called their planes).

The Women's Night Bomber Aviation Regiment made an invaluable contribution to the victory.

"U-2" - a cardboard corn truck or a combat "Heavenly Slug"?

“U-2” and “Po-2” are light plywood airplanes, the hulls of which were not protected from hits from large-caliber weapons. They caught fire at the slightest contact with fire. Slow cars, whose speed limit was just above 100 km/h, gained altitude up to 500 meters, but in the skillful hands of female pilots they turned into a formidable weapon.

As darkness fell, the 46th Women's Aviation Regiment of night bombers appeared out of nowhere and bombarded enemy positions.

Rakobolskaya speaks with respect of Raskova, who turned from “unformed, shaggy, with dirty hair Army" professional regiment of night bombers. With a laugh, ninety-year-old Irina Vyacheslavovna recalls her girlish resentment when she, like the entire female regiment, was ordered by the command to cut her hair short, and about the annoyance that arose when she found out what their battle brothers called their unit.

A woman who fought for the people, for the future of her children, talks with tears in her eyes about how the fate of some of the girls from the “Dunka Regiment” turned out after the war, because not every one of them found her calling in peacetime. However, the wise Irina Vyacheslavovna Rakobolskaya holds no grudge against either the authorities or the eccentric youth. She believes that if a war started in our time, young boys and girls, without a moment’s doubt, would go to defend their Motherland.

"Night witches" in art

Glory overtook the regiment in the field of art. Many films have been made about brave girls and many songs have been sung.

The first film about the 46th Guards Women's Regiment of Night Bombers with the title “1100 Nights” was shot by Semyon Aronovich back in the Soviet Union, in 1961. 20 years later, another film was released - “In the Sky “Night Witches”.

In the well-known and beloved work “Only Old Men Go to Battle,” the plot was based on the story of the “Night Witch” by Nadezhda Popova and the pilot Semyon Kharlamov.

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

War does not have a woman’s face... This is probably why we look so closely at images of women in war photographs, and are interested in their fates in the war. It is women's war stories that are especially touchingly reflected in fiction, and in the cinema. Below we will talk about the aviation regiment, which was formed to fight the fascist invader. “Night witches” - that’s what the enemies called this regiment. All his warriors - from pilots and navigators to technicians - were women.

History of the creation of the 46th Aviation Regiment

In 1941, in the city of Engels, under the personal responsibility of Senior Lieutenant of State Security Marina Paskova, the 46th Guards Night Bomber Women's Aviation Regiment was founded , which in the future was dubbed “Night Witches”.

Marina Raskova is the founder of the women's air regiment.
In 1941, Marina Raskova was 29 years old.

To do this, Mapina had to use her personal resources and personal acquaintance with Stalin. No one really counted on success, but they gave us the go-ahead and provided us with the necessary equipment. Evdokia Bershanskaya, a pilot with ten years of experience, was appointed commander of the regiment. Under her command the regiment fought until the end of the war. Sometimes this regiment was jokingly called “Dunkin’s Regiment,” hinting at its all-female composition, and justified by the name of the regiment commander.
The enemy called the pilots “Night Witches,” who suddenly silently appeared on small planes.

The 46th Guards Taman Regiment is a unique and only unit in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War. There were three aviation regiments in which women flew: fighter, heavy bomber and light bomber.

Natalya Meklin (Kravtsova), at the age of 20, was enrolled in the air regiment. Hero of the Soviet Union.

The first two regiments were mixed, and only the last, which flew the Po-2 light bomber, was exclusively female. Pilots and navigators, commanders and commissars, instrument operators and electricians, technicians and armed forces, clerks and staff workers - all these were women. And all, even the hardest work was done by women's hands. None of the reinforcements had experience flying at night, so they flew under a canopy that created an imitation of darkness. Soon the regiment was transferred to Krasnodar, and night witches began to fly over the Caucasus.

There were no men in the regiment, so the “feminine spirit” was manifested in everything: in the neatness of the uniform, the cleanliness and comfort of the hostel, the culture of leisure, the absence of rude and obscene words, and in dozens of other little things. And as for combat work...

Our regiment was sent to carry out the most difficult tasks; we flew until complete physical exhaustion. There were cases when crews were unable to leave the cockpit due to fatigue, and they had to be helped

The flight lasted about an hour - long enough to reach a target in the immediate enemy rear or front line, drop bombs and return home. In one summer night they managed to make 5-6 combat sorties, in winter - 10-12. We had to work both in the dagger rays of German searchlights and under heavy artillery fire,” recalled Evdokia Rachkevich.

Aircraft and weapons of the “night witches”

The “Night Witches” flew on Polikarpov, or Po-2, biplanes. The number of combat vehicles increased in a couple of years from 20 to 45. This aircraft was initially created not for combat at all, but for exercises. It didn’t even have a compartment for air bombs (the shells were hung under the “belly” of the aircraft on special bomb racks). The maximum speed that such a car could reach was 120 km/h. With such modest weapons, the girls showed miracles of piloting. This is despite the fact that each Po-2 carried the load of a large bomber, often up to 200 kg at a time. The female pilots fought only at night. Moreover, in one night they made several sorties, terrifying enemy positions. The girls did not have parachutes on board, being literally suicide bombers. If a shell hit the plane, their only option was to die heroically. The pilots loaded the places designated by technology for parachutes with bombs. Another 20 kg of weapons was a serious help in battle. Until 1944, these training aircraft were not equipped with machine guns. Both the pilot and the navigator could control them, so if the first died, his partner could lead the combat vehicle to the airfield.

“Our training aircraft was not created for military operations. A wooden biplane with two open cockpits, located one behind the other, and dual controls - for the pilot and navigator. (Before the war, pilots were trained on these machines). Without radio communications and armored backs capable of protecting the crew from bullets, with a low-power engine that could reach a maximum speed of 120 km/h. The plane did not have a bomb bay; bombs were hung in bomb racks directly under the plane of the plane. There were no sights, we created them ourselves and called them PPR (simpler than a steamed turnip). The amount of bomb cargo varied from 100 to 300 kg. On average we took 150-200 kg. But during the night the plane managed to make several sorties, and the total bomb load was comparable to the load of a large bomber.Machine guns on airplanes also appeared only in 1944. Before this, the only weapons on board were TT pistols.”- the pilots recalled.

In modern parlance, the Po-2 plywood bomber could be called a stealth aircraft. At night, at low altitude and low level flight, German radars could not detect him. German fighters were afraid to huddle too close to the ground, and often this was what saved the lives of the pilots. That is why the girls from the night bomber regiment received such an ominous nickname - night witches. But if the Po-2 fell into the searchlight beam, it was not difficult to shoot it down.

War. Battle path

After night flights, the stiff girls had difficulty getting to the barracks. They were carried straight from the cabin by their friends, who had already managed to warm up, because their arms and legs, shackled by the cold, did not obey

• During the hostilities, the pilots of the air regiment carried out 23,672 combat missions. The breaks between flights were 5-8 minutes; sometimes the crew made 6-8 flights per night in the summer and 10-12 in the winter.
• In total, the planes were in the air for 28,676 hours (1,191 full days).
• The pilots dropped more than 3 thousand tons of bombs and 26,000 incendiary shells. The regiment destroyed and damaged 17 crossings, 9 railway trains, 2 railway stations, 26 warehouses, 12 fuel tanks, 176 cars, 86 firing points, 11 searchlights.
• 811 fires and 1092 high-power explosions were caused.
• Also, 155 bags of ammunition and food were dropped to the surrounded Soviet troops.

Before the battle for Novorossiysk, base near Gelendzhik

Until mid-1944, the regiment's crews flew without parachutes, preferring to take an extra 20 kg of bombs with them. But after heavy losses I had to make friends with the white dome. We didn’t do this very willingly - the parachute hampered our movements, and by the morning our shoulders and back ached from the straps.
If there were no night flights, then during the day the girls played chess, wrote letters to their relatives, read, or, gathered in a circle, sang. They also embroidered with the “Bulgarian cross”. Sometimes the girls organized amateur evenings, to which they invited aviators from a neighboring regiment, who also flew at night on low-speed aircraft.

Novorossiysk is taken - the girls are dancing

The regiment's combat losses amounted to 32 people. Despite the fact that the pilots died behind the front line, not one of them is considered missing. After the war, regimental commissar Evdokia Yakovlevna Rachkevich, using money collected by the entire regiment, traveled to all the places where planes had crashed and found the graves of all those killed.

Composition of the regiment

On May 23, 1942, the regiment flew to the front, where it arrived on May 27. Then its number was 115 people - the majority were aged from 17 to 22 years.

Pilots heroes of the Soviet Union - Rufina Gasheva (left) and Natalya Meklin

During the war years, 24 servicemen of the regiment were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

One pilot was awarded the title of Hero of the Republic of Kazakhstan: Guard Art. Lieutenant Dospanova Khiuaz - more than 300 combat missions.

If it were possible to collect flowers from all over the world and lay them at your feet, then even with this we would not be able to express our admiration for the Soviet pilots!

Written by French soldiers of the Normandie-Niemen regiment.

Losses

The irretrievable combat losses of the regiment amounted to 23 people and 28 aircraft. Despite the fact that the pilots died behind the front line, not one of them is considered missing.

After the war, regimental commissar Evdokia Yakovlevna Rachkevich, using money collected by the entire regiment, traveled to all the places where planes had crashed and found the graves of all those killed

The most tragic night in the history of the regiment was the night of August 1, 1943, when four aircraft were lost at once. The German command, irritated by the constant night bombing, transferred a group of night fighters to the regiment's area of ​​operations. This came as a complete surprise to the Soviet pilots, who did not immediately understand why the enemy anti-aircraft artillery was inactive, but one after another the planes caught fire. When it became clear that Messerschmitt Bf.110 night fighters had been launched against them, the flights were stopped, but before that, the German ace pilot, who had only in the morning become a holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Josef Kociok, managed to burn three Soviet bombers in the air along with their crews, on which there were no parachutes.

Another bomber was lost due to anti-aircraft artillery fire. Those who died that night were: Anna Vysotskaya with navigator Galina Dokutovich, Evgenia Krutova with navigator Elena Salikova, Valentina Polunina with navigator Glafira Kashirina, Sofia Rogova with navigator Evgenia Sukhorukova.

However, in addition to combat, there were other losses. So, on August 22, 1943, the regiment’s communications chief, Valentina Stupina, died of tuberculosis in the hospital. And on April 10, 1943, already at the airfield, one plane, landing in the dark, landed directly on another that had just landed. As a result, pilots Polina Makagon and Lida Svistunova died immediately, Yulia Pashkova died from her injuries in the hospital. Only one pilot survived - Khiuaz Dospanova, who received severe injuries - her legs were broken, but after several months of hospitalization the girl returned to duty, although due to improperly fused bones, she became a 2nd group disabled person.
Crews also died before they were sent to the front, in accidents during training.

Photos of female pilots. Night Witches. War

1 of 28

Pilots heroes of the Soviet Union - Rushina Gasheva (left) and Natalya Meklin

Novorossiysk is taken - the girls are dancing

Memories of War

Maximum nights

Pilot Marina Chechneva, at the age of 21 became commander of the 4th squadron

Marina Chechneva recalls:
“Flying over the mountains is difficult, especially in the fall. Suddenly, clouds roll in, pressing the plane to the ground, or rather to the mountains, and you have to fly in gorges or over peaks of different heights. Here, every slight turn, the slightest decline threatens disaster, and besides, near the mountain slopes, ascending and descending air currents arise that powerfully pick up the car. In such cases, the pilot is required to have remarkable composure and skill in order to remain at the required altitude...

...These were “maximum nights” when we were in the air for eight to nine hours at a time. After three or four flights, the eyes closed by themselves. While the navigator went to the checkpoint to report on the flight, the pilot slept for several minutes in the cockpit, and meanwhile the armed forces hung bombs, the mechanics refueled the plane with gasoline and oil. The navigator returned, and the pilot woke up...

“Maximum nights” brought us enormous strain of physical and mental strength, and when dawn broke, we, barely moving our legs, walked to the dining room, dreaming of quickly having breakfast and falling asleep. At breakfast we were given some wine, which pilots were entitled to after combat work. But still the dream was disturbing - they dreamed of searchlights and anti-aircraft guns, some had persistent insomnia..."

A feat of mechanics

In their memoirs, the pilots describe the feat of the mechanics who had to work around the clock. Aircraft refueling at night, aircraft maintenance and repairs during the day.

“...The flight lasts about an hour, and mechanics and armed forces are waiting on the ground. They were able to inspect, refuel a plane, and hang bombs in three to five minutes. It’s hard to believe that young, thin girls hung up to three tons of bombs each with their hands and knees, without any equipment, throughout the night. These humble pilot assistants showed true miracles of endurance and skill. What about the mechanics? We worked all night at the start, and during the day we repaired cars and prepared for the next night. There were cases when the mechanic did not have time to jump away from the propeller when starting the engine and her hand was broken...

...And then we introduced a new service system - shift teams on duty. Each mechanic was assigned a specific operation on all planes: meeting, refueling or releasing... Three soldiers were on duty at the cars with bombs. One of the senior AE technicians was in charge.

Fighting nights began to resemble the work of a well-functioning factory assembly line. The plane returning from the mission was ready for a new flight within five minutes. This allowed the pilots to make 10–12 combat missions on some winter nights.”

A minute of rest

“Of course, the girls remained girls: they carried kittens on airplanes, danced in bad weather at the airfield, right in overalls and fur boots, embroidered forget-me-nots on foot wraps, unraveling blue knitted underpants for this, and cried bitterly if they were suspended from flights.”

The girls made up their own humorous rules.
“Be proud, you are a woman. Look down on men!
Don't push the groom away from his neighbor!
Don't be jealous of your friend (especially if he's dressed up)!
Don't cut your hair. Save femininity!
Don't trample your boots. They won't give you new ones!
Love the drill!
Don't pour it out, give it to a friend!
Don't use foul language!
Do not get lost!"

The pilots in their memoirs describe their baggy uniforms and huge boots. They did not immediately sew uniforms to fit them. Then two types of uniforms appeared - casual with trousers and formal with a skirt.
Of course, they flew out on missions in trousers; the uniform with a skirt was intended for ceremonial meetings of the command. Of course, the girls dreamed of dresses and shoes.

“After the formation, the entire command gathered at our headquarters, we reported to the commander about our work and our problems, including the huge tarpaulin boots... He was also not very pleased with our trousers. And after some time, they took everyone’s measurements and sent us brown tunics with blue skirts and red chrome boots - American. They only let water through like a blotter.
For a long time after this, our uniform with Tyulenevskaya skirts was considered, and we put it on according to the order of the regiment: “Dress uniform.” For example, when they received the Guards Banner. Of course, it was inconvenient to fly in skirts, or hang bombs, or clean the engine ... "

In moments of relaxation, the girls liked to embroider:
“In Belarus, we began to actively “get sick” of embroidery, and this continued until the end of the war. It started with forget-me-nots. Oh, what beautiful forget-me-nots you would get if you unraveled the blue knitted pants and embroidered flowers on thin summer foot wraps! You can make a napkin from this and use it for a pillowcase. This disease, like chickenpox, took over the entire regiment...

During the day I come to the dugout to see the armed forces. The rain has soaked her through, pouring from every crack, and there are puddles on the floor. In the middle there is a girl standing on a chair and embroidering some kind of flower. Only there are no colored threads. And I wrote to my sister in Moscow: “I have a very important request to you: send me colored threads, and if you could make a gift to our women and send more. Our girls care deeply about every thread and use every rag for embroidery. You will do a great job, and everyone will be very grateful.” From the same letter: “And this afternoon we have a company: I’m sitting embroidering forget-me-nots, Bershanskaya is embroidering roses, cross-stitching, Anka is embroidering poppies, and Olga is reading aloud to us. There was no weather..."

Memory and newsreel about the 46th Aviation Regiment

Poems about night witch pilots

Under snow, rain and in good weather
With your wings you cut the darkness above the ground.
"Night Witches" on "Heavenly Slugs"
They are bombing fascist positions in the rear.

Also in terms of age and temperament - girls...
It's time to fall in love and be loved.
You hid your bangs under the pilot's helmets
And they rushed into the sky to beat the enemy of the Fatherland.

And immediately take off into the darkness from the desks of flying clubs
Without a parachute and without a gun, only with a TT.
You probably loved the starry sky.
You are always on top even at low level.

For your fighters you are “heavenly creatures”,
And for strangers - “night witches” on Po-2.
You brought fear over the Don and Taman,
Yes, and on the Oder there was a rumor about you.

Not everyone, not everyone will return from the night battle.
Sometimes the wings and body are worse than a sieve.
Miraculously, we landed with a pile of enemy holes.
Patches - during the day, and at night again - “From the screw!”

As soon as the sun sets in its hangar for a third and
The winged apparatus will be serviced by technicians,
“Night witches” are taking off along the runway,
To create a Russian hell for the Germans on earth.

Song from the film "Night Witches in the Sky"

Watch the film “Night Witches in the Sky” (1981)

“Night Witches” or “Night Swallows” TV series 2012

This is a film about women in aviation who fought in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War along with men.
The cast is not bad, the acting is also good.

The entire Soviet people contributed to the victory over Nazi Germany. Men fought the enemy face to face, women, teenagers and old people tried to organize supplies to the best of their ability, Agriculture and rear work in general. But there were exceptions to this rule. Unique exceptions.

In 1941, in the city of Engels, under the personal responsibility of senior lieutenant of state security Marina Raskova, the 46th Guards Night Bomber Women's Aviation Regiment was founded, which in the future was dubbed " Night witches". To do this, Marina had to use her personal resources and personal acquaintance with Stalin. No one really counted on success, but they gave the go-ahead and provided us with the necessary equipment.

What exactly was the plan? Using silent and almost invisible to radar U-2 aircraft, loaded with bombs to the max, the girls, under the cover of darkness, flew up to German positions and dumped explosive surprises on their heads. The idea was good, but, as practice later showed, it was almost suicidal. The fact is that the U-2 is an outdated TRAINING biplane made of plywood, which could reach a speed of no more than 120 km/h. That is, if they notice, they can even shoot you down with a submachine gun, not to mention a more powerful weapon. Plus, at first the girls basically did not take parachutes with them in order to increase their ammunition load.

I mean, imagine. Winter 1943. Frost is minus thirty, the Germans are still successfully resisting, and you, late at night, with virtually no lighting, lift into the air a slow car that looks like a wooden coffin and loaded with bombs, fly behind the front line, miraculously find the enemy, and without attracting the attention of the sentries you dump it on them everything I took. Oh yes, there is no auto-reset or sight either - only improvised devices. And then we have to come back. And sit down. At night. No lighting. Repeat 12 times. An ordinary February night.

Of course, there were losses. Of the 115 women who went to the front on May 27, 1942, 32 people died. Some were shot down while approaching the enemy, some crashed unsuccessfully landing in complete darkness, some were shot down by enemy night fighters, which, by the way, were specially created to fight "night witches". After the war, regimental commissar Evdokia Rachkevich, using money collected by the regiment, traveled to all the disaster sites and found the remains of all her dead friends. So none of the " Night witches“Isn’t missing and isn’t lying in an unknown place.

« Night Witches"- the only unit that consisted entirely of girls, even technical and maintenance personnel. And if you think that it was hard only for pilots, imagine what it was like for the girls to attach bombs weighing one hundred kilograms to the wings of the plane in the bitter cold. And then repair the fuselages that were shot through.

As already mentioned, initially as part of “ Night witches“There were 115 people who flew in 20 cars. Then the number of vehicles increased to 40. And the total number of military personnel of the 46th Guards Bomber Regiment was 265 people. More than 23 thousand combat missions were carried out and a huge number of enemy infrastructure elements were destroyed. . And all this in absolutely suicidal conditions. The Germans were afraid night witches"to the point of stupor - they came up with a terrifying name, specially created a night fighter regiment so that at least somehow they could be resisted. They succeeded a couple of times. 23 pilots were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

My grandfather himself was a pilot. Civil aviation, true, but I heard enough stories from him in my time. And about flying in a thunderstorm, and about landing in extreme conditions, and about emergency situations. It was scary, yes. But there is no comparison with what these girls experienced every day. And if this is not real heroism, then I don’t know who can be called heroes. So yeah, " Night Witches"are forever inscribed on the pages of the heroic history of Russia.

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46th Guards Taman Red Banner Order of Suvorov 3rd degree night bomber aviation regiment (46th Guards nbap, “night witches”) - a women's aviation regiment as part of the USSR Air Force during the Great Patriotic War. The aviation regiment was formed in October 1941 by order of the USSR NPO No. 0099 dated October 8, 1941. The formation was led by Marina Raskova. Senior Lieutenant Evdokia Bershanskaya, a pilot with ten years of experience, was appointed commander of the regiment. Under her command the regiment fought until the end of the war. Sometimes it was jokingly called: “Dunkin Regiment,” with a hint of an all-female composition and justified by the name of the regiment commander. The formation, training and coordination of the regiment was carried out in the city of Engels. Until its disbandment, the 588th Aviation Regiment remained entirely female: only women occupied all positions in the regiment, from mechanics and technicians to navigators and pilots. On May 23, 1942, the regiment flew to the front, where it arrived on May 27. Then its number was 115 people - the majority were aged from 17 to 22 years. The regiment became part of the 218th Night Bomber Division. The first combat flight took place on June 12, 1942.

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U-2 or Po-2 is a multi-purpose biplane created under the leadership of Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov in 1928. One of the most popular aircraft in the world. The team, headed by N. N. Polikarpov, produced a new experimental U-2 aircraft (training-second) in January 1928. It was tested in the air by M. M. Gromov, then several more test pilots checked it. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, production of the U-2 was organized at aircraft plant No. 387. The existing standard versions of the U-2 began to be converted into light night bombers. Refinement was carried out both in the Polikarpov Design Bureau, and at serial factories and in the active army by the engineering and technical staff of combat units and aircraft repair shops. As a result, the design of the combat U-2 had a large number various options. The bomb load varied from 100 kg to 350 kg. The empty weight of the aircraft in the training version is 635-656 kg, in others - up to 750 kg; take-off - from 890 to 1100 kg, with bombs - up to 1400 kg. Maximum speed - from 130 to 150 km/h, cruising - 100-120 km/h, landing - 60-70 km/h, ceiling - 3800 m, take-off and run - 100-150 m. After the death of N. N. Polikarpov in 1944, the plane was renamed Po-2 in honor of its creator. The U-2 was built serially until 1953, 33,000 vehicles were built.

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The PO-2 combat aircraft, on which the crews of the “Night Witches” regiment flew to bomb the Nazis. We took off before dawn, the flight to the target is half an hour. Do the searchlights sometimes not illuminate us? There are miracles in life... But this time it’s not like that it turned out that the searchlight illuminated the sky... And Olga was the first to fall, she pulled as hard as she could, but Lenka began to smoke, lying on the left wing... It was a five-minute flight to the forest, God grant that she was lucky... I bombed, everything was as it should be... And death with a scythe took someone away. Forgive Frau if these are your children, But no one invited them here... I drank a glass of alcohol at dawn... And I muttered in a drunken delirium - Why? , why do children die so stupidly... What kind of bastard came up with that War??? So many films about the war and so few have been made about women, girls, beautiful and young women, pilots and anti-aircraft gunners, snipers. and machine gunners, scouts and nurses. Girls, girls, girls... You look at the war photographs - how beautiful and desperate they were. How they wanted to live and love, dance the waltz and raise children. We live for them, so we must remember. Obliged! To remember and not let our children and grandchildren forget, because we are the last ones who saw and heard them alive... Young beautiful, brave girls. In those tragic days, selflessness seemed natural to them. The common fate of the country has become more important to them own life. N. Meklin

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During the war years, 29 female heroes were pilots. The 46th Guards Taman Red Banner Order of Suvorov 3rd Class night bomber regiment, which was staffed only by female crews, became especially famous. From the very beginning of its existence until the end of the war, the women's regiment was a single, tightly knit team, in which the spirit of military friendship, healthy competition and ardent patriotism was always present. This is a great merit of the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Evdokia Davydovna Bershanskaya, who by personal example, skillful leadership and simply by virtue of her human qualities, won the authority and respect of her subordinates. This made it easier for her to command such an unusual regiment. The regimental commissar, Lieutenant Colonel Evdokia Yakovlevna Rachkevich, and the regiment party organizer, Captain Maria Ivanovna Runt, did a lot to strengthen discipline and morale... Maria Ivanovna Runt (1912-1992) - bomber pilot, regiment party organizer, guard captain. Candidate of Philology. Evdokia Yakovlevna Rachkevich (maiden name Andriychuk; 1907-1975) - deputy regiment commander for political affairs (commissar) Evdokia Davydovna Bocharova (nee Karabut, after her first husband Bershanskaya), (February 6, 1913, Dobrovolnoe (Stavropol Territory), - September 16, 1982, Moscow) - commander of the 46th Guards Regiment.

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“The strength of the 588th Bershanskaya Aviation Regiment was initially 115 people. Mostly these were very young girls - 17-22 years old, who, nevertheless, really wanted to contribute to the victory over the Nazi occupiers. Among them there were many students - mainly from the faculties of exact sciences - physics, mechanics and mathematics; girls from the geography department were sent to become navigators. It was understood that the knowledge they acquired in civilian universities would facilitate the assimilation of military subjects and all that remained was to teach future pilots, navigators, technicians and mechanics practical subjects related to the control and maintenance of aircraft. “Students from different universities in Moscow were enrolled in the navigation group. They settled us in the sports house and again on bunk beds. And hard training began: classroom lessons for 11 hours a day, including Morse code and drill training, and in the evenings it was necessary to prepare for the next day. The discipline in the unit was very strict,” recalls Irina Rakobolskaya (Rakobolskaya I., Kravtsova N. “We were called night witches.” This is how the women’s 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment fought. - 2nd edition, supplemented. - M.: Publishing House Moscow State University, 2005). Commander of the women's air regiment E.D. Bershanskaya sets a combat mission for her pilots. During the liberation of the Taman Peninsula, the rifle guards of the 2nd division were covered from the air by the women's aviation regiment - the 46th Guards Taman...

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Serafima Tarasovna Amosova (August 20, 1914 - December 17, 1992) - deputy commander for the flight unit, guard major. Evgenia Maksimovna Rudneva (1920-1944) - regiment navigator, guard senior lieutenant. Hero of the Soviet Union. Larisa Nikolaevna Rozanova (Litvinova) (December 6, 1918 - October 5, 1997) - regiment navigator, guard captain. Hero of the Soviet Union.

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in 1942 - she was appointed chief of staff of the 588th Air Regiment (later - the 46th Guards Regiment. Rakobolskaya Irina Vyacheslavovna Irina Rakobolskaya went to the front as a fourth-year student at the physics department of Moscow State University. She ended up in air group 122 with Marina Raskova. And soon navigator Rakobolskaya became the chief headquarters of the 46th Guards Regiment. “They called us Dunkin Regiment,” says Irina Vyacheslavovna. “It was a shame.” The men treated us very badly at first. army, General Vershinin, I think in his heart he laughed at us. I came to him with the documents, but, as it turned out later, they were drawn up incorrectly, on some huge roll of whatman paper Vershinin said nothing, didn’t even show it. The 4th Army was just being created at that time, and one of the first regiments it received was our regiment. But we didn’t know anything yet, we didn’t know what anti-aircraft fire was, we’d never flown with searchlights, we had no idea what it was like. The second cabin can carry two more people. But despite this, Vershinin took us very seriously.

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Senior engineer of the regiment Sofya Ozerkova Day after day (more precisely, night after night), the pilot of the 588th regiment increased attacks on the Nazi invaders. With the onset of darkness and until dawn, bombs flew onto the heads of enemies. Until the summer of 1944, crews flew without parachutes, preferring instead to take with them an extra 20 kilograms of bombs. The small U-2 terrified the enemy, and already in 1942, for each downed “maize” German pilots and anti-aircraft gunners were often awarded the Iron Cross and paid 2,000 marks. During the war, the number of personnel in the regiment increased from 115 to 190 people, and the number of combat vehicles - from 20 to 45 aircraft. The regiment finished its combat journey with 36 combat aircraft. During the battles, the combat skills and flying skills of the girls were improved. In February 1945, the Komsomol Central Committee awarded the Komsomol organization of the regiment with a Certificate of Honor. During the war, the 46th Guards Taman Night Light Bomber Aviation Regiment was transformed from a 2-squadron regiment into a 3-squadron regiment, and then a 4-squadron regiment. This restructuring, which contributed to the intensification of attacks on the enemy, caused the need to replenish new personnel of pilots, technicians and armed forces. This task was successfully solved. During the war, the regiment received 95 people as reinforcements. Of these, and mainly from among the former personnel, 36 pilots, 35 navigators and 8 aircraft mechanics were trained directly in a combat situation on their own. In addition, specialists of this profile arrived in the regiment and as part of the specified replenishment. A number of navigators were retrained as pilots, and mechanics and military personnel mastered the specialty of navigators. Each combat mission was a test of will, courage, and devotion to our Motherland. On the way to many targets, the slow-moving U-2, lacking armor protection, was met by the enemy with dense anti-aircraft fire. The pilots required true art, skill and perseverance to break through the curtain of fire and complete the combat mission. The regiment lost 28 aircraft, 13 pilots and 10 navigators from enemy fire. Among the dead were squadron commanders O. A. Sanfirova, P. A. Makogon, L. Olkhovskaya, flight commander T. Makarova, regiment navigator E. M. Rudneva, squadron navigators V. Tarasova and L. Svistunova. Among the dead were Heroes of the Soviet Union E. I. Nosal, O. A. Sanfirova, V. L. Belik, Preparation for the flight

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Evdokia Davydovna Bershanskaya (1913-1982) - commander of the women's 588th night light bomber aviation regiment (NLBAP, since 1943 - 46th Guards Taman night bomber regiment). She is the only woman awarded the Commander's Order of Suvorov (III degree). Maria Vasilievna Smirnova (1920-2002) - squadron commander of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. By August 1944, she had flown 805 night combat missions. On October 26, 1944 she was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Polina Vladimirovna Gelman (1919-2005) - chief of communications of the aviation squadron of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. By May 1945, as a navigator of the Po-2 aircraft, she had flown 860 combat missions. On May 15, 1946 she was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 02/08/1943 588 NBAP, commanded by E.D. Bershanskaya, the first in the division to become a guardsman and received the name 46th Guards NBAP. The commander of the 46th Guards NBAP, Evdokia Davydovna Bershanskaya (1918-1982), while leading the regiment, managed to prove to skeptics that the female air unit has the right to exist and can fight on an equal basis with male units, and sometimes even more successfully than them. “There is hardly another example in the combat history of aviation in which a unit whose personnel had undergone almost no military training was able to achieve such short term to win such wide military glory... ...Vigor and cheerfulness never left the regiment. It is surprising that severe hardships and difficulties never depressed people; they seemed to go unnoticed. But the most important thing that distinguished the women's air regiment was its fearlessness and heroism. This was such a widespread phenomenon that the regiment got used to it as something taken for granted...” Memoirs of the commissar of the 218th air division, Major General GORBUNOV.

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From first to last day existence of our regiment, it was commanded by Evdokia Bershanskaya (Bocharova). She came to the regiment as an experienced pilot, with ten years of experience in civil aviation . We, then girls, were from 17 to 23 years old, and Evdokia Davydovna was ten years older. Strong-willed, courageous, she was at the same time surprisingly feminine. If a particularly difficult operation was ahead, Evdokia Davydovna was the first to fly out. 25 Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia grew up in our regiment. But the commander of this heroic unit does not have such a rank! It seems to us that the 60th anniversary of the Victory is an excellent occasion to restore justice. Heroes of the Soviet Union Polina GELMAN, Natalia MEKLIN-KRAVTSOVA, Nadezhda POPOVA, Nina RASPOPOVA; Chief of Staff of the Regiment Irina RAKOBOLSKAYA OUR 46th Guards Taman Order of the Red Banner and Suvorov 3rd Class air regiment was the only women's night bomber unit in the world. We flew on small “plywood” Po-2 biplanes. Speed ​​- 120–140 km/h. And if there was a strong headwind, the plane would hang in the air. But our vehicles were easy to control; above the target, the pilots turned off the engine, and in silence bombs fell on the enemy, destroying equipment, warehouses, headquarters, and crossings. We also carried unusual cargo: medicines, ammunition, food, bags of mail. Sometimes it was incredibly difficult, almost jewelry work. For example, in Eltigen - a fishing village in the Crimea - our paratroopers occupied a tiny piece of land, which was under fire from the enemy. We had to find a schoolyard in pitch darkness, descend to 50, and sometimes 30 meters, very accurately drop the load and have time to shout to our people: “Polundra! The cartridges have arrived!” And the Germans are still shooting at you... During the long autumn and winter nights, the crews made 8-10, or even 12-15 combat sorties. We dropped more than three million kilograms of bombs on the enemy in more than 24 thousand sorties. Modern aviators probably won’t believe it, but the navigators carried small bombs - thermite, lighting - ... on their knees! And they threw them by hand over the side of the plane. It is clear that the Po-2 could not lift many bombs. The strength of these airplanes lay elsewhere: they dropped their cargo with exceptional accuracy. Of course, small bombs did not always cause serious damage to the enemy. But every night we kept the Germans in suspense and did not let them sleep. One day, the patience of their command burst - twin-engine Messerschmitt -110 night fighters were transferred from the Western Front. We will never forget this night of August 1, 1943. Then, in a few hours, a German night hunter burned four of our planes over Taman, killing 8 girls. This was the first time we encountered such an enemy, but we quickly learned to recognize him. If searchlights are working in the target area, but anti-aircraft artillery is silent, it means that a German “night light” is patrolling somewhere nearby. There was only one way to escape from them: fly as low as possible. For obvious reasons, high-speed fighters were afraid to go to low altitudes. But we also tried not to go below 300 meters - there was a risk of getting fragments of our own bombs “in the belly”. Despite the all-female team, within two or three months we were equal to the male units in terms of combat effectiveness. And six months later our regiment was the first in the division to become a guards regiment. From right to left - regiment commander E.D. Bershanskaya, squadron commissioner I.V. Dryagina, squadron commissar Ksenia Karpulina, squadron commander S.T. Amosova, squadron commander E.A. Nikulina and regiment commissar E.Ya. Rachkevich...

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The first to fly out on a combat mission were 3 crews - regiment commander E. D. Bershanskaya with regiment navigator Sofia Burzaeva and squadron commanders Serafima Amosova with navigator Larisa Rozanova and Lyubov Olkhovskaya with navigator Vera Tarasova. The entire regiment accompanied them. It was June 8, 1942. The first bombs with the inscription “For the Motherland!” fell on the heads of the enemies. The pilots, maneuvering in the night sky, broke through the curtain of anti-aircraft fire and completed the mission. However, the crew of L. Olkhovskaya and V. Tarasova were seriously wounded by the explosion of an enemy shell; they tried to reach their airfield, but were forced to land. Residents found them dead. In place of those killed, an excellent pilot, Dina Nikulina, was appointed squadron commander and a former student of the astronomy department of Moscow State University, Zhenya Rudneva, as a navigator. On the eve of the first combat mission, many girls, including Dina Nikulina and Zhenya Rudneva, submitted applications asking for admission to the ranks of the Communist Party. The next night, the entire 588th Regiment - 20 crews - took off. The first massive raid on the enemy was dedicated to the memory of fallen combat friends. Some time later, Amosova's plane arrived. There was no third plane. All the deadlines have passed when, according to the most optimistic calculations, the fuel in Olkhovskaya’s plane should have run out. We realized that something was wrong. The first combat loss... What happened to Lyuba Olkhovskaya and Vera Tarasova? For almost twenty-three years we knew nothing. At the beginning of 1965, the regiment commander received a letter in which residents of the village of Sofyino-Brodsky contacted the editors of the newspaper Pravda. The letter reported that around mid-June 1942, at night in the direction of the city of Snezhny, they heard bombs exploding, and then saw shooting at the plane. In the morning, a downed Po-2 plane was found near the village. In the front cabin, sitting with her head bowed on the side, was a beautiful dark-blond girl in a flight suit. In the second cabin there was another girl - a round face, a slightly upturned nose. Both were dead. Residents of the village secretly buried the pilots. Now, when the country was preparing to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, residents decided to find out the names of the victims. There was no doubt that they were talking about Lyuba Olkhovskaya and Vera Tarasova. The regiment commissar Evdokia Yakovlevna Rachkevich began to get ready for the journey... On May 8, 1965, a funeral took place in front of a huge crowd of people. The ashes of the dead pilots were transferred from an unmarked grave to the city square of Snezhnoye. Among the many wreaths on the new grave were wreaths from fellow soldiers. .." Monument at the grave of L. Olkhovskaya and V. Tarasova in the city of Snezhny (Donbass)

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On June 12, 1942, the regiment's first flight took place, and on February 8, 1943, it was awarded the honorary title of a guards regiment. The regiment's combat path took place in 1942 - in the Rostov region, Stavropol Territory, and North Ossetia. In 1943 he took part in breaking through enemy defenses and liberating Novorossiysk, and later supported landing operations on the Kerch Peninsula and the liberation of Crimea and Sevastopol. In June-July 1944, the regiment liberated Belarus, in August 1944 - Poland, in January 1945 - East Prussia. In April 1945, the regiment's pilots met on the Oder, where they broke through the enemy's defenses. During the three years of the war, the regiment was not reorganized; its composition remained female, although it was part of a larger “male” aviation unit - the 325th Night Bomber Aviation Division, and for some time - the 2nd Guards Night Bomber Aviation Division ( in May 1944, during the fighting for the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula). The regiment flew Po-2 bombers. At the beginning of the war, the regiment had 20 aircraft, at the height of hostilities - 45, and the regiment met victory with 35 aircraft. In October 1943, the commander of the Air Army, General K.A. Vershinin, speaking at the general meeting of the regiment, said words that veterans of the unit still remember. “You are the most beautiful girls in the world,” said Vershinin, “because your beauty lies not in painted lips and eyebrows, but in that wonderful spiritual impulse with which you fight for the happiness and freedom of our Motherland.” One cannot indifferently watch how small, fragile girls lift entire trees to camouflage an airplane, how female pilots masterfully control an airplane, how armed girls hang bombs that are heavier than their own weight. Your work is very difficult, but also rewarding...

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Mechanics at the airport. Summer 1943 Regimental engineer S. Ozerkova talks with mechanics Three regiment navigators: Sonya Burzaeva, Zhenya Rudneva, Larisa Rozanova. 1942

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By order of the USSR NKO No. 64 of February 8, 1943, for the courage and heroism of the personnel shown in battles with the Nazi invaders, the regiment was awarded the honorary title “Guards” and it was transformed into the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. Regiment commander E.D. Bershanskaya accepts the Guards banner. June 10, 1943, art. Ivanovskaya Regimental standard bearer Natasha Meklin (Kravtsova).

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Pashkovskaya village. Monument to pilots E. Nosal, P. Makagon, L. Svistunova, Yu. Pashkova Monument at the grave of O. Sanfirova. Grodno 32 girls from our regiment died during the war. Our friends burned and fell in the territory occupied by the enemy. The population buried them secretly from the invaders under inconspicuous signs “Here lies the unknown pilot” - we did not take documents with us. Monument to Hero of the Soviet Union Olga Sanfirova

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In October 1943, the Nazis were thrown out of the Taman Peninsula. Behind Active participation In the battles for Taman on October 9, 1943, the women's regiment of night bombers received the name “Tamansky.” More than 250 girls of the regiment were awarded orders and medals. Monument to the pilots of the regiment in the village of Peresyp. Taya Volodina and Anya Bondareva are buried here

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Dina Nikulina, Zhenya Rudneva, Natasha Meklin, Irina Sebrova. Ivanovskaya 1943. T. Sumarokova, G. Bespalova, N. Meklin, E. Ryabova, M. Smirnova, T. Makarova, M. Chechneva. Heroes of the Soviet Union Marina Chechneva and Ekaterina Ryabova The squadron was built. The commander of the 2nd squadron, Amosova, reports. Assinovskaya 1942

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A regiment in which, simultaneously with combat operations, new pilots and navigators were continuously trained and commissioned, and as a result its composition doubled, despite losses. A regiment for which wooden runways were built, in which flights were serviced using the brigade method. It seems to me that such a regiment no longer existed. And there were definitely no women! The pilots who joined it were bright personalities with high piloting skills. After all, in order for a woman to graduate from a flight school or flying club, she had to have a genuine love for the sky, a passion for flying. Then she could become an instructor at a flying club, a squad leader, or a passenger airliner pilot. And their navigators were mostly university students - mathematicians, physicists, historians, who had already demonstrated an ability for science and sacrificed it to help their Motherland. They quickly mastered a new specialty and brought a special atmosphere to the regiment: in the short breaks between battles, philosophical and tactical conferences were held, literary magazines were published, poetry was written... The navigator of the regiment and the navigators of the three squadrons were students of the Mechanics and Mathematics Department of Moscow State University, the chief of staff and the head of the operational department - also students at Moscow University. And we were all united by a special passion, mutual respect and the desire to prove that girls can be no worse than men in battle... The Nazis called them “night witches.” The French pilots of the legendary air regiment "Normandie - Neman" gallantly - "lovely witches." Our soldiers and commanders are “good fairies” and “heavenly angels”. Belarus, a place near Grodno. Future Heroes of the Soviet Union T. Makarova, V. Belik, P. Gelman, E. Ryabova, E. Nikulina, N. Popova

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On April 24, 1944, the regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its participation in the liberation of Feodosia. The regiment was noted 22 times in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. For the liberation of Belarus, the regiment was awarded the Order of Suvorov, III degree. Eight times Moscow saluted units, among which was the regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Bershanskaya.

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Monument to U-2 in Mytishchi, Germany, Stettin region. Deputy regiment commander E. Nikulin sets a task for the crews. And the crews are already wearing custom-made ceremonial dresses.

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During the war years, 23 servicemen of the regiment were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: Guard Art. Lieutenant Aronova Raisa Ermolaevna - 960 combat missions. Awarded May 15, 1946. Guard Art. Lieutenant Belik Vera Lukyanovna - 813 combat missions. Awarded posthumously on February 23, 1945. Guard Art. Lieutenant Gasheva Rufina Sergeevna - 848 combat missions. Awarded on February 23, 1945. Guard Art. Lieutenant Gelman Polina Vladimirovna - 860 combat missions. Awarded May 15, 1946. Guard Art. Lieutenant Zhigulenko Evgenia Andreevna - 968 combat missions. Guard Art. Lieutenant Tatyana Petrovna Makarova - 628 combat missions. Awarded posthumously. Guard Art. Lieutenant Meklin Natalya Fedorovna - 980 combat missions. Awarded on February 23, 1945. Guard captain Evdokia Andreevna Nikulina - 760 combat missions. Guard Lieutenant Evdokia Ivanovna Nosal - 354 combat missions. Awarded posthumously. The first female pilot awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War. Guard Art. Lieutenant Parfyonova Zoya Ivanovna - 680 combat missions. Awarded on August 18, 1945. Participant in the Victory Parade. Guard Art. Lieutenant Pasko Evdokia Borisovna - 790 combat missions. Guard captain Nadezhda Vasilievna Popova - 852 combat missions. Guard Art. Lieutenant Raspopova Nina Maksimovna - 805 combat missions. Guard captain Larisa Nikolaevna Rozanova - 793 combat missions. Guard Art. Lieutenant Rudneva Evgenia Maksimovna - 645 combat missions. Awarded posthumously. Guard Art. Lieutenant Ryabova Ekaterina Vasilievna - 890 combat missions. Guard captain Olga Aleksandrovna Sanfirova - 630 combat missions. Awarded posthumously. Guard Art. Lieutenant Sebrova Irina Fedorovna - 1004 combat missions. Guard captain Maria Vasilievna Smirnova - 950 combat sorties. Guard Art. Lieutenant Syrtlanova Maguba Khusainovna - 780 combat missions. Awarded May 15, 1946. Guard Art. Lieutenant Ulyanenko Nina Zakharovna - 915 combat missions. Awarded on August 18, 1945. Guard Art. Lieutenant Khudyakova Antonina Fedorovna - 926 combat missions. Guard captain Marina Pavlovna Chechneva - 810 combat missions. Awarded May 15, 1946. In 1995, two more regiment navigators received the title of Hero of Russia: Guard Art. Lieutenant Akimova Alexandra Fedorovna - 680 combat missions. Guard Art. Lieutenant Sumarokova Tatyana Nikolaevna - 725 combat missions. One pilot was awarded the title of Hero of the Republic of Kazakhstan: Guard Art. Lieutenant Dospanova Khiuaz - more than 300 combat missions.

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The squadron has been built. The commander of the 2nd squadron, Amosova, reports. Assinovskaya 942 Evdokia Davydovna Bershanskaya sets a combat mission. 1943 During the war, the regiment inflicted enormous damage to enemy personnel and equipment. The brave pilots carried out 23,672 combat missions at night and dropped 2,902,980 kg of bomb load and 26,000 ampoules of flammable liquid on the heads of enemies. According to far from complete data, the regiment destroyed and damaged 17 crossings, 9 railway trains, 2 railway stations, 46 ammunition and fuel warehouses, 12 fuel tanks, 1 aircraft, 2 barges, 76 vehicles, 86 firing points, 11 searchlights. 811 fires and 1092 high-power explosions were caused in the enemy camp. The pilots dropped 155 bags of ammunition and food to our surrounded troops. The aircraft of the 46th Guards Taman Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov Aviation Regiment were in combat flights for 28,676 hours, in other words, 1191 full days without a break. This was a great contribution of Soviet patriots to the defeat of the enemy. Novorossiysk is captured! Katya Ryabova and Nina Danilova are dancing. The girls not only bombed, but also supported paratroopers on Malaya Zemlya

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Pilots before the Victory Parade, 1945. E. Zhigulenko, M. Smirnova, E. D. Bershanskaya, E. Nikulina, S. Amosova, N. Popova, M. Chechneva, N. Meklin, I. Sebrova, R. Gasheva

A participant in the Great Patriotic War, deputy squadron commander of the 46th Guards Women's Night Bomber Regiment of the 4th Air Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, Hero of the Soviet Union, guard reserve major Nadezhda Vasilyevna Popova died in Moscow on July 8 at the age of 92.

After graduating from school in the city of Stalino (now Donetsk), Nadezhda Popova studied at the flying club, and in 1939 she came to Moscow to become a military pilot. I met Hero of the Soviet Union Polina Osipenko, who contributed to Popova’s direction to the Kherson Aviation School of OSOAVIAKHIM, then to the Military Aviation School. In May 1942, Nadezhda Popova flew to the front as part of the 588th Night Bomber Women's Aviation Regiment.

German soldiers called the Po-2 night bombers, piloted by girls, “night witches.” Pilots of the 46th Guards Women's Night Bomber Regiment at that time fought in Ukraine, Crimea, Belarus, Poland and in Nazi Germany.

Nadezhda Popova carried out 852 combat missions. On February 23, 1945, in the decree conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the surnames of her and her future husband Semyon Kharlamov were separated by only a few lines, and they always considered their wedding day to be May 10, 1945, when they signed one by one on the Reichstag: “Semyon Kharlamov, Saratov", "Nadya Popova from Donbass".

It is believed that Nadezhda and Semyon became the prototypes of Masha and Romeo from Leonid Bykov’s film “Only Old Men Go to Battle” - Semyon Kharlamov was a consultant for the film. Fortunately, their love story, unlike the on-screen characters, had a happy continuation.

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Nadezhda Popova: “The Germans thought that we all smoked and drank... But we were all clean girls.” Last interview.

“Our whole family is Heroes...” With her husband, General Semyon Kharlamov.

She flew through the entire war, the “night witch” - a pilot of the legendary women’s regiment

I've been calling Nadezhda Popova all April, trying to get a date, but the receiver coquettishly answers: “I'm now addicted: not to love, but to the weather...” All April there was bad weather, she's 90, she fell while getting out of bed and was badly injured: she had to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations and break the door, to save... Meanwhile, everyone asks Nadezhda Popova - just about love. Especially on the eve of Victory. They say that this is her story with her husband - the story of Masha and Romeo from the film “Only “old men” go into battle.” Only Nadya and Senya, unlike the movie characters, survived.

I arrive without calling, listen to her story, which has been repeated without variation for many years for different audiences, and I think: what if this is the last time? She has. And that means for me too... Who will tell me about the war when all its heroes leave and only cinema remains?

"Women's Unit"

Nadezhda Vasilyevna has a manicure, snow-white curls and blue eyes. She has already forgotten where I am from, but she remembers how a gypsy prophesied in childhood: “You will be happy”; remembers how, as a girl, she waited for her father’s salary so that she could eat sweets once a month, and how everyone school years their Donetsk, then Stalino, along with the whole country, was covered with waves coming from the black dish of the radio point. These waves made me feel an ache somewhere in my chest: Papanin’s people! Chkalovites! Stakhanovites! “It was a touch of feat...”

At the age of 19, after flying school, she wrote a report about being sent to the front and ended up in a night bomber regiment. The nickname “night witches”, which the Germans awarded, only flattered them:

The Germans thought that we all smoked, drank, that we were fine prisoners, just out of prison... But we were all clean girls, 240 people. The navigators were girls, the mechanics were girls, the four of them hung the hundred-kilogram bombs. They slept under the wings of airplanes, in canvas bags, in twos, in an embrace... They ignored the men: they thought they brought trouble, and the regiment was kept as a purely female unit.

But they sang in those very rare moments of calm: “Ducks and two geese are flying, I can’t wait for the one I love...”

She waited - in the middle of the war. Sena Kharlamov was 20 years old, and on that day - in the summer

On the 42nd, somewhere near Rostov, he also experienced a feat: he was shot down, he was burning, he fell, but he did not abandon the plane. “Why did you take such a risk?” - “I felt sorry for the car!” The bullet was stuck in the cheek, the thigh was pierced, and the nose was cut off by shrapnel. They operated under “crikaine” - the recipe: a glass of alcohol and her own scream... Nadezhda Vasilievna remembers their meeting, and her voice rises a tone higher than when talking about the Stakhanovites, even higher, even hotter - she had already forgotten that today the pressure was again.

The Germans said about us: “Rusish Schwein!” It was so offensive! What kind of pig am I? I am beautiful! I have a tablet over my shoulder, a pistol, a rocket launcher in my belt... That day I was delivering a package to the command, and I accidentally found out that a wounded pilot was being transported in an ambulance - and I went to look. But there was nothing to look at: the whole head was in bandages, only a crack Brown eyes mischievous and lips - plump, unkissed... I felt so sorry for him: how could he be like this, without a nose... We talked, I liked his eyes - playful, but then there was no time for any such thoughts: there was a retreat to the east... I said goodbye: “Senya, goodbye, write.”

He didn't write. I just found her one day on the roads of war: their women’s regiment was flying from a “male” airfield - almost like in the movie, in which Masha (actress Evgenia Simonova) made an emergency landing at the airfield of the “singing squadron”.

My mechanic comes running to me: “Comrade commander, a man is asking for you!” And my plane is already taking off. And it turns out it’s really him, Senya, whose top I only managed to really see from under the bandages!.. And here he is entirely. “So it turns out you have a nose!”

In the cabin of her “heavenly slow-moving vehicle” there were apples - the regiment stood in the orchards, a flask with combat hundred grams, which were given out after night flights: “I didn’t drink, I gave everything to him - and flew away.”

Masha and Romeo from the film died on the same day - maybe on the same apple day...

And Nadya Popova is a guard captain, 852 combat missions during the entire war!!! - and Semyon Kharlamov met each other’s names more than once on the pages of newspapers, as if they were saying hello to each other, until one day, on February 23, 1945, they agreed on the front page, in the decree conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: in the column of their surnames separated only by the order of the letters of the alphabet - and it was already clear to the heart that this was fate.

And we always considered our wedding day to be May 10, 1945, when we signed one after another on the Reichstag: “Semyon Kharlamov, Saratov”, “Nadya Popova from Donbass” - this was our marriage registration...

“Really just pots?!”

With her son under her heart, she flew until the 9th month, moving after the Victory to serve with her husband in the regiment. Semyon Kharlamov rose to the rank of general, high rank, and was deputy air marshal Pokryshkin. Consulted Leonid Bykov during the filming of “Only “old men” go into battle.” “Bykov, short, looked at my husband like he was a god, and Senya joked all the time.” Their best years came during the war...

When the reduction of the army began in Khrushchev’s times, I quit my job and was horrified: “Are there really only pots now?!”

Instead of pots, she was a deputy and was a member of the Soviet Women's Committee and the Peace Committee. Met with the Belgian Queen:

Are you like Tereshkova? - asked the queen, nodding at the star and straps on her chest.

No, I'm like Popova.

Widowed in 1990. “Believe me, in all these years I haven’t said anything like that to my Senechka...” Left behind is a son, also a general, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

She sleeps poorly due to bad weather, watches TV at night and eats ice cream. After the fall, rescue from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the hospital, he walks around the house one step at a time, using a walker. Calls the girls. I thought they were discussing illnesses, but: “We are all politically savvy, and now we are outraged by the story with Bout: it’s a shame that they think badly about Russian weapons!”

Seven of the girls came to the park near the Bolshoi Theater last year. Two died this year. "Tanya Maslennikova and Klava Ryzhkova." The rest are suspended on thin strings of telephone wires and do not leave the house. They don't parade. Carnations are not placed at the Eternal Flame.

Nadezhda Vasilievna Popova presses a manicured finger to her pale lips with small wrinkles: “I wish that on May 9 I will go to the parade!..”

Still holds a punch. Night witch.

Author: Polina Ivanushkina
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How many heroic deeds our ancestors performed during the Great Patriotic War. Soviet women and even very young girls participated in the fight against the enemy along with men. Several years before the Nazi offensive, mass training of young people in flying clubs was launched in the vastness of the Soviet Union. The profession of a pilot was so romantic and attractive that not only enthusiastic young men, but also girls aspired to the sky. As a result, by June 1941 the country had a staff of young pilots, this circumstance once again refutes the assertions that the USSR was completely unprepared for war, and the country’s leadership did not expect an attack.

In October 1941, in a difficult military situation, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR issued an order to form the women's aviation regiment No. 0099. Responsibility for the execution of the order was assigned to Maria Raskova. In their interviews, the surviving female front-line soldiers speak of Raskova as the most authoritative person in their midst. Her orders were not discussed; young girls who came from different parts of the country, who had just completed pilot courses, looked at Raskova as a pilot of an unattainable level. By that time, Raskova was a little over twenty-five years old, but even then Maria Mikhailovna was a Hero of the USSR. An amazing, brave and very beautiful woman died in 1943 in a plane crash in difficult weather conditions near the village of Mikhailovka in the Saratov region. Maria Raskova was cremated, and the urn with her ashes was placed in the Kremlin wall so that grateful descendants could lay flowers and honor the memory of the woman hero.

In accordance with the order of the People's Commissar of Defense, Maria Mikhailovna formed three units:
Fighter Aviation Regiment 586;
aviation regiment BB 587;
night aviation regiment 588 (legendary “night witches”).

The first two units became mixed during the war; not only girls, but also Soviet men fought valiantly in them. The night aviation regiment consisted exclusively of women; even the heaviest work here was performed by the fairer sex.

At the head of the “night witches” or 46th Guards NBP was the experienced pilot Evdokia Bershanskaya. Evdokia Davydovna was born in the Stavropol Territory in 1913. Her parents died during the Civil War, and the girl was raised by her uncle. This woman's strong character allowed her to become brilliant pilot and commander. By the beginning of the war, Evdokia Bershanskaya already had ten years of flying experience, and she diligently passed on her knowledge to her young subordinates. Evdokia Davydovna went through the entire war, and after that she worked for a long time in public organizations for the benefit of the Fatherland.

Regiment commander Evdokia Davydovna Bershanskaya and regiment navigator Hero of the Soviet Union Larisa Rozanova. 1945

The regiment entrusted to Bershanskaya was sometimes called “Dunkin”. This name reveals the whole history of brave female pilots. Plywood, lungs Po-2 aircraft were not at all suitable for fierce battles with the German invaders. The Germans openly laughed at the sight of this fragile structure. Often the girls were not taken seriously, and throughout the war they had to prove their skills and demonstrate the capabilities of the “whatnot”. The risk was extremely great, since Po-2 fast caught fire and was completely devoid of any armor or other type of protection. Po-2 is a civil aircraft used for transport purposes, as well as in the field of communications. The girls independently suspended the bomb load on special beams on the lower plane of the aircraft, which sometimes exceeded 300 kg. Each shift could carry a weight reaching a ton. The girls worked under extreme pressure, which allowed them to fight the enemy on equal terms with men. If earlier the Germans laughed at the mention of the “Kuban bookcase,” then after the raids they began to call the regiment “night witches” and attribute to them magical properties. Probably, the fascists simply could not imagine that Soviet girls were capable of such feats.

Maria Runt, a native of Samara and the same age as Bershanskaya, was responsible for party work in the regiment of girls studying flying in the city of Engels. She was an experienced and courageous bomber pilot who patiently shared her experience with the younger generation. Before and after the war, Runt was engaged in teaching work and even defended her Ph.D. thesis.

The PO-2 combat aircraft, on which the regiment's crews flew to bomb the Nazis

The baptism of fire of the 46th Guards National Guard took place in mid-June 1942. Lungs 2 each took off into the sky. Pilot Bershanskaya and navigator Sofia Burzaeva, as well as Amosova and Rozanova, went on the first flight. According to the stories of the pilots, the expected fire from the enemy position did not come and the crew of Amosov-Rozanov circled three times over the given target - the mine - to drop the deadly load. Today we can judge the events of that time only from documents and a few interviews with direct participants in combat missions. In 1994, Larisa Rozanova, navigator, born in 1918, son of the hero of the USSR Aronova, and Olga Yakovleva, navigator, spoke about the exploits of the women's air regiment. They describe all the difficulties and horrors of war that fragile Soviet girls had to face, as well as the heroic pilots and navigators who died.

It should be said separately about each of those who, in the light Po-2s, terrified the invaders. Larisa Rozanova was refused several times to her requests to be sent to the front. After order No. 0099 was issued, Rozanova ended up in a flight school in the city of Engels, and then in the 46th Guards. During the war, she flew over the Stavropol Territory and Kuban, and soared on her light Po-2 over the North Caucasus and Novorossiysk. Rozanova contributed to the liberation of Poland and Belarus and celebrated the victory in Germany. Larisa Nikolaevna died in 1997, having lived a long and interesting life.

Flight commander Tanya Makarova and navigator Vera Belik. 1942 Posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union

Olga Yakovleva went from a soldier to a navigator, participated in the battles with the invaders for the Caucasus, as well as in the liberation of Crimea, Kuban and Belarus. The brave woman carried out well-aimed bomb attacks on enemy targets in East Prussia.

The regiment's combat path is a series of glorious exploits, to which each of the “night witches” made a contribution. Despite the formidable name that the Nazis gave to the women's air regiment, for the Russian people they will forever remain noble conquerors of the sky. After the first combat mission took place, the young girls lungs They fought on plywood “shelves” for a long time. From August to December 1942 they defended Vladikavkaz. In January 1943, the regiment was sent to help break through the line of German troops on the Terek, as well as to support offensive operations in the area of ​​​​Sevastopol and Kuban. From March to September of the same year, the girls undertook operations on the Blue Front Line, and from November to May 1944 they covered the landing of Soviet forces on the Taman Peninsula. The regiment was involved in actions to break through the fascist defenses near Kerch, in the village of Eltigen, as well as in the liberation of Sevastopol and Crimea. From June to July 1944, the women's aviation regiment was thrown into battle on the Pronya River, and from August of the same year it flew flights across the territory of occupied Poland. From the beginning of 1945, the girls were transferred to East Prussia, where the “night witches” on PO-2 successfully fought and supported the crossing of the Narew River. March 1945 is marked in the history of the valiant regiment by its participation in the liberation battles for Gdansk and Gdynia, and from April to May, brave female pilots supported the advance of the Soviet Army behind the retreating fascists. Over the entire period, the regiment flew over twenty-three thousand combat missions, most of which took place in difficult conditions. On October 15, 1945, the regiment was disbanded, and the bulk of the girls were demobilized.

Twenty-three brave pilots of the 49th Women's Aviation Regiment were awarded the title of Hero of the USSR. Evdokia Nosal, a native of the Zaporozhye region, was killed by a shell that exploded in the cabin in the battles for Novorossiysk. Evgenia Rudneva, also from Zaporozhye, died in April 1944 on a combat mission in the sky north of Kerch. Tatyana Makarova, a 24-year-old Muscovite, burned to death on a plane in 1944 in the battles for Poland. Vera Belik, a girl from the Zaporozhye region, died along with Makarova in the sky over Poland. Olga Sanfirova, born in 1917 in the city of Kuibyshev, died in December 1944 on a combat mission. Maria Smirnova from the Tver region, a smiling Karelian, retired with the rank of guard major, lived a long life and died in 2002. Evdokia Pasko is a girl from Kyrgyzstan, born in 1919, who retired with the rank of senior lieutenant. Irina Sebrova from the Tula region, since 1948 senior lieutenant in the reserve. Natalya Meklin, a native of the Poltava region, also survived bloody battles and retired with the rank of guard major, died in 2005. Evgenia Zhigulenko, a resident of Krasnodar, with beautiful eyes and an open smile, also became a Hero of the USSR in 1945. Evdokia Nikulina, a native of the Kaluga region, joined the guard reserve as a major and lived until 1993 after the war. Raisa Aronova, a girl from Saratov, retired as a major and died in 1982. Antonia Khudyakova, Nina Ulyanenko, Polina Gelman, Ekaterina Ryabova, Nadezhda Popova, Nina Raspolova, Rufina Gasheva, Syrtlanova Maguba, Larisa Rozanova, Tatyana Sumarokova, Zoya Parfenova, Khivaz Dospanova and Alexandra Akimova also became heroes of the USSR in the valiant 49th Aviation Regiment.

Checking machine guns. Left st. weapons technician of the 2nd squadron Nina Buzina. 1943

About each of these great women, as well as about other girls who served in the 49th regiment, called “night witches” by the Nazis, you can write not only an article, but also a book. Each of them has passed a difficult path and is worthy of memory and respect. Soviet women did not fight for the party or for Soviet power, they fought for our future, for the right of subsequent generations to live free.

In 2005, a literary “creation” called “Field Wives” was published, the authors of which are certain Olga and Oleg Greig. Not to mention this scandalous fact, which is the product of attempts to interpret historical truth, would be criminal. The mentioned “creators”, the writer has no desire to call them proudly, tried to denigrate the bright memory of heroic women with allegations of their sexual promiscuity and other vices. In refutation of the shameful and narrow-minded speculation, I would like to remind you that not a single fighter of the 49th Women's Aviation Regiment left the ranks due to gynecological diseases or pregnancy. We will not deny that, based on the real story of Nadya Popova and Semyon Kharlamov, the love story was highlighted in the film “Only Old Men Go to Battle,” but people with stable moral values ​​understand perfectly well the differences between sexual promiscuity and high feelings.

Heroes of the Soviet Union: Tanya Makarova, Vera Belik, Polya Gelman, Katya Ryabova, Dina Nikulina, Nadya Popova. 1944

War is over. Girls in the parking lot of their "swallows". Ahead of Serafim Amosov is the deputy. regiment commander, followed by Hero of the Soviet Union Natasha Meklin. 1945

Heroes of the Soviet Union squadron commander Maria Smirnova and navigator Tatyana Sumarokova. 1945

Heroes of the Soviet Union Nadezhda Popova and Larisa Rozanova. 1945