Originally posted by Angus
Sniperesses?
It is my understanding that quite a few women served as snipers in the Russian Army during WWII. Ludmilla Pavlichenko killed 309 Germans, before she was promoted to Major and became a sniper school instructor. She was such an international hero, that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt sent her a custom Winchester sniper rifle as a gift, to honor her heroic efforts. Of course, the USA and Russia were allies back then.
Only unmarried women without children were allowed to serve. In the later war years, they were even drafted. By the end of the war 800,000 women had served, with most of them serving in combat roles.
Over 1,000 women served as pilots in the Russian Air Force during the war, compared to zero for all of the other countries. Because of this, women playing Aces High II must limit themselves to only flying Russian planes, or Lend Lease planes provided to Russia from the US, in order to be historically accurate.
Otherwise, they will need to pretend that they are one of the boys, in order to be true to history.
SIG 220
