INTRODUCTION A NIGHT MISSION Nadezhda Popova donned a leather helmet a flight jacket and her lucky beetle pin It was a cold night in 1942 at the height of World War II 1939 1945 She had been assigned to deliver much needed food and medicine to Soviet marines at Malaya Zemlya a military base in the Soviet Union a nation based in Russia that existed from 1922 to 1991 That meant flying into a combat zone under enemy fire She later found forty two bullet holes in her 1920s wooden biplane
Women pilots of the Night Bomber Regiment receive orders for a mission in 1944 The mission was for the Soviet Union's 588th Night Bomber Regiment an air force unit made up of only women When the war started in 1939 the Soviets didn't allow women in combat But by October 1941 the Soviet Air Force needed more pilots They were willing to begin training women for the job
Nadezhda Popova completed her first solo flight when she was sixteen years old She later went to pilot school and became a flight instructor Popova eagerly joined her unit at the age of nineteen Each night she flew missions to bomb German military bases Once she completed eighteen bombings in one night She said she had to sail through a wall of enemy fire almost every time In all Popova carried out 852 missions
The Soviet Union was the only Allied country to send women pilots into combat during World War II But many other women pilots served the Allied nations They all played an important role in serving their countries and helping the Allies win the war Two members of the Night Bomber Regiment
