"The reason for the name, The Night Witches, was due to the sound the wind made against the wires on their wings, a whooshing sound which some of the Germans said it was how they imagined a witch’s broom to sound!
They flew so low that they were able to see the flare of a match as a German lit his cigarette in the trenches. No wonder the German soldiers were nervous.
Sometimes, their obsolete aircraft would stall mid-way through a mission, and they would clamber out onto the wings mid-flight to restart the props. Can you imagine doing this!
Such was their skill and reputation that the Luftwaffe pilots were promised the Iron Cross for every Night Witch they shot down.
Nadia Popova explained in an interview several years ago that they flew without radar, guns and radio. They simply had maps and a compass. To save weight, they also flew without parachutes, so if you were downed, that was it.
She went on to say: “When you looked out to see the target better, you got frostbite. Our feet froze in our boots, but we continued flying. There was no time to give way to emotions. Those who gave in were gunned down and they were burned alive in their aircraft, as they had no parachutes.”"
https://www.elinorflorence.com/blog/night-witches/
They flew so low that they were able to see the flare of a match as a German lit his cigarette in the trenches. No wonder the German soldiers were nervous.
Sometimes, their obsolete aircraft would stall mid-way through a mission, and they would clamber out onto the wings mid-flight to restart the props. Can you imagine doing this!
Such was their skill and reputation that the Luftwaffe pilots were promised the Iron Cross for every Night Witch they shot down.
Nadia Popova explained in an interview several years ago that they flew without radar, guns and radio. They simply had maps and a compass. To save weight, they also flew without parachutes, so if you were downed, that was it.
She went on to say: “When you looked out to see the target better, you got frostbite. Our feet froze in our boots, but we continued flying. There was no time to give way to emotions. Those who gave in were gunned down and they were burned alive in their aircraft, as they had no parachutes.”"
https://www.elinorflorence.com/blog/night-witches/