Fly Toward Death

“Machine-gun fire and rifle bullets zinged all around her as she maneuvered her plane to drop her bombs. Her fragile, two-seated, World War I bi-plane was flying low enough for her to hear the Germans screaming and yelling as she pressed forward to her drop zone.” This was a typical flight of many during one night’s sorties. The German soldiers feared and hated the women they called the Nachthexen: Night Witches. There were three all-female aviation regiments in the Soviet Union during World War II. This is a story about those female pilots, navigators and ground crews that flew and worked under incredibly adverse conditions. From women who flew the little, unarmed bi-planes and bombed the Germans at night; to the fierce, female fighter pilots who fought the seasoned German Luftwaffe, humbling them before their peers. This is a fictional account, based on actual occurrences, of those amazing women who lived, loved and died bravely during the dark days of World War II.

There were three all-female aviation regiments in the Soviet Union during World War II. Sally Laughlin has penned a remarkably realistic, insightful novel about those female pilots, navigators and ground crews that flew and worked under incredibly adverse conditions. From women who flew the little, unarmed bi-planes and bombed the Germans at night; to the fierce, female fighter pilots who fought the seasoned German Luftwaffe, humbling them before their peers. This is a fictional account, based on actual occurrences, of those amazing women who lived, loved and died bravely during the dark days of World War II.