October 8, 1941: The Soviets' "Night Witches"

Rufina Gasheva (left) and Natalya Meklin

October 8, 1941: With the Soviet Air Forces having lost a great deal of men in combat with Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe, an order was issued to deploy three women's air-force units, including the 588th Regiment. The regiment, formed by Major Marina Raskova and led by Major Yevdokya Bershanskaya, was composed primarily of female volunteers in their late teens and early twenties.

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 the Nachthexen: "Night Witches."

Among their planes were the Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber and the Polikarpov Po-2 bomber. Raskova died on January 4, 1943, when her aircraft crashed attempting to make a forced landing on the bank of the Volga River, while leading two other Pe-2s to the first operative airfield near Stalingrad. The entire crew perished. She was 30 years old, and received the U.S.S.R.'s first state funeral of the war.

Marina Raskova

Bershanskaya survived the war, married one of her superior officers, had 3 daughters, and lived until 1982, at the age of 69.

Yevdokya Bershanskaya

Irina Rakobolskaya, a pilot with the 588th Regiment, rationalized the difficult reality and challenges she faced to pursue both a family and piloting career when she stated, "I think that, during the war, when the fate of our country was being decided, the bringing in of women into aviation was justified. But in peacetime, a woman can only fly for sport... Otherwise, how can one combine a career with a family and with maternal happiness?" She lived until 2016.

Both of the women shown in the photo above survived the war: Natalya Meklin lived until 2005, Rufina Gasheva until 2012. 

UPDATE: Galina Brok-Beltsova was the last survivor of the Night Witches, living until August 15, 2024. She was 99 years old.

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October 8, 1941 was a Wednesday. American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson was born.

There were no scores on this historic day. The World Series had ended 2 days earlier, football was in midweek, the NBA hadn't yet been founded, and the NHL season began 24 days later.