Content area
Full Text
THE PROPAGANDA FACTOR AND SOVIET WOMEN PILOTS IN WORLD WAR II
In October 1941, the all-female 122nd Composite Air Group was formed under the command of the famous aviator Marina Raskova (sometimes called by Westerners "the Russian Amelia Earhart"). The 122nd trained the entire personnel -- pilots, navigators, mechanics, and ground crews -- for three new regiments: the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, the 587th Day Bomber Aviation Regiment, and the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. These combat regiments were activated beginning in early 1942, and served until the end of the war in 1945.(1)
The women's regiments carried no special designation; their unit numbers and titles were standard military designations. They were not called "women's" regiments, in the manner that American and British women's support units were so designated. The women used standard Soviet flying clothing and equipment; they did not receive uniforms designed for women until late in the war. In general, the 586th, 587th and 588th seem to have been officially regarded as typical military regiments in all respects except their initial recruitment. According to Soviet records, they flew a combined total of more than 30,000 combat sorties, produced at least 30 Heroes of the Soviet Union (of the 92 total women who received that medal) and included in their ranks at least three fighter aces (despite the fact that the women's fighter regiment was relegated to air defense duties). Two of the regiments received the elite "Guards" appellation.(2)
The Soviet Union was unique in world history in its large-scale use of women in combat. During both world wars and its civil war, women fought on the front lines.(3) They were an important part of the Soviet military in the Second World War; altogether, nearly one million Soviet women served; about half of them were actually at the front.(4)
The Soviet Union was the first state to allow women pilots to fly combat missions. Women pilots in other countries flew military aircraft but were relegated to support roles. Only Soviet women pilots flew missions in which the object was to kill the enemy or destroy an enemy target.
The Soviet women's aviation units of the Second World War provide a particularly interesting means of studying gender in the Soviet military for several reasons....