Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Wiser
Actually, the two all-female bomber units (587th and 46th Guards) were very active. 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment were the famous "Night Witches". Half of the awards of "Hero of the Soviet Union" (anaglous to the MOH) won by women went to members of this unit. There were also female pilots spread out in other units: Il-2s for example. And the 586th Fighter Regiment boasts the only two female aces in history (so far).
There was a husband-and-wife team on an ISU-122 assault gun in 3rd Baltic Front. She was the commander, he was the driver (all-officer crew). Instead of spending their honeymoon at the divisional rest center having some...intimate time, they spent it at the front, killing Germans.
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Heard of them, the Night Witches flew older aircraft in interdiction and night harrassement missions. But all of the Soviet-era records that I have been able to access shows the female units posted to quieter areas of the front. This does not mean that women did not serve in other units! There are a lot of accounts of female machinegun crews, one Stalingrad account of a flamethrower team of women, and others of women serving in tank rider units and as PBI....
On the other hand, the White Tights....there is quite a bit of urban legend tied in with this group. Even the Russian sites always start off with "it is reported".