Defending the Motherland
Subtitle: the Soviet women who fought Hitler's aces
By: Lyuba Vinogradova ; with an introduction by Antony Beevor ; translated from the Russian by Arch Tait
Contributors: Beevor, Antony, 1946- writer of introduction; Tait, A. L., translator
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 355
ISBN-13: 9781681440125
Subjects: Women air pilots; Female Participation; World War, 1939-1945; Soviet Aerial operations; History
Description: "Plucked from every background and led by an NKVD major, the new recruits who boarded a train in Moscow on October 16, 941 to go to war had much in common with millions of others across the world. What made the members of the 586th Fighter Regiment, the 587th Heavy-Bomber Regiment, and the 588th Regiment of Light Night-Bombers unique was their gender: the Soviet Union was creating the first all-female active combat units in modern history.  Drawing on original interviews with surviving airwomen, Lyuba Vinogradova weaves together the untold stories of the female Soviet fighter pilots of the Second World War. From that first train journey to the last tragic disappearance, Vinogradova's panoramic account of these women's lives follows them from society balls to unmarked graves, from landmark victories to the horrors of Stalingrad. Battling not just fearsome aces of the Luftwaffe but also patronizing prejudice from their own leaders, women such as Lilya Litvyak and Ekaterina Budanova are brought to life by the diaries and recollections of those who knew them, and who watched them live, love, fight, and dies"--Dust jacket.
Notes: "Translated from the Russian."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-340) and index.

Translated from the Russian.
Table of contents: title: "Girls; title: pilot a plane!"; title: "How can you photograph such misery?"; title: "When you get to the front you can wrap your feet in newspaper"; title: "So, they are taking even young girls"; title: "Why are you leaving us, children?"; title: "She's just a young girl, hasn't seen people die"; title: "No talking in the ranks!"; title: "Stop flirting!"; title: "There's a war on!"; title: "An aircraft you could use to fight"; title: "You ask how we drop bombs?"; title: "It's simply wonderful! Imagine the speed!"; title: "A whole lifetime older"; title: "See that? Your planes have proved themselves"; title: "Nails should be made out of people like these"; title: Poetry and prose; title: "But we'll beat them. We just have to not go soft"; title: "What a misfortune, what a useless death"; title: "Not one step back"; title: "We can do anything, we never surrender"; title: "Falling like vultures"; title: "Blazing away in all directions"; title: "You darling, you've shot down a Heinkel!"; title: "Here goes!"; title: "My sweet, winged Yak is a good machine"; title: Caucasus; title: "Are they young women, or scarecrows from the vegetable patch?"; title: "We did not need to look for the target"; title: "People are saying Boris Yeremin is scared of us"; title: "If they get killed, you answer for it to me"; title: "Marina Raskova, hero of the Soviet Union, great Russian aviatrix, has concluded her glorious career"; title: "Why would you want to expose yourself to deadly danger?"; title: "Street women and all sorts of madcaps"; title: "Despite the pain continued to fight the enemy"; title: "The worst death"; title: "Undue self-confidence, self-regard and lack of discipline"; title: "Move it will you? She's going to blow up"; title: Katya's return; title: "I cried like I had never cried before"; title: "I want to fly a mission. This is no time to rest"; title: "Every word brings back again and again the grief and pain"; title: "Wh-what kind of men are you not to be able to keep one g-girl safe?"