I have not written much about the Soviet Union’s involvement in World War II (click here to read the blog, Tommy, Fritz, and Ivan), but I have written quite a few blogs on women’s roles during the war, especially in the French Resistance and as foreign agents [read the blogs, The Naked Heroine (click here), Women Agents of the SOE (click here), The White Mouse (click here), and The Sussex Plan and a Very Brave Woman (click here)]. Today’s blog combines each of these topics.
During World War II, America and Great Britain did not allow women to fly combat missions. However, Gen. Hap Arnold (1886−1950), head of the U.S. Army Air Forces, authorized an elite women’s air squadron to be formed (click here to read the blog, Killed in the Service of Her Country). Female pilots such as Betty Gillies and Cornelia Fort, delivered new planes from the manufacturing facilities to their assigned airfields located around the country. Arnold believed this would free up more male fighter pilots for combat duty.
Betty Gillies (1908−1998), the first American women pilot to be accepted by the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. Gillies and Nancy Love were the first women to pilot a B-17, Flying Fortress. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943). PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Stalin on the other hand, created three all-female combat air regiments for the purpose of harassing and bombing German military targets. The women of one regiment devised a bombing technique that earned them the nickname, Die Nachthexen, or “The Night Witches.” They were so feared by the Germans that any soldier or pilot who downed a Night Witch aircraft automatically earned the Iron Cross medal. While American bomber crews were expected to fly twenty-five missions before going home, most of the Soviet women bomber crews flew more than eight hundred missions while one of them flew more than a thousand.
The “Witches” report to the commander for instructions for the night’s bombing missions. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Cdn.history.com. Sovfoto/Uig Getty.
Have you ever wondered what the world would be like today had Hitler and the Nazis won the war? That scenario would likely include the fact that the Germans successfully invaded Britain. Today, we will examine the German plans for “Operation Sea Lion,” the planned invasion of England and what the consequences for British citizens might have been had the Germans occupied the country.
Did You Know?
Did you know that Stalin and Hitler signed a non-aggression treaty on 23 August 1939? Otherwise known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the treaty allowed both dictators to partition Poland into satellite territories for Germany and the Soviet Union. Of course, you knew this. However, did you know that Stalin signed a neutrality pact with Japan on 13 April 1941? Of course, most of us don’t know about this. Yōsuke Matsuoka (1880−1946), Japan’s foreign minister, negotiated and signed on behalf of Hirohito and the government.
The Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact had similar consequences. The German treaty allowed Hitler to turn his attention to the west without worrying about a second front (and it secured Stalin’s western boundary). The Japanese pact eliminated a second front for Hirohito’s generals (and it secured Stalin’s eastern borders). By this time, Japan was preparing to attack Pearl Harbor and Hitler was planning Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Japanese did not know if Hitler was going to invade England or the Soviet Union. By then, Hitler had given up on invading the British Isles and it is thought that had the Führer informed Japan about his intent to invade Russia (22 June 1941), the Japanese may have launched an attack on Siberia (likely sparing Pearl Harbor). After Matsuoka failed in his attempt to convince the Japanese cabinet to tear up the treaty and attack the Soviet Union, he resigned in disgrace.
Matsuoka signs the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact. Photo by anonymous (13 April 1941). PD-Russia. Wikimedia Commons.
Despite Roosevelt’s attempts to “bribe” Stalin into committing to fight the Japanese alongside the Allies, the Soviet Union remained “neutral” with respect to the war against Japan. That is, until America dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Stalin tore up the Soviet/Japanese neutrality pact and invaded Manchuria and Korea. Stalin joined the fight against the Japanese in the waning days of the war and reaped the expected rewards.
The Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact showing the signatures of the Japanese delegation. Photo by World Imaging (c. 2009). Japan Foreign Ministry Archives. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Wikimedia Commons.
As we’ve seen throughout history, a treaty with a dictator or totalitarian regime is only as good as long as the regime needs it to be.
War-time Nazi Documents
Most of us are aware that the Germans were fastidious in their attention to detail and documentation. Toward the end of the war as they began retreating from the occupied countries, many documents were destroyed to prevent them from ending up in the hands of the Allied army. At the same time, Himmler gave orders to destroy all evidence of Nazi crimes in the concentration and extermination camps. Similar scenarios occurred in Berlin as the Soviet army began its final assault. Read More Professor Dr. Six
Mr. Ross brings the streets of Paris to life, making it possible for you to stand on the very spots where the grand and tragic events of the French Revolution took place. If you are looking for more than just the typical tourist experience in Paris, then this book is must reading!
Dan Carpenter | Historian & Author
“Another outstanding, well-researched, and presented book by Stew Ross. It gives a detailed guided walking tour full of facts about the activities of the Gestapo during their occupation of Paris during World War II. I highly recommend this book to everyone who has an interest in what life was like during the Nazi occupation in France.”
Richard H.F. Neave, President Royal British Legion Paris branch, member Paris-based Libre Résistance SOE “F” Section and author of SOE: A Life in the Shadows
