Women’s History Month – the Soviet War Effort

It’s Women’s History Month in the U.S. and just as I object to Black History Month, I feel the same regarding Women’s History Month.  If it’s important, it should be studied within the regular curriculum and not segregated into its own little time period.

With that noted–there are important stories of black history that should be in the curriculum.  This one on Flo Hyman also has links to several others.

Today, I won’t go into huge detail, but we should realize the critical role of women in the Soviet effort to defeat Nazi Germany.  In the US and England, women helped in factories and in some instances, served as ferry pilots transferring aircraft from factories to front line units.  This was important, but was nothing like the role of Soviet women.

Did you know the Red Army had almost 3,000 women trained as snipers?  Among them was Ludmilla Pavlichenko who scored more than 300 confirmed kills on the battlefields around Odessa and Sevastopol.    Pavlichenko was so famous, American folk singer Woodie Guthrie even performed a song in her honor:

Barely 20% of these snipers survived the war.

The USSR was a leader in gender-equality before World War 2.  That meant some stunning numbers once it was at war:

1. 40% of combat paramedics were female

2. 40-50% of doctors and surgeons were female

3. 100% of nurses were female

Think what this says about women and education.

Did you know the Soviets had an air unit staffed completely by women–pilots, mechanics, administrative personnel?  This was Group 122, eventually turned into three smaller units:

46th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment: The “Night Witches”.  24,000 combat missions, famous for flying over German lines, killing their engines, and dropping bombs in silence on unsuspecting German soldiers.

125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment: 1,100 combat missions and so successful in their work that they received the ‘Guards’ moniker–that’s a big deal in the Soviet/Russian militaries.

586th Fighter Regiment: 4,400 combat missions–and produced the only two female fighter aces in history.

With ground troops, there are numerous examples of women driving tanks, manning artillery and anti-aircraft weapons.  By the end of the war, more than 500,000 women were in the Red Army in roles at or near the front lines.

Have you ever heard of any of this?  Exactly.  Time to get to work spreading the word, my friends!