The Paper 101013

Page 1

Volume 43- No. 41

October 10, 2013

Above right, a PO-1 biplane, circa WWI and early WWII; these were the wooden and fabric fighter-bombers flown by the Night Witches. Above left, Nadya Popova, post WWII. Lower right, part of the “Night Witch” Squadron receiving pre-flight instruction.

by Claudia Aragon

During World War II, while many American women took to the factories working as riveters, young Russian women riveted the skies with bombs and bullets, striking fear and panic into the hearts of the German Army and Air Corps.

The last of these brave women, Nadezhda “Nadya” Popova, perished to the ravages of time on July 8, 2013. She was 91 years young. Born in 1921, she came into life in a small, coalmining town in the Eastern region of the Ukraine. She had dreams of becoming a nurse or a teacher, until that fateful day when a pilot was The Paper - 760.747.7119

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blown off course and landed in close proximity to her school, in an empty field. Unable to fathom what it must be like to float among the clouds, Popova rushed with her fellow classmates to see the pilot. Manned flight was still relatively new and a novelty for the children of her small town to see. Standing near his plane, the pilot, a god fallen to earth, was more like something from a dream or a fairy tale than from reality. He was rushed as though he was a rock star by the school children, as each vied for space, hoping to get close enough to touch his hands or jacket. In an instant, Popova was transformed. That pivotal

moment changed her dreams and the future course of her life forever. She now wished to fly and soar like a bird and would never be content to be a mere passenger. She had to be in control. She had to be the pilot.

Always a free spirit, she would achieve that dream, but not in the way she hoped or expected. At the age of 15, she joined a flying club without telling her parents and became a crack pilot. She is quoted as saying, “Each time I walked towards a plane, my stomach would knot up, until I became airborne and I was thrilled all over again.” In

the

meantime,

Marina

Raskova, a famous Soviet navigator and one of the first of three Soviet women to be awarded the “Hero of the Soviet Union” medal in 1938, was busy using her sphere of influence to persuade Stalin of the need for more pilots and ground support. Stalin agreed and Raskova organized the three women flying regiments. At the tender age of 19, the moment the German invasion into Russia was announced, Popova abandoned the life she knew. Without hesitation she ran to the air-field and enlisted. She was one of the first to enlist in her regiment, demanding to become a fighter pilot. She did indeed become a pilot in the first of three Soviet Union all-female fighter pilot

“Night Witches” Continued on Page 2


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