Night Witches by bmac62
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Description
Zoom worthy.
...this was the type of plane flown by Soviet women pilots beginning in 1941 to harrass invading German forces at night during WWII.
...they were so successful and deadly that the Germans came to fear them, calling them Nachthexen--night witches.
...their tactics were simple...fly near to their intended targets, idle their engines, glide noiselessly to their bomb release point, drop their bombs, apply full throttle to their small engines and quickly fly off at tree top level before German search lights or flak guns could find them.
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The aircraft is a Polikarpov U-2/Po-2
If you'd like to know a little more about these brave women pilots, Click Here
Comments (24)
What wonderful women! I shall look them up shortly. Your photo brings home how frail their vehicles were.
WOW... Wonderful capture!!!
What a tough, and brave, bunch of gals.
Interesting info...... Aloha
That is something that I never knew and I find it very fascinating. Thanks for that Bill.
fabulous capture and info
Beautiful aircraft and cool information thanks for the link
We learn something every day. Night shot Bill.
Great aircraft that was very robust it seems. Thanks for the link Bill. I'd not heard of these women before and it makes great reading. Some very good photo's on google images too.
WOW Bill, I have learn't something today, women pilots in the war, thankyou. xx
More homework now on another interesting subject-Thank you
I really like the angle you got on this plane. Nice shot!
Quite a story behind these ladies. Puts "Those Moscow girls really knock me out" into a whole new perspective. Could we see the front view of the aircraft?
Great tactics I would think!
Superb capture Bill. Thank you for the interesting information van die Nag Hekse. God Bless.
Great POV on this shiny little vehicle...interesting information!
Very good POV !
Watched a program about the Nachthexen last week......a strangely 'busty' lot....but then with all the medals they seem to have ended up with, it's a good job...though any that were shot down over German lines could count on a very unpleasant demise.Very courageous band of sisters, and by all accounts the Po-2 was a good aircraft for their purposes.Cool post, thanks Bill.
Indeed – when the going gets tough, the tough send in the girls to get things done! There's a reason all my agents are female, you know! LOL! Seriously these were very brave ladies, and they did one heckuva job! Great shot of this wonderful airplane, Bill!
fascinating! Beautiful capture.
Neat shot Bill! They have one of these at Shuttleworth near Duxford....so, we may get to see it at Flying Legends! I notice the two guys that were NOT looking at the Fw1900 were staring at a P-47 lol Wasn't far off was I. lol Neat paint scheme on it though... Rob
Looks a bit like Thunderbird 5, so I'm not surprised its famous. Of course, Hitler's Army took the shortcut to Global Domination through the "graveyard" (aka Eastern Front) so what did they expect?
You have to know that when I pick certain pictures, it's not because I think they're better than the rest---that would be a terrible choice to make, given the quality of your offerings---but because they 'represent' what you've done, to me, even in a quirky way, or in a very small particular. I just go by instinct: I see everything when it goes up; but, when I comment, I look at them all over again. So the choosing takes time, and I pretty much go on feel...so don't think that I think 'less' of the pieces I leave out: With my long comments, I just can't comment on as many as I'd like. I love them all. Now to the photo. This is a big gathering of beached whales! They're big bulbous presences, walruses, aero-walruses. There's real power in the shot, but also a wonderful sense of play. Like big long-armed penguins waddling to the shore. I love the pile up of the wings and bodies, and how your angle makes them all seem like a swarm. The light-lines are scrumptious, and your light in the background---as in several of your plane museum shots---is tumultuous, pouring in in big waterfalls, and intimating a 'heavens' out there---what I assume all pilots feel about the sky. The length of wings on the right---longer than on the left---gives the shot real sweep; which contrasts the bulbous mass of these beasts. (I say "bulbous"---but, really, they're not big chunks of solid metal, yet they feel like they are to the untrained eye; thus 'bulbous'.) And the light culminating on that foreground tail-wing---just sumptuous. As is the ethereal light in the background. (Your light is a perfect foil to the thick green masses in the foreground.) Almost a beach shot, to me---of big beasts waddling their way to the runway. A wonderful playful shot of a very serious subject, all awash in your signature light. A real delight, Bill.
You look at planes like the PO-2, the Curtiss SOC, the Fairey Swordfish and you wonder what they were doing in WWII. Glad you made this cool photo of a biplane hero of the Eastern Front.