Customer Reviews

Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat (Modern War Studies)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For most Americans World War II is John Wayne, Tom Hanks, D-Day, and Pearl Harbor. The plucky British gave a hand now and then and the ungrateful French needed us once more to pull their goose-fat from the fire. Oh yes, it snowed a lot on the Eastern Front. Yet, more than a cursory examination of the Second World War shows even first year history students that the Atlantic Theatre was very much a Russo-German War, with the Western Front playing a secondary role. The Russian story of the Great Patriotic War has not imprinted itself on the American popular imagination. Even less known is the role played in that great struggle by Russia's women.

Over 800,000 women served their Motherland in World War II, nearly 200,000 of them decorated. 89 of those women eventually received Russia's highest award, the Hero of the Soviet Union. Reina Pennington's book tells the story of Russia's airwomen during World War II with the passion of a best selling novel. Yet, the well documented footnotes and thorough Appendix attest to the research that has gone into this scholarly work.

Pennington's book focuses on three female regiments formed by Soviet hero, Marina Raskova, but also gives insight into women who served in mostly male regiments. She provides a gripping account that will satisfy those hearing about the USSR's airwomen for the first time, as well as adding new information about command struggles within the fighter regiment.

The story of 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, staffed through the entire war completely with women pilots, navigators, mechanics and commanding officers, makes any current debates about the suitability of women in combat seem like a convocation of the flat earth society. These women settled that debate long ago. Pennington quotes Soviet test pilot and HSU Mark Gallai on what it was like for the women bombers to fly their missions in the outdated biplanes to which they were assigned:

"It means coming under fire from anti-aircraft weapons of every calibre...it means enemy night fighters, blinding searchlights and often bad weather, too; low cloud, fog, snow, ice, and gales that throw a light aircraft from one wingtip to the other...all this in a Po-2, which is small, slow and as easily set alight as a match."

Yet, these women, averaging 5-15 flights a night(more in the winter, less in the summer), surviving on 2-4 hours of sleep a day for four years, managed to fly over 24,000 sorties, drop 23,000 tons of bombs, and account for 23 Hero of the Soviet Union awards.

Up to this point English language readers interested in the heroic stories of these women have had the excellent works of Kazimiera Cottam ("Women in Air War," "Women in War and Resistance")and the interesting interviews conducted by Anne Noggle ("A Dance with Death"). Yet, as important as these works are, none attempts to tell the story of Soviet airwomen as a complete narrative. Pennington weaves the individual tales of these women into a fabric that is compelling in its humanity. Hers is the story of ordinary women in extraordinary times who achieved what today seems impossible. They gave the full measure of their devotion in a valiant fight that deserves to be known. Reina Pennington's "Wings, Women, & War" does honor and justice to the stories of these women.

I read this book cover to cover on Friday (in the office, door shut, looking very busy). Living with WW 2 aviation everyday through the collection of fighter aircraft we restore and fly in England, it is easy to become a little blasé about the way people lived their extraordinary lives in that time. This book hauled me right up by the collar all over again.

It is remarkable - the pages turn as easily as reading the most engrossing novel and yet this is clearly a thoroughly researched review of these womens' history. I am utterly impressed. To communicate passion for a subject while speaking with such authority - the authority that can only come with knowing and understanding a subject as well as Pennington does - is so rare.

Having read almost every single book available in the narrow field that covers these Soviet women, I belive this book sets the new benchmark.

If only history could always be communicated like this!

Probably the best-known female combatants on the Eastern Front are the three aviation regiments formed by Marina Raskova, aka the "Russian Earhart". During the past several decades, histories, memoirs, novels, photos, and films about these remarkable heroines have become available worldwide. Even so, Reina Pennington has uncovered some new and exciting material for this eagerly-awaited book! "Wings, Women, and War", the latest volume in the Modern War Series, contains a scholarly examination of the training and performance of Soviet airwomen. Of particular relevance to current US military gender-issues is updated information on female interaction with male counterparts and commanders. The 46th Guards Night Bombers were entirely segregated, while the 125th Guards Dive Bombers had integrated ground-personnel and tailgunners, and a male CO. In the 586th Fighter regiment, one squadron which early tranferred to elite, predominantly-male VVS units was permanently replaced by a male squadron. Therefore, objective statistics are available, and comparisons can be made of performances and unit cohesion under sustained combat conditions. Pennington dispels, once and for all, persistent Western myth surrounding the formation of Soviet female aviation regiments: that is, that women were recruited due to desperate shortages of male pilots, or that they were intended only for propaganda. In fact, the female volunteers went into circuit during the period of German air-superiority when Soviet planes, not pilots, were scarce. And though female ACEs were exploited by the front-line press, there was very little coverage otherwise of the Raskova regiments in either Russian or foreign newspapers. Particularly so of the 586th Fighter regiment, which following its formation and for years afterward has been shrouded in controversy. That PVO (Air Defense) unit was plagued by the problematic and incompetent command of the sisters Kazarinova. Although unqualified to fly the regiment's Yak-1's, these VVS officers had been decorated for ominous "unspecified services" during Stalin's military Purges. Distrusted by, yet bitterly envious of their women pilots, the Kazarinovas used their influence for personal revenge against their subordinates. The sisters were eventually replaced by Maj. Aleksandr Gridnev, a legitimate aviator who became the target of the Kazarinovas' resentment. Author Pennington obtained Gridnev's unpublished journal, and conducted extensive interviews with him and surviving regimental personnel, which shed fascinating new light on that controversy. These revelations are in themselves worth the purchase of the book! Pennington also interviewed veterans of the 46th and 125th Guards, but their excerpts and historical backgrounds have a familiar quality. In cross-referencing footnotes and bibliography, it is clear that much of this material's sources had been previously researched for K. J. Cottam's "Women in War and Resistance" and earlier publications. Other new material includes detailed lists of personnel, broken down by regimental assignment, job classification, and gender. "Wings, Women, and War" is a studious, impartial work. As such, it is much less intimate than Cottam's "Women in Air War" and Noggle's "A Dance With Death", which are collections translated from the participants' own words. Thus, all these books complement eachother perfectly, and I recommend them highly for enthusiasts of women's military studies and/or Eastern Front studies!

As the author of the most recent book about the "Night Witches" (<<Le Streghe della Notte II edizione>> IBN, in Italian) and the other Soviet Airwomen, I can say that this book can be regarded, in some ways, as a masterpiece. It is rich in information and data, thanks to the witnesses of many veterans and research in the Russian archives. I quote it often, in my text. I consulted it many times, mostly to discover "Who Was Where?" (the author produced an almost complete, and with few mistakes, list of all the Soviet Airwomen). Pennington's book has mamy merits but at least two (major) defects, if I can say: the pictures are few and printed in pure Soviet style (some of really poor quality, low definition); second, it relies too much on Soviet sources. Checking Luftwaffe claims and German records, for instance, I discovered that the air victories claimed by many Soviet aviatrixes, actually, had been never achieved. And so, Lydia Litvyak never shot down two planes on 13 September 1942 because Luftwaffe on that day lost only one bomber, and that one was not shot down by Litvyak Air Division. Same situation on Litvyak last day, on August 1st 1943: Pennington writes that Litvyak shot down two German Messerschmitt Bf 109s, one individually and another shared, but the only two German fighters lost that day were not shot down by Litvyak, because one Bf 109 was downed while fighting against Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmoviks and the other was intentionally "taran" (hit) by a colliding Soviet fighter, and Litvyak did not "taran" it, as the last time she was seen trying to escape in clouds, with her Yak-1 already crippled, while pursued by German fighters. Something similar happened for Budanova: Pennington, quoting Inna Pasportnikova - Budanova and Litvyak mechanic, a rather unreliable source - repeates that Budanova was an ace, that probably she shot down more enemy aircraft than Litvyak and that, on 19 July 1943, she shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and damaged another. But, checking German losses list, you discover that the poor Budanova was NOT an ace - moreover, she is not included in the most recent Russian list of aces of some aviation books - as on 19 July the Luftwaffe Jagdgeschwaders that operated along the Mius front, where Budanova was shot down and killed, did not lose or had damaged any aircraft. Still, Pennington starts her chapter about 586 Fighter regiment saying that in April 1943 Pamyathnykh and Surnachevskaya shot down four German bombers. It is the celebrated (by Soviets) air battle known as "Two against 42", but Pennington does not mention that Pamyathnykh, during that air combat, was shot down herself and had to bail out and the latter was hit and had to force-land. Moreover, she should have written that the two girls "claimed" two bombers each, not that they actually shot them down, as German sources that confirm the kills are not quoted. Moreover, according to other historians (Kazimiera Cottam, Women in Air War: The Eastern Front of World War II that air battle occurred on 19 March 1943, not in April. And so on. These could be regarded as small(?) defects. For the rest, the book - at least when it was first published - was by far the best book about the subject. And still is very interesting and valuable: Reina Pennington has done a lot of research of rather good quality, unfortunately a little too much on the Soviet/Russian side. So, read it and enjoy it, but keep in mind that the lies of the winner become history. And that some authors repeat and write what winners say.

Wings, Women, and War by Reina Pennington was a delightfully quick read. There is a lot of research and in depth coverage that is very informative. At the same time you laugh at stories of Liliia Litviak's fur collar and flowers and stand amazed at her combat exploits. The book exposes you to the lives of many women volunteers and their transformation from civilians to military pilots, navigators, armorers, mechanics, and commanders. There is no propaganda. Just pure facts based upon interviews of participators and archives. No matter what your politics, or issues with women in combat, you will find yourself captivated and surprised by many discoveries.

I was privileged to read Dr. Reina Pennington's book, Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat. It was required reading for a masters program I am completing. I had my doubts about the value of this book based on many prior textbook experiences. I was extremely surprised with this one.

The book was part of a class on race, gender and sexuality issues in the military. My male sensitivities and defenses were heightened when first opening this book, but my curiosity convinced me to proceed (as well as the required reading part!). It convinced me that gender issues are important when it comes to studying things military. Dr. Pennington gave a face to and personified the women warriors and their male counterparts in the air force of the Soviet Union during World War II. This is something she accomplished while at the same time supporting her academic theoretical work this book represents. The book reads like a novel and draws the reader in to its stories about these very brave and determined Russian women. The stories are often funny; very funny. It proved to me that Russians during the war were people just like us in their humanity.

If you are unconvinced of women as warriors or want to understand something about how the Soviet Union treated women, recruited women and encounter their successes and their failures, then this book is what you need.

Dr. Pennington provides a remarkable bibliography including archival materials, correspondence and personal interviews. She spent time in Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union when war time documents and records became available. One thing that you might not find answered or answered to your satisfaction is the fundamental question about why the Soviets allowed women into combat. Like all the other belligerents involved in the war, the Soviets resisted this at first. Just like the others the Soviets dismantled their women warriors after the war. If it were not for scholastic efforts like Dr. Pennington's the efforts of women like Evgeniia Prokhorova and Liliia Latviak would be forever forgotten.

This is an important book which dispells the usual misconceptions about women in combat in general and Soviet airwomen's contribution in particular. The chapter on Soviet women fighter pilots is especially valuable. Through personal interaction with several surviving former members of the 586th Fighter Regiment, especially its second permanent commander Aleksandr Gridnev, Pennington has gained a lot of inside knowledge pertaining to this regiment, the most controversial of the three combat units formed by Marina Raskova, the "Soviet Amelia Earhart." This reader was surprised to encounter six misspelled Russian and Ukrainian place names in the book. In addition, the name of the first chief of staff in the 125th "M.M. Raskova" Borisov Dive Bomber Regiment has been rendered as "Militsiya Kazarinova" instead of "Militsa Kazarinova." However, these misspellings can still be corrected using an errata slip affixed to the inside of the back cover of the book.