The Night Witches-Russian Combat Pilots WWII-Heroines of the Soviet Union by Emma Gee

Author:Emma Gee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: heroines, women pilots, romance 1940s, flying in russia, action during war
Publisher: Emma Gee

Chapter 17

Poland

The Soviet Army crossed the border into Poland during the summer of 1944, with the Night Witches following close behind them. Several days before their departure from Russia, two Po-2s, one flown by Commander Bershanskaya, the other by Squadron Commander Popova had scouted the area near the city of Warsaw for an airfield to accommodate the 46th Taman Guards.

As the Night Witches approached the airfield, they could see smoke and fire billowing in the distance. They landed their aircraft on the rutted muddy ground as they came to a bouncing stop. Bombers and fighter planes of the Soviet Red Air Force as well as infantry regiments of the Red Army were camped not far away from the makeshift airfield where the Night Witches were camped.

The Night Witches ripped wooden boards from nearby fences to cover the thick muddy field so the wheels of the Po-2s would not bog down on takeoff. Then they pushed the aircraft through the heavy sludge to the wooden plank runway to assure takeoff that night.

In the distance, Nika heard the loud drone of a large squadron of bombers flying in a box formation. Nika did not recognize them as Russian bombers; the unfamiliar bombers had a very wide wingspan with a large group of fighter planes she had never seen before escorting them.

Commander Bershanskaya informed the crews that the massive aircraft were American B-17 bombers dropping supplies for the Polish Home Army to help fight against the Germans. The fighter planes escorting the bombers were American P-51 Mustangs.

Unfortunately, it was difficult for the Americans to figure out where the correct drop zone was located with all the fighting going on near the city. There were fires everywhere; sometimes they could not differentiate between the flames of the burning rubble and the flairs the Polish Home Army had set up for the drop zone. The Russians feared that a large percentage of the supplies were falling into the hands of the Germans.

The vast sky was full of American bombers and fighters; the German anti-aircraft gunners were doing their best to blow them to pieces as they fired rounds of shells repeatedly from the anti-aircraft emplacements. Nika watched as the deadly Messerschmitt Me-109s engaged in dogfights with the P-51s as they fought to protect their B-17 bombers.

Nika and Natasha observed the air battle, hoping the American fighter pilots would shoot down a few of the Me-109s; it would leave less German fighter planes to shoot at the Night Witches later that night as they bombed the German encampment full of guns, armored equipment and ammunition. Nika witnessed two Me-109s engulfed in flames as they crashed to the ground. Two less Messerschmitts that would chase them that night, she silently cheered. Nika also witnessed one of the huge American bombers falling from the sky in a trail of smoke, a sad sight to witness.

Then Nika and Natasha noticed the large squadron of the B-17 bombers making a wide bank to the left; they were heading back to their base now, they had completed their mission.

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