Very often the first sight of a brand new mark of whatever aircraft being delivered to a front line squadron including all the really 'Hot Ships' would have been one flown by one of those extraordinary set of girl/lady/female pilots.
In a way it is a shame that they couldn't actually fly combat missions because if they were anything like their Russian equivalents they would have been 'Aces'.
The "Nachthexen" the Luftwaffe called them. The Night Witches. Flying antiquated aircraft they sometimes did 18 sorties a night! I guess the front was only a few miles away!
Marina Raskova and the Soviet Women Pilots of World War II
I like to think that Diana Barnato-Walker, Lettice Curtis, Anne Welch, Amy Johnson et al would have been just as good as the amazing "Nachthexen".
Having flown with one of them, I have no doubt.
