Women served on both sides during WW2, the Soviet Union in particular had upward of 800,000 serving in the Red Army, more than half of these were on the front-line. British forces included many women in vital posts. Though Nazi Germany initially was not in favour of women serving in the military, later in the war as the situation deteriorated, German women played a limited part. The United States resisted sending women into combat, but thousands joined the military in various capacities.
Soviet women served as scouts, anti-aircraft gunners, tank drivers, but the two most dangerous roles they played were as pilots and snipers.
In the autumn of 1941 with invading German forces approaching Moscow, Stalin was persuaded to form three regiments of female pilots, the most famous was the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, who were so effective at hitting targets that the Germans started to call them “night witches”. Using flimsy plywood planes they flew more than 30,000 missions and dropped more than 23,000 tons of bombs, thirty were killed and 24 received the Hero of the Soviet Union medal, the nation's highest award.. Nearly 2,500 Soviet women were trained as snipers, with the task of targeting German front-line officers , one sniper nicknamed “Lady Death” killed 309 Germans, in less than one year.
In mid-1941 the British military began using women from the ATS in anti-aircraft units, the main purpose being to free-up men to join fighting units. Though women became skilled in spotting or locating enemy aircraft, also setting the range and handling ammunition, they were not allowed to “pull the trigger”. Many ATS women were assigned to searchlight units, the 93rd Searchlight Regiment was Britain's first all-female regiment, it operated around 72 searchlights outside London. By the end of the war more than 74,000 British women were serving in anti-aircraft units, overall 389 ATS women were killed and wounded during the conflict.
As Nazi Germany began to loose the war, out of a desperate need for resources, 450,000 women were recruited to join auxiliary military forces. In July 1943 Armaments minister Albert Speer convinced Hitler to authorise women to serve in searchlight and anti-aircraft units, as many as 100,000 German women would serve in this capacity by wars end. A total of 39 women would receive Germany's Iron Cross for duty near the front, nearly all of them nurses. There were also some 60 female pilots, used to ferry replacement planes, and free up male pilots.
Thousand of American women served as nurses, more than 1,600 earned medals and citations. Some women were to be trained on anti-aircraft batteries and searchlight units, but by mid-1943, this was called off because of the fear of public outcry at the idea of women serving in combat roles. American women also trained to be ferry-pilots, very often flying heavy bombers between factories and military bases, they also tested new and repaired planes, and towed targets for gunners in the air and on the ground to practice shooting, using live ammunition, 38 women pilots lost their lives due to plane crashes, or other accidents.
In Japan the war challenged the traditional function of women by increasingly employing them in weaving, textile, and silk factories. Japanese pride and nationalism resulted in women being used in magazines and other publicity, as symbols of hope and pride to ease minds during the uncertainty of war. Poor Japanese women were also drafted to be “comfort women” for the military, in addition women broadened their impact by joining the Japanese Nurse Corps, so that men could be sent into combat.
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