WW2 Trivia Archive

Despite their extraordinary record — 23,672 combat sorties, each pilot averaging 800 missions — the regiment was not invited to participate in the victory parade at the war's end because their aircraft (Po-2 biplanes) were deemed too obsolete and unimpressive for the celebration. The regiment flew throughout the entire Eastern Front from 1942 to 1945, repeatedly cited by both Soviet and German commanders as a significant harassment force. Thirty members of the regiment were killed in combat. The pilot who completed the most sorties flew over 1,000.

Häyhä packed snow into his mouth to prevent visible breath vapor from betraying his position in freezing temperatures. He operated in conditions of minus 40 Celsius in the Kollaa region. He was awarded 505 confirmed kills in under 100 days of the Winter War (November 30, 1939 – March 13, 1940). He survived being hit by an explosive bullet that destroyed half his face on March 6, 1940, regaining consciousness the day the war ended. He lived to age 96.

The Polikarpov Po-2 biplane had a top speed of only 94 mph — far slower than any German fighter. This extreme slowness made interception paradoxically difficult. A Me-109 diving at combat speed simply overshoot before it could fire effectively. The gliding approach additionally made the aircraft nearly invisible to radar (wooden construction) and nearly silent to ground observers. German air defense units stationed anti-aircraft personnel specifically to listen for the distinctive gliding "broom" sound the aircraft made. Each pilot of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment averaged 800 sorties over four years. Germany placed a bounty on any German pilot who shot one down.