A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Read online

  Soviet Airwomen in World War II

  Text and contemporary portraits by

  ANNE NOGGLE

  Introduction by Christine A. White

  Pilot, deputy commander of the regiment in flying

  46th Guards Bomber Regiment

  Preface ix

  Acknowledgments xiii

  Introduction, by Christine A. White 3

  i. Major Marina Raskova, 1912-43 15

  2. The 46th Guards Bomber Regiment 18

  3. The 125th Guards Bomber Regiment 99

  4. The 586th Fighter Regiment 157

  5. Women Fliers in Male Regiments 220

  Portraits of Soviet Women Airforce Veterans, 1990-91 247

  The Adventure of a Woman Airforce Service Pilot in Moscow 316

  In the fall of 199o I traveled to the Soviet Union to photograph and record the stories of women Soviet Army Air Force veterans, the first women ever to fly combat. My sponsor was the Aeronautical Society of the Soviet Union, whose representative, Aleksandr Panchenko, put me in touch with the personnel of the regiments, scheduled the interviews, and provided a translator. Panchenko himself acted as our interpreter at times, and his expertise in aviation was extremely helpful. Margarita Ponomaryova, an English-language teacher at the military academy in Moscow, did the bulk of the translating and traveled with me to Kiev and Leningrad, where we also interviewed.

  In the spring of 1991 I was again in the Soviet Union to continue the interviews. Margarita came to the United States that summer for two months while we worked further on the translations. In 1992 I returned to what had now become Russia, to listen to a few more stories and enjoy the company of my new friends.

  When first on my way to the Soviet Union, with the whole process of logistics behind me, I finally had time to reflect on my intentions: what was this commitment? During World War II just over a thousand of us in the United States won our wings, graduating from what must be thought of as an experimental flight training program, and became officially known as Women Airforce Service Pilots-women military pilots-our country's first. Most of us were very young, and our thoughts were not on the historical significance of what we were doing but on the flying assignments that lay before us and of doing well at fulfilling them.

  In 1989 1 had written a book, For God, Country, and the Thrill of It: Women Airforce Service Pilots in World War II, and looked forward to returning to my love affair with photography as a more personal and art-oriented medium. Fate, in the form of an article telling of the Soviet women who flew combat in the war, decided otherwise.

  All of us serving as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) wondered how we would fare if we were called upon to fly combat. We talked about it in our barracks during our six months of flight training, training conducted in the same aircraft and with the same basic routine as the male cadets. Our questions and speculations were purely hypothetical. Now I would see and hear from the Soviet women who had such experience, who knew the reality of it from those long years of combat.

  I thought then, on my way to their country, that these stories would cut across all boundaries and that our gender-relatedness was a key-our sameness as girls and women, past and present, would be more significant than our differing cultural backgrounds. That proved to be true. As they told their stories, their voices and gestures spoke even before the translated words. For a people held mute for almost all the years of their lives by terror and despotism, the communication of the spirit has never been silenced.

  I spent an hour or two, and at times much longer, with each veteran, and as I interviewed I had the extraordinary experience of being warmly accepted as a fellow pilot who had done my best to help win the war, known to the Soviets as the Great Patriotic War. Both the Soviet women pilots and crews and the American women pilots suffered the loss of friends while fulfilling wartime duties in their respective armed forces. This bond made it possible for me to share their reminiscences, their feelings.

  I interviewed sixty-nine women who held various positions, titles, ranks, and duties in the Soviet Army Air Force. These women are looking back some fifty years to their own personal remembrances of that conflict. The recent changes wrought in the Soviet Union itself have made it possible for its citizens not only to speak to foreigners but to speak frankly with us.

  The Soviet Union and its people have long been a mystery to us in the West. Although the participation of these airwomen in World War i i is the central issue, the narrative also presents insights into the workings of the Soviet mind and the philosophical underpinnings of their society. But most of what has emerged is not political: it is an immense pride in their contribution to the defense of their country, and it avows their single-minded will to defeat the Germans without regard for their own lives or well-being.

  The stories are about young women in combat. They are also stories of friendship, humor, and courage. These are women that make us take pride in being a woman. It takes effort not to be awed by them.

  This is not a history but an account-personal, and at times emotional-of what it was like to spend nearly four years flying combat, from the early days of devastation and retreat to the victory paid for with so many millions of lives. None of the airwomen came out of the war unscathed. Everyone had lost someone, somewhere, some way. What saw them through was their unflagging determination, stoicism, and, dearest of all, their romanticism. Central to their lives is drama. Acceptance of their fate is rooted in their culture. They say it all so simply in a few words, words repeated over and over by them all-life is life.

  I wish to thank Ray Graham, Susan Lyon, Sally Scott, Carol Wood Saas, Browning Coke, Robert Heyman, Kris Jensen, Robin Rule, and Cidney Payton for their belief and support in this endeavor and without whom this book would never have happened. Special thanks to Howard Sandum, my literary representative, for his intelligent criticism and patience; Lanny Smith and Bill Colbert, for their aeronautical expertise; Reina Pennington, former airforce intelligence instructor in Soviet fighter tactics, for introducing me to Soviet military history; Camille North and Texas A&M University Press, for their most enthusiastic support and guidance; Morgan Kuzio, for his photographic assistance; my sister, Mary Pease, and my niece, Dale Pease, for their humor, encouragement, and love.

  I am indebted to Wes Kennedy, my assistant in r99o, for his good and tender care of me when I fell ill with pneumonia in Moscow; and James Holbrook, my longtime friend and assistant in 1991 and 1992, who traveled with me and had the good fortune of celebrating his fortieth birthday in a nightclub at the Izmailovo Hotel in Moscow.

  I am especially grateful to my dear friend Margarita Ponomaryova, who translated for me in the Soviet Union and later visited me in the United States, where she had the time to do a thorough translation.

  No one but Christine White could have written this introduction. Russian history professor at Pennsylvania State University and fellow pilot, she is currently working on her own manuscript, "Women in Early Russian Aviation, 1910-1939."

  I wish to thank the many Soviet people who have helped me: photographer Yevgeni Khaldei, for granting me permission to include his war photographs of the 46th Guards Bomber Regiment; Aleksandr Kotenkov and Aleksandr Panchenko of the Aeronautical Society of the Soviet Union, who sponsored me; Nadezhda Popova and the Veterans Council; Yekaterina Polunina, archivist for the 586th Fighter Regiment; Irina Rakoholskaya, chief of commanding staff, 46th Guards Bomber Regiment; and Galina Chapligina-Nikitina of the 125th Guards Bomber Regiment. Most of all, I thank the sixty-nine women veterans who told me their stories.

  by Christine A. White

  The antiaircraft guns fire
d at us fiercely from all directions, and suddenly I felt our aircraft hit. My foot slipped down into an empty space below me; the bottom of the cockpit had been shot away. I felt something hot streaming down my left arm and legI was wounded. Blinded by the searchlights, I could discern nothing in the cockpit. I could feel moisture spraying inside the cockpit; the fuel tank had been hit. I was completely disoriented: the sky and earth were indistinguishable to my vision. But far in the distance I could see the sparkle of our regimental runway floodlight, and it helped restore my orientation. An air wave lifted us, and I managed to glide back over the river to the neutral zone, where I landed the aircraft in darkness.

  -Senior Lieutenant Nina Raspopova, 46th Night Guards Regiment

  Such is one brief episode in the many experiences recorded in this volume of the women who served in the Soviet Army Air Force during the Great Patriotic War-World War ii. Little is known in the West about the achievements of these Soviet airwomen, who are credited with being the first of their sex to serve in combat., How did they come to be trained as combat pilots, mechanics, navigators, and ground crews? Where and when did the women pilots receive their flight training? How were they perceived? Was this use of women in combat a reflection of the desperate state of military affairs in the USSR in the summer and early autumn of 1941? Or was it merely an exercise in public relations or, worse, a propaganda ploy by Stalin? And finally, why is so little known about these women and the contributions they made? The memoirs contained in this volume address these questions by providing insight into the experiences and the characters of the women who flew, the training they received, and the friendships that bound them together through one of the greatest cataclysms the world has known.

  Although the Second World War stands as the first instance where women were officially employed in combat in any large-scale fashion, it was by no means "the first." Russian women have had a long tradition of serving beside men-and sometimes even leading them. The legendary Amazons-whose existence and activities were recorded by the ancient Greeks-were a community of women who dominated the south of Russia between the Don River and the Caucasus Mountains.2 Much later, during the Napoleonic Wars, Nadezhda Durova disguised herself as a man and commanded a Russian cavalry to victory against the French revolutionary forces. Though she was ultimately found out, Emperor Alexander I allowed her to continue to serve and even awarded her the Cross of St. George.3

  Although the later revolutionary governments routinely permitted the participation of women combatants, the Tsarist government had no consistent policy on this score. Though not officially allowed to serve, women were listed as new recruits in increasing numbers throughout the First World War. As early as 1915 there were an estimated four hundred women bearing arms in Russia.4 But it was in the field of military aviation that Russian women truly stood out as firsts. Though largely ignored in most historical literature, these women were most certainly present on the front. Even though a number of accomplished Russian women pilots were refused permission to fly in the service of their country, at least two women were given special dispensation by the Tsar to serve as military pilots in the Imperial Russian Air Service. Where permission was not forthcoming, ingenuity took over. One young woman reportedly "borrowed" a male friend's military medical certificate and, disguised as a young man, joined the Imperial Russian Air Service, where she qualified as a combat pilot. The first woman ever to be wounded in aerial combat, she received injuries in the spring of 1915. Subsequently, her true sex was discovered, and she was "grounded." Her services were recognized, however, as she reportedly received the Cross of St. George for her bravery.s

  It was not until the February revolution of 1917 that Russian women were actively recruited for the armed services. The best known of the revolutionary all-female regiments was Maria Botchkareva's controversial Women's Battalion of Death. It was only one of a number of such infantry units that were formed under the Russian provisional government in Petrograd, Moscow, Odessa, Ekaterinodar, and Perm."

  Although War Minister Alexander Kerensky clearly sought to utilize women's patriotism, his call to arms was really nothing more than an expression of support for what had already been happening for some time-that is, women actively engaged in combat. Under Kerensky, women who were previously barred from military flying under the Imperial government were now allowed to serve.

  The Bolshevik Revolution in October, 1917, and the subsequent Civil War had, in theory at least, opened up new opportunities for women in areas that had previously been dominated by men. In particular, women were now free to take active service in the military. In 1920, at the height of the Russian Civil War, there were sixty-six thousand women serving in the Red Army, the majority as volunteers.7 Although the number of female troops engaged in military aviation by the Bolsheviks is open to speculation, there can he no doubt that the Red Air Force was desperately in need of trained pilots. At least one of the prerevolutionary aviatrixes was known to have served in the training squadron of the Red Air Force and to have flown several missions for the revolutionary forces during the Civil War."

  According to Marxist ideological doctrine, women were considered to be equal citizens in both rights and responsibilities. Though not obligated to military service, the new Soviet woman was certainly free to participate in the revolution and subsequent Civil War. By the middle of the 192os, however, women were again being encouraged into more traditional roles.9 To be sure, the universal military service laws of 1925 and 1939 continued to allow women to enlist as volunteers, but they were actively discouraged from doing so.'Military service and, indeed, war-with the exception of the more traditional female support roles-were again considered outside the scope of women's affairs.

  Although a very small number of women did manage to serve in the Soviet military as pilots in the early 192os, aviation as a careerboth military and civil-remained largely a male domain throughout the interwar period.-- At the same time, however, the Soviet government was placing an increased importance on the development of aviation. Air transport was viewed as essential in such a vast and rugged country, and efforts were made to heighten public awareness and enthusiasm for aviation as well as to train proficient pilots and mechanics to serve the projected industry.- Though women were not specifically targeted in this effort, they were certainly not immune to its effects; by the mid-1930s women were making their presence felt in sports aviation.

  Most women pilots received their training through the aero clubs set up by the paramilitary organization Osoaviakhim (Society of Friends of Defense and Aviation-Chemical Construction). Founded in 1927, the Osoaviakhim provided training to young adults in marksmanship, powered flight, gliding, parachuting, and aircraft mechanics, among other things. Though officially encouraged to participate in this training, young women often met with considerable opposition. Women who applied often found the male instructors of the aero clubs to he "less than enthusiastic" about their participation. Many young women remained undaunted, however, as their growing aero club membership and activity reflect.

  The 1930s stand as the Soviet Union's "Golden Age of Aviation." There was a surge in aviation programs, both civilian and military. The second Five-Year Plan called for a tremendous increase in both number and distance of civil aviation routes. Geologic surveys and Arctic missions were now conducted by air, and Soviet accomplishments in sport and military aviation received heightened attention. By 1935 an estimated 15o aero clubs had been established under the auspices of the Osoaviakhim, and women were taking increased advantage of the opportunities available to them.,'

  In September, 1938, three Soviet women made history when they flew nonstop from Moscow to the Soviet Far East. Valentina Grizodubova, Paulina Osipenko, and Marina Raskova established a world record for women, logging twenty-six hours, twenty-nine minutes and more than six thousand kilometers in their plane, the Rodina. The first women to be honored with the title Hero of the Soviet Union, these women were irrepressible role models for young Soviet women. M
arina Raskova in particular struck a chord with the population.

  Initially trained as a navigator in 1933, Raskova went on to become an air navigation instructor for the air force. In 1937 she became the first female staff instructor at the Zhukhovski Air Academy.-4 Having gained world recognition as the navigator of the Rodina in 1938, Raskova was apparently permitted to enter the M. V. Frunze Academy, a prestigious Soviet military staff college. Raskova subsequently learned to fly light aircraft but was still a relatively inexperienced pilot when she took instruction in the complex and unforgiving twin-engine Pe-2. Attractive, strong-willed, and above all successful, Raskova was a hero for many of the young women who went on to serve as military pilots and navigators.

  By the end of the decade women had made an indelible mark on Soviet aviation. Not only had Soviet airwomen claimed more women's aviation world records than those of any other nation, they also now accounted for nearly one-third of all the pilots trained in the U s s R .= s Moreover, Stalin himself had taken a particular interest in the women aviators. No doubt keenly aware of the tremendous international propaganda value of the accomplishments of Soviet female fliers, Stalin also seemed to have a genuine personal interest in the women and their record-breaking flights. His acquaintance with Raskova and her achievements no doubt helped to influence his ultimate decision to allow her to form all-female combat regiments in October, 1941.

  In the days immediately following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June, 1941, Raskova was reportedly deluged with letters from young women pilots asking how they could put their skills to use in the service of their country-more particularly, how they could get to the front, preferably in an airforce unit.16 Many of these women were flying instructors or had considerable experience in civil aviation. As their memoirs reveal, many felt compelled by a "fever of patriotism" to do something and so rushed to volunteer for active duty. Though they were initially turned away, it did not take Raskova long to persuade Stalin that the women were a valuable asset that could play a useful role in the war effort. The 122nd Composite Air Group was the result.