In the US and the UK, members of the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) and the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) numbered in the tens of thousands, where they served as switchboard operators, air traffic controllers, and deployed barrage balloons. They occasionally got close to combat, the UK’s Flying Nightingales who served as air-ambulance nurses, first flew into Normandy just a week after D-Day to evacuate servicemembers injured during the initial assault. Both countries also employed many female aviators as training and cargo pilots, but they were almost all civilian employees of the armed forces unlike members of the WAAC and WAAF.
There is also a (very niche) TTRPG about the Night Witches by Jason Morningstar.
And also a board game that I'm looking forward to coming in Fall 2026 by Liz Davidson and David Thompson (art by Ian O'Toole): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/388558/night-witches
Love the premise but couldn't get the night phase to work when I ran a one-shot. It quickly became repetitive thought that may have been just my lack of experience with the game.
Beaten to the punch. It’s quite good.
In the Apple TV series "Star City" the head of the KGB surveillance department is referred to as the "Night Witch"
There's a pretty good depiction of them in David L. Robbins' Last Citadel.
Sabaton, a swedish historical power metal band, also wrote a song about these women if you're into that kind of thing.
And if you are into all kinds of things
“An attack technique of the night bombers involved idling the engine near the target and gliding to the bomb-release point with only wind noise left to reveal their presence. Allegedly, German soldiers likened the sound to broomsticks and hence named the pilots "Night Witches".”
That’s an interesting story behind the name.
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From a military perspective, fertile women are also useful for producing more soldiers, logistics workers, and taxpayers, making males preferrable draftees where their warfighting qualities are similar.
Russia has suffered ~1.4M casualties in Ukraine. If around half of those were fertile women it would increase the rate of their current demographic collapse by several percentage points.
Quite opposite, if Russia drafted women, there would be a baby boom in Russia.
Based on data from US military (professionals, not draftees), female service members are very likely to get pregnant, just before combat deployment.
So drafting women is a double win, it increases number of soldiers and increases fertility.
Also, men are just physically stronger, which makes them more effective as infantry forces. The advent of mechanical warfare and the creation of roles like pilot or sensor technician or satellite operator which don’t require physical strength have provided a lot more opportunities for women to serve effectively in conflict.
No need to put down men to talk about how awesome this women's pilot team sounds.