What were Nacht Witches, also known as "Nachthexen?"

At the beginning of World War II Joseph Stalin, Russia’s leader, barred women from any form of combat. Women were relegated to serving as nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel. About half way into World War II, Stalin found that he was running out of soldiers and aviators. In 1941, Stalin formed the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. They flew their first mission in 1942.

This Regiment was made entirely of female volunteers. The regiment was formed by Colonel Marina Raskova and led by Major Yevdokia Bershanskaya. These women flew into Germany at night and dropped 23,000 tons of bombs during their 800 missions. They flew wooden and canvas Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes. They flew harassment sorties and precision bombing sorties. Apparently, they were very good aviators and their aim was true.

The Germans civilians were particularly afraid of these night raids. They could hear them coming long before they arrived. The German population knew women operated these flights; therefore, they began calling them "Nachthexen" which translates to "Night Witches”. When the US soldiers heard about these brave women, they began calling them "Nacht Witches”.

I recently read a book about the thoughts of German people who were not fans of Hitler. One woman was quoted as saying, “The worst thing in the war was the Nachthexen because they were all singing the same cheerful sounding Russian songs."