They Called Us Night Witches

This book is dedicated to the legendary 46th Guards Tamanskaya, a twice-decorated regiment of night bombers, which was formed in October 1941. In the history of the Great Patriotic War, this regiment is known as the "Night Witches": it was composed entirely of women—from the regiment commander to the technician. Most of them were very young girls, yesterday's schoolgirls and students. During the years of the war, these girls made 24,000 combat sorties: they bombed the Germans in the Don region, in Stavropol, the Caucasus, Kuban, Belarus, Poland, and East Prussia. 25 pilots and navigators were awarded the title of Hero. Their feats are recounted by Irina Rakobolskaya, the chief of staff of the regiment, and Hero of the Soviet Union Natalia Kravtsova (Meklin), the commander of the flight that dropped 147 tons of bombs on the enemy.