https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches
An attack technique of the night bombers involved idling the engine near the target and gliding to the bomb-release point with only wind noise left to reveal their presence. German soldiers likened the sound to broomsticks and hence named the pilots “Night Witches”.[dubious – discuss][2][3] Due to the weight of the bombs and the low altitude of flight, the pilots did not carry parachutes until 1944.[4][5]
From the depths of hell in silence
Cast their spell, explosive violence Russian night time, flight perfected Flawless vision, undetectedI will always upvote Sabaton.
… How did they know those were women in the planes?
I’m sure Soviet propaganda wasn’t quiet about it.
Though a decade before and a different war, I’m reminded of troops during the Spanish Civil War shouting at each other with megaphones in an attempt to demoralize the enemy. “WE ARE EATING SO GOOD OVER HERE, YOU STARVING FASCIST PIGS - WHY DON’T YOU SURRENDER, AND WE MIGHT SHARE SOME OF THIS DELICIOUS BACON?”
More an analysis/conjecture, but besides potential propaganda within the Soviet Union and in the frontlines, information and counterinformation are part of a war, so the German Intelligence may have come across the information of that bomber regiment, which turned out to be true. And as gossip spreads like fire in dry vegetation and the German hierarchy afaik was purposefully messy, what the Intelligence would find could end up leaking to the front lines, and thus confirming the propaganda and rumors the soldiers could be hearing.
I’m guessing they shot down and captured a few.
two awful countries
I mean, the Night Witches were bombing literal Nazis.
Still have to hand it to them for being way ahead of the west when it came to allowing women in combat roles at all.
Still far from perfect, but undeniably better when it comes to gender equality at the time. Since then, though, they’ve backslid pretty badly.
One of those things. Progress must be built from the ground-up, otherwise it can be reversed from the top-down. Like how after WW2 many of these pilots were shuttered out of the aviation industry entirely and expected to become good Soviet wives and mothers.
The Soviets were nominally for gender equality, and that was commendable - but practically, they would simply ‘activate’ it when needed, and ignore it at all other points - which is… more like other contemporary states of the period.
