02 DECEMBER 2003

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Squadron News:

Promotion: FOBuffalo to FtLBuffalo. Congrats from all Charlie.....

A N E W G A Z E T T E I N V E S T I D O C U R A M A
A Flying Tiger's Story
by Dick Rossi

Continued:

Our living accommodations in Rangoon had deteriorated so most of the pilots had moved out to the "18 mile farm" where our ground crews were staying. We had a fried chicken dinner and went to bed, but there was a lot of night bombing going on at Rangoon.

At 0200, Neale informed us that the Japanese had closed the Burma Road south of Toungoo and that the RAF had evacuated the radio detection finder, so we would not be getting any more warnings. He said he was going to try to get our ground crews out via the Prome Road, the last route of escape.

Because of the night bombings, we always dispersed our flyable P-40s to the outlying fields as a way to protect them. There was one plane at Mingaladon, #78, that was badly shot up, but it was repairable. Harry Fox and his crew went to Mingaladon to fix it. They were back by sunup to tell us it was ready to go. Bob Neale took me to the field in the squadron station wagon. Sure enough, Fox and his crew had the P-40 back in flyable condition. It had taken a shrapnel hit, but was otherwise okay. I took off in it, the last AVG plane to leave Mingaladon, and flew over to our dispersal field. About the time we finished refueling, we heard Japanese bombers approaching.

As preplanned, our flight of six P-40s immediately took off for Loiwing with Bob Little leading. Others went to different bases. Little got lost but Fritz Wolf took over and we finally landed at Lashio. Bob Prescott was down to four gallons of gas. After refueling, having lunch and a beer, we took off for Loiwing.

We were out of oil, oxygen and Prestone leaving Rangoon. I was low on Prestone leaving Lashio and my engine overheated and began to backfire, then it cut out. The terrain was too rough for an emergency landing so I started to bail out. As I put my leg out of the cockpit the engine caught on, so back in the seat I went. This routine happened one more time until I caught sight of the Loiwing field in the distance. Easing the power and starting a slow descent, I was able to reach the field safely.

After two days at Loiwing with no action and one standby (because Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek was at a meeting in Lashio), we were ordered to Kunming. We arrived without incident, to be congratulated by Chennault. Both he and Harvey Greenlaw told us to rest, so we had one day off!

Arvid Olson’s 3rd Squadron had now gone to Magwe to take over the defense there. Five of their squadron pilots had left for Magwe, got lost and cracked up their aircraft in emergency landings. Two aircraft could be repaired to fly out. They wanted more planes at Magwe so Prescott, Wolf and I requested to fly the planes there and then to stay in Magwe so that we could be where the action was.

The final decision was to send three P-40s with Olson, Prescott and Wolf to Magwe, and Frank Swartz and I would go there in an Army C-47 with our ground crew and all their tools. That turned out to be one of the wildest rides I had ever had.

The pilot in command of the C-47 was ill, so they recruited a Chinese pilot. Harold Chinn from CNAC was to ride as copilot for the newly promoted Army captain second-in-command. The plane had been stripped - there were no seats, no safety belts and heavy toolboxes sitting all over the deck. All of us passengers were sitting on the deck.

The C-47 was three quarters of the way down the field and the tail was still on the ground. We all edged up toward the front to lighten the tail. We ran out of airstrip and began bouncing along the rough ground before we finally made it into the air at a very slow speed. The plane got up to about twenty feet and we felt a lurch as the plane passed over some trees about fifty feet tall. Then came the horrible feeling as the plane was mushing toward the ground. We saw one wing suddenly raise and a house passed under it.

We later found out that the Chinese army co-pilot flying the ship had just graduated from cadet school and had only two landings in the C-47. The CNAC pilot, Chinn, had taken over the controls as we ran out of field. Slowly we gained about 1,500 feet altitude above the ground (airfield was at 6,500 feet), but could not gain enough altitude to get over the west mountain. They were trying to fly around it and fly in the valleys. We went up to the cockpit and said we all wanted to go back to Kunming. The starboard engine was vibrating badly and throwing oil. They returned to Kunming and got the plane on the ground and we happily disembarked.

The next day Swartz and I, with our eighteen ground crew, boarded a CNAC DC-3 flown by H. L."Woody" Woods, an experienced Pan Am and CNAC pilot. We proceeded to Magwe via Lashio. The next day Woody took the rest of the 1st Squadron back to Kunming.

On 13 March, three B-17s came in to evacuate women and children. One of the navigators was a fellow named Svaboda who had washed out of Pensacola while I was instructing there. What a place to meet. The next day I went on a strafing mission near Kyaikto with the 3rd Squadron Leader, Arvid Olsen. We stopped at Toungoo for refueling and lunch on the way back.

For the next week I had alternating days of strafing missions. The 21st was a bad day. It started out fine with the British sending nine Blenheims with Hurricane escort to Mingaladon where they did a lot of damage to the enemy and shot down eight fighters. We were listening to their story when we got an alert. I was flying #38 and its starter was out, so I was late getting off. It was a false alarm. I was relieved for lunch by Frank Swartz and as we were returning to the field, we found our planes taking off. By the time we reached the alert tent they were all in the air except for #38. We called operations and were told the enemy was approaching from the southeast. Swartz had decided #38 was not fit to fly.

With Fritz Wolf’s help we hunted up a screwdriver and crank. Crew Chief John Fauth came to help and we cranked up #38. Almost everyone else had already evacuated the field. I took off, but with multiple layers of scattered clouds and haze, I was unable to see any of our P-40s. I guessed that the enemy was now nearby and climbed for altitude northeast of the field. As I reached 23,000 feet our radio announced that Japanese were strafing the town and field.

I came rushing down to 2,000 feet to get under the clouds, circled the town and field and did not see another plane. I could see that the field had been hit hard by bombs. There were fires burning and one Hurricane on the ground was on fire.

I then headed south thinking I might find some enemy aircraft. After about ten minutes and not seeing anything, I figured it would be best to get back to the field in case anymore Japanese aircraft showed up. In that lapsed time they came again hitting the field, buildings and several of the Blenheims. More fires were burning.

With all the clouds and haze, they did a surprisingly good job of hitting our field. There were twenty-seven bombers in each wave plus about forty fighters. Almost one hundred enemy planes had come over, I had been in the air for almost two hours and I had not made contact. It was very frustrating.

The pilots who did make contact said the Japanese planes were all faster than those they had met before; no fixed landing gear fighters either. Ken Jernstedt was shot down but only slightly injured. It was one of our worst engagements. We destroyed only a few of them.

Several of our people were hurt by bombs. Swartz had part of his hand blown off and a bad gash in his throat. Two crew chiefs were injured. Will Seiple had a lung caved in from bomb concussion as he lay on the ground. John Fauth had most of his right shoulder and part of his face blown off.

The next day was to be my day off, so I sat up most the the night with the injured. Part of the time I had to hold a flashlight as "Doc" Richards worked on Fauth. He had already bandaged up Swartz. Fauth was really in bad shape. Prescott and I rotated between the two rooms where Swartz and Seiple were, and where Doc was working on Fauth. They were all conscious and suffering badly. I had known Swartz from cadet days when we were both editors on the cadet yearbook at Pensacola. Listening to them and trying to console them as they suffered, and watching Doc work on Fauth made me feel terrible. I was sure I never wanted to be a doctor. That was the worst night of my life. About 0430 Fauth died.

The next morning I was washing up about 0830 when I heard someone yell, "Here they come!" We had no warning and none of our planes got off. There were twenty-two bombers and a swarm of fighters. They really blew the hell out of our planes with their bombing and strafing. Luckily, all of our people got safely off the field.

About noon we got Swartz and Seiple on a DC-3 going to Calcutta. About ten minutes after they left another wave of enemy planes came over. There were fifty-three bombers and another swarm of fighters. Our warning system was non-existent, so everybody tried to stay clear of the field. After a reasonable wait, we ventured back to the airfield. Old #38 was as full of holes as a sieve, but did not burn. Some P-40s were burned right down to the ground. All of the Blenheims were destroyed.

We prepared to evacuate to Loiwing. Ed Overend and I each had a jeep and planned to travel together. The crew chiefs figured they could make four P-40s flyable and worked at the field that night with flashlights. Ed and I got up at 0330, had coffee and prepared to leave. Some of those driving had already left during the night. And, sure enough, the crew chiefs had four planes ready to fly. At 0430 we shoved off - destination Loiwing. We were on our own.

That afternoon we met up with Arvid Olsen and Parker Dupouy outside of Maymyo and sought out sleeping quarters. We ended up at the headquarters of the American Military Mission. There we found two reporters, Daniel DeLuce and Mr. Berrigan. Army Captain Jones was very helpful. I lucked out in a coin toss with Overend and got to sleep on a Simmons mattress out on the porch of the quarters.

The next morning we arose and had breakfast with General Stilwell. We told him how to win the war, but we’re not sure how much he listened. He didn’t have much to say. Ed Overend knew a missionary family there and they gave us a gallon of fresh strawberries to take on our trip. That was a memorable treat.

We drove in our jeeps for the next three days, up the Burma Road to Loiwing. It was an interesting and sometimes thrilling three days. There were washouts, hairpin turns, all kinds of logistical problems, food problems, fuel problems, but a great adventure. There were no planes at Loiwing, but eight 3rd Squadron planes came in the next day, so we were then back on schedule.

During the next several days Chuck Older shot down a Japanese observation plane and "Fearless Freddie" Hodges got married. We had a nice party for the bride and groom and even the Japanese joined the celebration, in that we had an alert in the middle of the party and we all ran for the slit trenches. Fortunately the Japanese never showed over the field, so we continued with the party.

On 8 April, in the morning, the Japanese sent an observation plane over. Then at about 1300, thirteen fighters arrived on a strafing raid. Just before they arrived, a Blenheim had landed and two P-40Es were brought in by Pan Am ferry pilots (one of the pilots named Dukelow had been in my cadet class at Pensacola). Our P-40E and the Blenheim were shot up and the other P-40E was burned to the ground.

It was my day off so I watched the attack from a slit trench. Our flyable P-40s had taken off and climbed to about 22,000 feet. The Japanese came in low and were having a real picnic shooting up the field when our gang pounced on them. Three new P-40Es flown by Olsen, Ken Jernstedt and Robert Little happened to arrive from Kunming at the same time and joined the action.

I was in the slit trench with Doc Richards and saw two Japanese planes fall in flames fairly close and two more go down a little further away. The fighters were the Zekes, very similar to the Zero. We got seven of them and did not lose any of our own aircraft in the air. The next evening ten planes of the 2nd Squadron arrived to join us. Then Chennault came in from Kunming to stay for a while.

On 10 April, as the alert crew was on its way to the field, I saw five Japanese fighters diving for the field. Some of the crew chiefs were sitting in the planes warming them up. We had about twenty four planes all lined up like sitting ducks and they made run after run on them. Two of our crew chiefs were in their planes as they were hit but luckily there were no injuries to our men as they all dove for the slit trenches. Despite having lots of time and no opposition, the Japanese only damaged nine of the twenty-four planes. Four of the nine were patched up and ready to fly in about an hour, the rest were repaired later. The Japanese were back that afternoon with seven fighters but we wiped out five of them on that mission.

We had been flying regular patrols over the front lines to boost the moral of the Chinese ground troops. Bob Prescott and I got orders to go back to Kunming on the 20th. About thirty minutes after we took off, we were contacted by radio and recalled. Prescott was then sent up in the Group Beechcraft and I was told to wait for another P-40 that was being repaired. The next day I flew #59 up to Kunming which was an enjoyable trip. I followed the Burma Road all the way, sighting a couple of airfields. The next day I was back on alert duty.

Kunming was quiet on 26 April, and I was at the hospital visiting Bob Brouk who had been strafed while making an emergency landing at Nam Sang in Burma. He was hit in the thumb and leg. While visiting, I received a call from George Burgard to get back immediately as we were to leave on a CNAC plane at once. Burgard, Jim Cross and I were to go to Karachi, meet with thirteen Chinese pilots from the CAF, and ferry sixteen P-43s back to Kunming.

We gathered some baggage and boarded a CNAC plane for Calcutta, but were forced to return because of bad weather. We left the next day and had a very turbulent flight to Calcutta, but we didn’t mind because this was great R & R for us. We waited three days in Calcutta for a BOAC flying boat to Karachi.

We had to test fly and put slow time in on all of the P-43s. Eddie Goyette was checking out the Chinese pilots. After the usual delays and a great vacation, we left Karachi on 11 May. We were each leading a group of four, the fourth leader was a Chinese pilot, Y.T. Low. The trip to Kunming was filled with problems including bad weather just about all the way. We had to turn around several times but finally got to Dinjan, the last stop before crossing the "Hump" (Himalayas) into China. The trouble took its toll and our flight was down from sixteen planes to ten. We remained overnight there and Doolittle’s men came through on their way back to the States. They had had a really rough time. The next day the ten of us took off for Kunming. The weather was terrible but we climbed on top and flew over a solid overcast for more than 400 miles. Just short of Kunming the weather cleared and Burgard led us in a screaming dive for the airport. As our flight of ten cleared the hills west of the airfield, we caused a panic at the field. They had no word of our arrival and those P-43 radial engines made us look like Japanese planes.

At 1900 that night we were told to be ready to be transferred up to Chungking at 0700 the next morning. We all rushed around getting ready, however, the next morning the move was postponed. After a few escort missions, some patrols and a couple of false alarms, the 1st and 2nd Squadrons took off for Chungking on 9 June.

They had built nice quarters for us at the field outside of Chungking, but on arrival we were told we would be leaving for Kweilin the next day. Since we had several more pilots than planes, a few of us were to fly on a CNAC DC-3 with the "Old Man." Next day the weather was pretty bad so the P-40 flights were postponed, but those of us on CNAC flew to our destination.

We awakened the next morning to the sound of bombs falling. The Japanese had been making raids on Kweilin for a long time and there was no opposition to fight them. They sent fighters and bombers to hit the city and airport - all civilian targets, with devastating effects. The rest of our P-40s arrived from Kunming that afternoon.

The Japanese had been routinely sending an observation plane over before the main attacks but the "Old Man" decided to put us in the air early without waiting. So 12 June we got up at 0300 to get ready to go to the field. We took off at 0520 and, sure enough, at 0600, about eighteen enemy arrived. We had a big surprise for them. Us. We had fighters at three different altitudes and hit them hard. Some of the fighting almost got down to ground level. For the first time we saw the Japanese twin-engine fighters. Our guys thought it was a light bomber. We got ten of their planes before they got away. No bombs fell on the city. The next night the grateful citizens of Kweilin came out and gave us a party. We gave them a flyby over the city the next day as a salute.

The 2nd Squadron moved to another field at Heng Yang. They went on a strafing mission and were followed back to the field by the enemy. So seven of us from the 1st Squadron were sent over to Heng Yang at dusk to cover them the next day as they returned from a planned mission. We were supposed to come right back to Kweilin. We had no baggage, the weather turned terrible and we were stuck there for ten days without change of clothes. I always carried a toothbrush in my shirt pocket, so I at least had that.

We were getting a lot of night bombing. When the weather broke, four of us were sent further north to a field at Ling Ling. There we were getting bombed again at night. At both Heng Yang and Ling Ling they hit very close to our quarters. We were on alert all day and in the slit trenches most of the night. At both locations the bombs landed close enough to splatter mud on me.

The Army Air Corp sent General Clayton Bissell out to sign up all of the AVG. Bissell was an old enemy of Chennault's from his military days. Bissell’s speech to us was filled with demands and threats as to what would happen to us if we didn’t sign up right then. It didn’t go over well. The few who stayed on did so out of consideration for the "Old Man" who had become highly respected by us all.

The Flying Tigers were officially disbanded as of midnight on 3 July, 1942. That was the end of my combat, but not my flying, career.

The record of the AVG: We were in actual combat for seven months; we had less than 300 people. As of Dec 2, 1941, there were 82 pilots and of the original 100 P-40s sent out to Chennault, 78 remained with 62 in commission, 68 with radios and 60 with armament. There were shortages of just about everything and no spare parts to speak of. The group has a confirmed count of 299 combat victories with another probable 600 aircraft destroyed on the ground. Our losses were 4 pilots lost in aerial combat, 7 shot down and killed by anti-aircraft fire during strafing runs, 8 killed in operational and training accidents unrelated to enemy action. Four were MIA and 3 of those were found to be POWs. Three died from Japanese bombing raids. One was shot down and seen alive, but no word as to his fate. The American Fighter Aces Association confirms 20 AVG pilots as Aces with another 6 pilots achieving Ace status during the next few years.

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Soviet Women Combat Pilots
- The Battle for Moscow

In the months leading up to Operation Barbarossa (Hitler's code name for the attack on the Soviet Union) there had been over 500 violations of Soviet airspace by German photo reconnaissance aircraft. On the 21st June 1941 Hitler attacked - his plan to crush the Soviet Union in 10 weeks. Initially the attack exceeded the wildest dreams of the German generals. The Fall of Smolensk to the Germans on July 16, 1941 placed Moscow in danger. Hitler then discontinued the drive to Moscow, ordering the Germans to stand in place - it seemed to postpone the final blow but consequently Moscow received a reprieve during those crucial weeks. When the belated and ill-timed German assault on Moscow (code - named Operation Typhoon) began at 05:30 hours on September 30, 1941 the Russian weather turned foul.

The rainy season (rasputitsa, made any activity difficult, with the roads turning muddy so only large vehicles could move and air operations from grass fields becoming nearly impossible.

For Operation Typhoon to achieve success, a quick victory over the Russians west of Moscow became urgent. The rasputitsa ended each fall with the arrival of winter frosts and this created a great challenge, especially trying to keep men and machines in fighting condition in the advancing cold. The winter turned out to be Russia's most trusted ally.

Despite it's reduced numbers, the Soviet Air Force (VVS) played an active role in the period prior to the final German offensive. During Operation Typhoon the VVS, sensing that the final assault had commenced, then began to reassert itself, boldly attacking advancing German troops and armour by day and night.

Night bombing, mostly by PO-2 Biplanes in the tactical zones, became common place during Operation Typhoon. Bombing missions were sometimes carried out in extreme weather but ideal conditions were the long moonlit or starry nights.

The Polikarpov PO-2 was a 1927 design, powered by a single 115 hp engine giving a top speed of 81 mph and a range of 280 miles but it made a significant impact on the German troops by maintaining a sustained air presence over the battle zone, continuously harassing the Germans. The PO-2 was highly manoeuvrable and the slow speeds made night interception by the fast German fighters a difficult undertaking. The VVS pilots would often stop their engines and glide to the target, dropping their bombs by hand.

The night attackers, nicked named "sewing machines" or "duty sergeants" forced the enemy on all fronts to take precautions, lose sleep, and on occasion suffer the loss of a storage or fuel depot.

Soviet women pilots, the so-called "Night Witches", acquired considerable fame in this dangerous pursuit.

In October 1941 Soviet women pilots were organised into combat regiments by Marina Raskova, a famous Russian aviatrix. In 1938 she had received acclaim for flying an ANT-37 across the vast terrain of the Soviet Union (eleven time zones!) to achieve a women's record of 3,672 miles in 26 hours, 29 minutes. Raskova, who was later killed in action and buried in the Kremlin wall, called for volunteers for women's air regiments over the Moscow radio. The women were to be front line pilots, like men, and there were to be three air regiments, each with three squadrons, mechanics and armament fitters.

The training base was in a small town called Engels on the River Volga, North of Stalingrad. Here they were issued with men's uniforms - which were far too big - many stuffing their boots with newspaper and tying belts around their waists. With Maj Marina Raskova as Commander and Maj Yevdokia Bershanskaya as 2nd in command women went through an intense training schedule - 2 years work into 6 months. Marina Raskova and Yevdokia Bershanskaya had to assess the volunteers, and most wanted to fly fighters.

In all, VVS women pilots flew more than 24,000 sorties during the war - sixty eight receiving the Gold Star, Hero of the Soviet Union award.

The girls never wore parachutes and, after discussing it amongst themselves, had agreed if captured they may have to shoot themselves. This is exactly what Alina Smirnova did. When she crash landed she lost her sense of direction and when some people ran towards her, she thought they were Germans and shot herself.

586th Fighter Regiment

The women had trained in PO-2 aircraft and found the conversion to the powerful, single seater Yak-1 very difficult. The instructors could only drum into them the characteristics and limits of power and control before their first flight. The 586th Women's Fighter Regiment was first to go to the front. Commanded by Tamara Kazarinova, they flew the Yak-7B and Yak-1, totalling 4419 operational sorties, and credited with 38 victories.

The principal role of this regiment was to drive off enemy bomber formations before they reached their targets. Encounters with Messerschmitt 109s escorting the bombers were common.

Squadron Commander Olga Yamshchikova flew 93 sorties, scored three confirmed victories, and after the war became the first Soviet woman to fly jet aircraft when she became a test pilot.

Lilya Litvyak and Ekaterina Budanova both flew with the 586th. Maj Tamara Kazarinova noted they had a flair for individual combat so they were both transferred to join the men of the 73rd Fighter Regiment who were involved with some furious battles over Stalingrad. The City of Stalingrad had been continuously bombed by enemy aircraft, the city burning for many kilometres, and smoke hung over the city like a blanket. Over a million people died in the Stalingrad battle, for Germany it was the first great disaster of the war. This was a different kind of combat for the girls, joining the Free Hunters and seeking out fighters.

When the women arrived, male pilots found it difficult to accept them. Many refused to have them fly as their wingman, some later relenting after the women proved they were more than capable. Many commanders wanted to protect them even though they continuously proved their abilities. The women flew their missions together.

Both Lilya Litvyak and Ekaterina Budanova became fighter aces. Ekaterina Budanova was credited with eleven victories, and Lilya Litvyak scored twelve official victories and three shared in her year with the 73rd Fighter Air Regiment before her Yak was lost on August 1, 1943.

The women's 586th Fighter Regiment was heavily drawn into the most crucial battle of the war, to be fought at Kursk.

It was 2.20 am on Monday, July 5, 1943 when the Germans commenced an attack that was to develop into the greatest tank battle of the war. Fortunately "Lucy" - a complex spy ring, had forewarned the Russians of the battle plans. Together the two fronts had more than 1.3 million men, 20,000 field guns and 3500 tanks; 4000 aircraft of both sides were operating over an area only 12 miles by 30 miles. It was not unusual for 300 fighters to be involved in combat.

German airmen were always surprised to encounter VVS women pilots in active combat roles. One Luftwaffe pilot, Maj. D B Meyer, remembered being attacked near Orel by a group of Yak fighters. During the ensuing air duel the jettisoned canopy of Meyer's fighter struck the propeller of one of the pursuing Yaks, forcing it to crash. Upon landing Meyer found his dead adversary to be a woman - without rank insignia or parachute.

588th Night Bomber Regiment

The 588th Night Bomber Regiment (Night Witches) later received the honour of the 46th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment - the first women's regiment to receive this honour, placing them among the elite of the fighting units. The 46th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment first arrived over the Southern Front in May 1942, commanded by Yevdokia Bershanskaya. Fighting from the Kuban to Berlin, this all women's regiment flew 24,000 combat missions and dropped 23,000 tons of bombs from the then battle weary PO-2 biplanes.

Twenty three of its fliers and navigators became heroes of the Soviet Union for their dangerous work, including flights on the night of July 31st 1943, when four of their two seaters were shot down over the Blue Line (the secured German Sector of the Kuban bridgehead) by a German Junkers Ju 88 bomber.

This regiment remained entirely female through out the war.

587th Dive Bomber Regiment

The 587th Dive Bomber Regiment later received the honour of the 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment. The regiment did not go into battle until January 1943, delayed because of an abrupt change of aircraft. The crews had trained on the two-seater SU-2 but at the last minute were allocated the three seater PE-2 dive bomber instead, the regiment consequently having to wait for additional training and personnel.

The PE-2 had a crew of three - pilot, navigator, and a radio operator/gunner. The aircraft had two fixed machine guns firing forward and a swivelling machine gun in an acrylic bubble behind the navigator. The pilot had an armoured seat in the cockpit with the navigator behind, also in an armoured seat. The radio operator sat at the rear in the fuselage. When the aircraft was fully loaded with fuel and bombs the navigator used to help pull back on the stick to get the nose off the ground.

Later during the war the regiment began to receive male replacements. There were not enough women trained to fill the positions.

After Germany invaded the Soviet Union, between 22 June 1941 and 8 May 1945 there were nearly one million women who served in the Soviet Armed Forces, many of whom were at the front, enduring the harshness of frontline combat and fighting alongside their male counterparts for the very existence of their homeland. Soviet women's combat aviation regiments began to be formed in October 1941, after the Soviet high command authorized Marina Raskova to organize a female special Aviation Group No. 122.

A few words would be in order here about Marina Raskova, a very interesting personality. Besides establishing close relationships with everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her, Raskova also cared deeply for the people under her command. She was a very cheerful woman with a wide range of interests, including classical music (she attended the Pushkin School of Music, specializing in piano playing), who became fluent in French and Italian and studied chemistry as well as military subjects.

At the age of 19 Marina Raskova was hired by the Zhukovsky Aviation Engineering Academy as a laboratory technician. In 1934 she passed the aviation navigator's examination and in 1935 obtained her pilot's license. On 24 October 1937 Raskova and Valentina Grizodubova, while flying a Yak-12, scored the female world record in a long distance non-stop flight of 1,445 km. In 1938 Raskova took part in three record flights: on 24 May and 2 July in an MP-1 flying boat, covering 1,749 km and 2,241 km respectively and on 24-25 September with V. Grizodubova and P. Osipenko in an ANT-37 covering 6,450 km or 5,908 km as the crow flies in a pioneer non-stop flight from Moscow to the Pacific. At the age of 26 she was awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union, along with Grizodubova and Osipenko, for their flight to the Far East.

After the German-Soviet war broke out on 22 June 1941, Raskova used her personal influence with Joseph Stalin, and her position on the People's Defense Committee, to secure permission to form all-female combat units. This request was at the behest of many Soviet young women and girls who wished to fight their homeland's enemy. In the Soviet Union there were already some pre-war female pilots that had been trained in aeroclubs by the Osoaviakhim (Society for Assistance to Defense, Aviation and the Chemical Industry). With the official approval of Stavka (Shtab Glavnogo Verkhovnogo Komandovaniya = Headquarters/Supreme High Command) and assistance from the Komsomol (Young Communist League) in selecting training candidates, Raskova began forming three all-female aviation regiments in October 1941.

After their acceptance into this new program, the future airwomen were moved to the small city of Engels on the Volga River north of Saratov. While at Engels, the women were to finish most intensive flying and navigation courses in six months, which normally took about 18 months!

Raskova had of course "kept an eye" on the entire training process, deciding on the final posting of each airwomen. With the official Stavka approval, Marina Raskova eventually formed three women's aviation regiments: the 586 IAP (Fighter Aviation Regiment), the 587 BAP (Bomber Aviation Regiment) and the 588 NBAP (Night Bomber Aviation Regiment). The first regiment was initially assigned to air defense duties in Saratov, while the other two were eventually sent to the front. These three aviation regiments were numbered in the "500" series, which meant that they were of special interest to the GKO (Gosudarstvennyy Komitet Oborony= State Committee for Defense).

When the women of these three female combat units were completing their training at Engels, the military situation at and around Stalingrad had become critical for the Soviets. Allegedly, the 1st Squadron was transferred from the 586 IAP for duty at Stalingrad due to shortages of male pilots. This is not necessarily true; there is another explanation for the transfer, i.e. that Tamara Kazarinova, the Fighter Regiment's Commander, wished to get rid of some of her subordinates, whom she considered troublemakers, by sending them to Stalingrad. Among those sent to Stalingrad were future aces Senior Sergeants Lidya Litvyak and Yekaterina (Katya) Budanova, with 12 and 11 kills (the second figure unconfirmed) respectively. Assigned to front-line fighter regiments, Litvyak and Budanova were initially underestimated as to their combat effectiveness and flying skills.

Eventually, Litvyak and Budanova were assigned to the elite 73 IAP, 6 GvIAD, 8 VA (73th Fighter Aviation Regiment, 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army). Fighting as free hunters in search of targets of opportunity against the very best German fighter pilots, and overcoming their own male comrades' prejudices, Litvyak and Budanova were soon able to exceed the three confirmed aerial victories needed to become fighter aces.

Here is small episode from the combat efforts of Lilya Litvyak. On 22 March 1943, Litvyak was attacked by four Messerschmitt Bf 109s over Khar'kov area. Litvyak managed to shoot down two of the German fighters, while driving off the rest. This aerial engagement coincided exactly with the only two German Bf 109s lost in the same area on this date. The two German fighter pilots shot down were Leutnant Franz Müller (Bf 109G-4, coded "BH + XB") and Unteroffizier Karl-Otto Harloff (Bf 109G-2, coded "yellow 2") of the 9th squadron, fighter wing 3 (9./JG 3). German records have each of these men, who both survived, being reported shot down by Russian fighters. Lilya Litvyak was killed on 1 August 1943.

Katya Budanova was killed earlier, on 18 July 1943. According to her mechanic, while escorting a group of Soviet dive bombers Budanova was attacked by three enemy fighters and managed to shoot down one of them. Villagers who witnessed this engagement from the ground reported seeing Budanova's aircraft make a very controlled landing, even though it had obviously been damaged in flight. When the villagers reached the aircraft they discovered that she was already dead.

The remainder of the 586 IAP, commanded by Major Tamara Kazarinova, assisted in the Soviet Operation Saturn and Uranus (the elimination of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad) during November 1942, at which time they flew Yak-1 fighters. After the successful destruction of German forces in the Stalingrad area, the 586 IAP was tasked with defending some important military logistical facilities and strategic locations.

Earlier, towards the end of September 1942, the 586 IAP's Valerya Khomyakova downed a Ju 99, becoming the first Soviet woman fighter pilot to shoot down a Soviet aircraft by night. In 1944 the unit was rearmed with Yak-9 fighters and took part in the Soviet offensive in Hungary. The 586 IAP finished the war on one of the captured airfields in Austria. During the war, the female fighter pilots of the 586 IAP flew 4419 sorties, and scored 38 victories. Losses have not been totalled.

Some of the most successful pilots of the 46th Guards Taman' Night Bomber Regiment, all Heroes of the Soviet Union; from left, number of sorties: Lt Irina Sebrova (1008), Capt Natal'ya Meklin (980), Capt Yevgeniya Zhigulenko (968) and Capt Mariya Smirnova (950).

This unit was officially declared combat ready in May 1942, and on 23 May 1942, led by Marina Raskova, reached Ukraine. Because of their performance these women soon won the respect of their adversaries, when the Germans started calling their female opponents of this regiment "Night Witches."

Hauptmann Johannes Steinhoff, the commander of II./JG 52 who was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross for 101 victories on 2 September 1942, wrote: "We simply couldn't grasp that the Soviet airmen that caused us the greatest trouble were in fact WOMEN. These women feared nothing. They came night after night in their very slow biplanes, and for some periods they wouldn't give us any sleep at all."

On most occasions, the poor bombing and navigational devices of the "Night Witches" prevented them from dealing any heavy material damage to the enemy. But on the night of 25 October 1942, a lucky bomb strike set a fuel depot at the airfield of Armavir ablaze. The fire spread, and six Ju 88s and He 111s of Stab and II./KG 51 were destroyed. Only one aircraft escaped damage. This led to the quick withdrawal of II./KG 51 to the Kerch Peninsula.

As a counter-measure, Fliegerkorps IV organized an improvised night-fighter unit of 10./ZG 1. Operating with the support of searchlights, the Bf 110s of this unit took a heavy toll of the slow and brittle Po-2 biplanes once they encountered them in the air. The Po-2 aircraft was easily set on fire by either the antiaircraft or machine-gun tracers, and the plane was almost always doomed. The crew could not escape, because parachutes were not provided until the summer of 1944.

The most successful night-fighter pilot of 10.(NJ)/ZG 1 during this period was Oberfeldwebel Josef Kociok, who was credited with 21 night kills. During a single night he destroyed four Po-2s in a row. Serafima Amosova witnessed this event: "One night, as our aircraft passed over the target, the searchlights came on, the antiaircraft guns were firing, and then a green rocket was fired from the ground. The antiaircraft guns stopped, and a German fighter plane came and shot down four of our aircraft as each one came over the target. Our planes were burning like candles. We all witnessed this scene. When we landed and reported that we were being attacked by German fighters, they would not let us fly again that night. We lived in a school building with folding wooden beds. You can imagine our feelings when we returned to our quarters and saw eight beds folded, and we knew they were the beds of our friends who perished a few hours ago."

Oberfeldwebel Josef Kociok was awarded the Knight's Cross. Later he was killed in action near Kerch when he collided with a crashing Russian aircraft and his parachute failed to open.

On 6 January 1943 the regiment received the coveted acknowledgment of its members'meritorious service and was awarded the new title of 46th Taman' Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. Soviet statistics show this unit to have flown about 23,672 sorties and the unit was credited with dropping 3,000 tons of bombs. (Please note that the maximum bomb load of a Po-2 plane was only 300 kg!) Twenty-three airwomen of this regiment were awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union, and it was the most highly decorated regiment in the entire Soviet Air Force. (The 24th Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to a former navigator in 1995.)

Maj Marina Raskova herself took command of the 587th Dive Bomber Aviation regiment. Her chief of staff was Capt Militsa Kazarinova, the sister of the infamous Tamara Kazarinova, first commander of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The 587th began training on Su-2 bombers, which became obsolete, so it soon was re-equipped with twin-engined Pe-2 dive bombers. On 22 November 1942 the regiment finished its training and was ordered to move to the Stalingrad Front. The points of battle "tour" of this unit were: Orel, Kursk, Smolensk, Vitebsk, Borisov, Mazurian Lakes. In May 1943, near Elblag, Poland, the dive bomber regiment finished its war operations, now designated as the 125th "M. M. Raskova" Borisov Guards Dive Bomber Aviation Regiment (after helping in the liberation of the town of Borisov). The unit's flag was decorated with the Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov III Class. This Regiment's crews flew a total of 1134 combat missions, dropping 980 tons of bombs. The most unusual success of this unit was scored by Mariya Dolina. In her Pe-2 bomber she downed two enemy planes, a Bf 109 and Fw 190, at the same time.

A fitting tribute was made to the dedication of this unit's airwomen by the male Free-French pilots of the "Normandie-Niemen" Fighter Regiment who often fought next to these women: "Even if it were possible to gather and place at your feet all the flowers on earth, this would not constitute sufficient tribute to your valour."

Marina Raskova did not survive the war, having died in a plane crash. According to Capt Valentina Savitskaya-Kravchenko, the unit's chief navigator, in December 1942 there was an urgent need to transfer as many Pe-2s to the Stalingrad front as soon as possible. While leading a formation of three aircraft to the front on 4 January 1943 in a blinding snowstorm, Raskova crashed her aircraft into the high west bank wall of the Volga River north of Stalingrad. The entire crew were killed. Since this was a military mission, involving supply of the front with aircraft and their crews, Raskova was considered as being Killed in Action (KIA).

The 587 BAP and the 588 NBAP were employed in the intense fighting in the Kuban area of southern Russia. They flew their missions resisting the finest Jagd Gruppen (fighter group) of the German Luftwaffe, JG 54. This German fighter group included some of the world's highest ranking fighter aces in history, including Erich Harmann with 352 confirmed air combat kills.

At times suffering heavy losses, the women in the night bomber regiment received many decorations and flew as many as fifteen missions per night. Some of those who have never read these women's memoirs believe that the story of the female ground crews has never been adequately covered in print. True, these women had to drag 60 kg (124 pound) compressed air cylinders to the aircraft to be recharged, hauled ammunition cans, removed weapons, performed maintenance tasks, loaded bombs and carried out repairs, which was all done in the open in all kinds of weather. The female ground support personnel suffered from frost bite, sunburn, stress, anxiety, hunger and fatigue.

During the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943, which resulted in the collapse of any hope of German victory in the East, prior to the Soviet assault against Berlin in May 1945, the Soviet female combat units were engaged in some of the heaviest aerial combat operations in history. Among the airwomen who didn't serve in the women's regiments was Senior Lieutenant Anna Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Hero of the Soviet Union, who flew the IL-2 "flying tank," in Kuban and Crimea. Timofeyeva, regimental deputy commander and chief navigator of the 805 ShAP (Ground Attack Aviation Regiment), was the only female in her unit. This woman faced some of the fiercest aerial combat in recorded history against the Luftwaffe's J-54.

Some of the women of these female units that won distinction and held command posts were as follows:

Commanders - 586 IAP (Fighter Aviation Regiment): Lidya (Lilya) Litvyak, Hero of the Soviet Union (HSU) - Flight Commander; Raisa Belyayeva - Squadron Commander; Tamara Pamyatnykh - Squadron Commander.

Commanders - 587 BAP (Bomber Aviation Regiment): Klavdiya Fomicheva, HSU - Squadron Commander; Marina Raskova, HSU - Regimental Commander; Nadezhda Fedutenko, HSU- Squadron Commander.

Commanders - 588 NBAP (Night Bomber Aviation Regiment): Yevdokiya Bershanskaya - Regimental Commander; Yevgeniya Zhigulenko, HSU- Flight Commander; Tat'yana Makarova, HSU- Flight Commander; Nina Ul'yanenko, HSU, Flight Navigator.

AND FINALLY.....

Have a great week in the friendly EURO skies!

Regards

ACBrit1
Editor
EURO Group Gazette
Usworth
England

PS!

DONT FORGET you can visit the Gazette Archive at www.euro-downloads.com and www.mudmovers.com

THE SMALL PRINT...
THE GAZETTE IS AN FZC PRODUCTION FOR FZC ENTS ©1997-2003. CONCEIVED WRITTEN & PRODUCED FOR, AND ON BEHALF OF THE EURO ADVANCED COMBAT AND TACTICAL GROUP - THE NUMBER ONE AIR COMBAT OUTFIT. ALL IMAGES ITEMS AND ARTICLES ARE SUBJECT TO INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAWS, NO ITEMS SHALL BE REPRODUCED OR STORED IN ANY FORMAT WHATSOEVER WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS. PERMISSION WILL BE GIVEN ON REQUEST WITH THE APPROPRIATE CREDITS, SO THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO USE OUR WORK WITHOUT ASKING WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAWS AS THEY APPLY. EURO AND ALL ITS MEMBERS HOLD NO POLITICAL AMBITION OR PREFERENCES - WE PLAY ONLINE FOR FUN AND FOR THE BROTHERHOOD THAT MEMBERSHIP OF THIS GROUP GIVES US. THE EDITOR ( ACBrit1 ) IS NOT ON THE PAYROLL OF ANY GAME MANUFACTURER OR DESIGNER AND THE THOUGHTS HELD WITHIN THESE PAGES ARE THEREFORE PERSONAL AND NOT INTENDED FOR QUOTATION WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. REPRODUCTION OF ©GAZETTE ARCHIVE MATERIAL WITHOUT CONSENT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE...AND BESIDES...WHAT WOULD YOUR MOTHER THINK? LOL....

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