Episode 4: Lily

By the end of the war, these daredevil heroines flew more than 30,000 missions, with an average of 800 missions per pilot. 24 pilots received the Hero of the Soviet Union Metal. But when they landed, they were just women again. 

Yevdokia Bershanskaya; “Dok.” Hand-picked by Marina as her second in command. She trained and mothered the girls into becoming the most successful fighter pilots on the Eastern Front of WW2. Marina Roskova may have been the hero and founder, but Dok was the mother of the legendary Night Witches of WW2. 

Ekaterina "Kat" - an aggressive Mechanic turned Navigator turned Pilot. As a child, she was forced to work in the labor camps of The Gulag and eventually secured an early release just as war was coming to Russia. She was desperate to fight and wouldn't take "NO" for an answer. 

Lily was one of only two female “free hunters,” downing more Nazi planes than any other woman in the war. Hosts: Gabrielle Pickle & Megan Messmer Audio Engineer: Daniel Beck Composer: Tyler Kitchens Female VO: Megan Messmer Male VO: Brendan McCay

Nadia. The most successful night bomber in history. She was a navigator and pilot, flying more bombing missions in a row than any of her other pilots, but she was also a woman in love. She fell in love with a fellow pilot but refused to make any promises...this was War after all.      Hosted by Gabrielle Pickle and Megan Messmer Audio Engineer: Daniel Beck Composer: Tyler Kitchens Female VO Actor: Megan Messmer Male VO Actor: Richard Hempton

She broke world records. She challenged the status quo. She challenged Stalin to let her female pilots fight in the war. She was hero, mother, commander, and mascot. She is Marina and this is her story.    Hosted by Gabrielle Pickle and Megan Messmer Audio Engineer: Daniel Beck Composer: Tyler Kitchens Female VO Actor: Megan Messmer

Why did Stalin allow women to fight in WWII? What set the Soviet Union apart from the other allied countries who only allowed women in support roles? How did THE NIGHT WITCHES come to be?   Hosted by Gabrielle Pickle and Megan Messmer Audio Engineer: Daniel Beck Composer: Tyler Kitchens Male VO Actor: Richard Hempton Female VO Actor: Megan Messmer

An introduction to the true stories of the legendary women that became the most feared, dangerous fliers of World War II. The Germans couldn’t shoot them down, they swore they were impossible to kill, they didn’t believe they were human so they called them: The Night Witches.