Having a second career as a writer is a privilege I can enjoy because brave women and men fought for democracy. Their bravery and sacrifice deserve our recognition and remembrance and November 11th is the day we put aside to do so. Aside from my annual Remembrance Day reflection, I also love those moments where you see someone buy a beer or a coffee for a warrior to thank them for stepping forward.
As an admittedly somewhat awkward segue from my Halloween blog post, I want to recognise a little-known group of warriors called The Night Witches. They were one of the most celebrated air-warriors of World War Two. The Soviet 588th Night Bomber Regiment was one of three all-female squadrons. Despite having the oldest planes and uniforms handed down to them from their male counterparts, they became one of the most successful squadrons in the war. The Germans nicknamed them The Night Witches as their decrepit by-planes made a swishing noise which sounded like someone sweeping the sky with a broom. These brave aviators’ small planes could load just a couple of bombs under the wings and so to make a difference they did many sorties each night. It wasn’t uncommon for the old-fashioned bombs to get hung up on the bomb-release mechanism and pilots sometimes climbed out onto the wing at 3000ft to give the bombs a shove. Another group of women who were under appreciated during WW2 were the US and Canadian female pilots who ferried bombers, fighters and ammo from factories to the frontline airbases. The Allies wouldn’t let women fly in combat until decades later than the Soviets, and in the 1940s these brave women’s contribution was scorned by some male pilots. Belatedly, the USA granted the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) veteran status in 1977 and in 2009 the group were presented with the Congressional Medal of Honour. Better late than never I guess, and now women fight alongside men with equal status. In researching this piece, I came across many pictures of female pilots wearing khimar, burka and niqab’s. Pakistan, Afghanistan and many areas of the world I see as being less progressive also have women pilots in their modern fighter jets. Thank you, all you women, and men of course, for your service be it military, police, medical or fire-fighting.
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November 2021
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