From female peashooters to British troops in drag, Kent photographer John Topham captured his country from the 1920s through to the end of the second world war

So a while back I wrote some character concepts for Night Witches. You can find those here. Essentially they're characters I came up with after an initial glance at the prompts in the Night Witches playbooks. I've been wanting to write a continuation to that post for quite some time now. Only now am I finally getting around to it. So without further ado here they are. (Now with pictures courtesy of Marc Benson over at the Night Witches Google+ Community). Sergeant Hanna Ruttmann Something like what Hannah looks like. Perhaps a little older and more haggard looking after her time in the gulag. Sex: Female Uniform: Threadbare Body: Cringing Eyes: Cold Home Town: Verkhoyansk (Siberia) Who you write to back home: No one Hanna is a Sparrow Zealot, a combination of someone devoted to the Soviet state, while trying to run away from their past. In Hanna's case she is not devoted to the Soviet Army out of any kind of loyalty. Rather she is loyal because she knows better than anyone what the state can do to those they suspect of treason. Verkhoyansk was the camp where she and her family were held after the German invasion of the Rodina. As Volga Germans they were taken from their village outside of Saratov and their possessions confiscated. Hanna was eventually released from the gulag at Verkhoyansk, due to a need for trained pilots (she had received training in an agricultural club) and for her cooperation with the NKVD, while in the camp. It has turned into a deal with the devil as the Politruks now expect her further cooperation on threat of being sent back. A fate she is determined to avoid, she'd prefer going to hell for suicide over returning to Verkhoyansk. I see Hanna more as a replacement character rather than being an initial member of the regiment. Sergeant Maryam Bakradze Maryam, the photo might be a candid shot of her in the middle of a joke. Sex: Female Uniform: Tattered Body: Wiry Hands: Calloused Home Town: Krasnodar Who you write to back home: Your sister Sonya Maryam is a pigeon a bird that is vaguely ridiculous and most comfortable in a crowd. Essentially she's a the class clown. Always cracking jokes at both her own expense, the expense of others and the expense of the brass. She's also kind of wild and tends to do things that are sort of ill-advised. Sort of like how a pigeon will fly into a window, she'll fly a little dangerously. As such I can see her alternating between the two roles of Adventurer and Misanthrope. Also unlike a lot of characters there's an opportunity to meet her family. Since her hometown of Krasnodar is near one of the Regiment's duty stations. There's an opportunity to really show the hardship of war by having something happen to her family during the fighting around Krasnodar. This character is somewhat inspired by Sergeant William "Gonorrhea" Guarnere from Band of Brothers. What Vera probably wants to look like by the end of the war against the Hitlerite bandits. Junior Lieutenant Vera "just Vera, thanks" Gromova Sex: Female Uniform: Full dress Body: Aristocratic Face: Handsome Home Town: Suzdal Who you write to back home: Mother and father Vera is a Raven, a carrion bird that feeds off of corpses. Which reflects her leadership style to a tee. She is not afraid to throw a superior officer or a comrade under the bus if it advances her career. If sacrificing the lives of her airwomen means a successful mission. You can bet that she'll sacrifice them without a second thought. If other officers are fathers to their men, then she is a deadbeat. I imagine her bouncing back and forth between Zealot and Leader. Zealot if she is not in control and Leader since she advances if one of her section dies under her command. Reflecting her leadership style. She is largely inspired by David Schwimmer's portrayal of Herbert Sobel in Band of Brothers. So there you have it three more natural-born Soviet Airwomen. Feel free to just read for entertainment purposes or use them in your own game if you feel a little uncreative when creating characters. Be sure to +1, comment, reshare, and follow. As always have a nice day and may the dice be ever in your favour.

As the 75th anniversary of the blitz – Germany’s sustained bombing campaign of the UK in the second world war – approaches, these beautiful and striking pictures show the famous bombsites, the tin helmets, the victory rolls and the carry-on spirit

H 38274. Sherman tank crews of 1st East Riding Yeomanry are distracted by a girl on a horse during Exercise 'Fabius' 6 May 1944.

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