Marina Raskova

Women of the Month - Marina Raskova

Marina Raskova was the first women aviator in combat and founded the Night Witches. The Night Witches were a Russian combat unit in World War 2, and played a major role in the surrender of the Nazis. Raskova assembled over 1,000 female pilots who flew tiny planes made of plywood with no guns, radios or parachutes. They flew only at night because they would be such an easy target during the day. The planes flew so slow that Nazi planes tracking them would stall in mid-air. The average Night Witch was between 17 and 26 years old. They were trained to fly...