War Thunder’s September Pages of History honors Night Witch Natalya Meklin across eight historic battle scenarios

War Thunder is returning to Pages of History in September with a month-long sequence spanning more than four decades of armored and aerial warfare. Pages of History: Night Witch runs from September 1 through September 30, 2026, offering eight consecutive tasks based on real military events stretching from the Second World War to the Iran–Iraq War. Complete each individual task and players receive a trophy containing a random reward; finish all eight and the final prize is a unique profile icon depicting Natalya Fedorovna Meklin, the celebrated Soviet night-bomber pilot who joined the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment at 19 and ultimately became a Hero of the Soviet Union.

September’s historical route is unusually broad. Players move from the Soviet Bryansk offensive to the Allied Victory Parade in Berlin, then into the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War at Asal Uttar before returning to the Eastern and Western Fronts for the Baltic Operation, Arracourt, Hürtgen Forest and the defense of Tuapse. The final task jumps forward to September 1981 and Operation Samen-ol-A’emeh, the Iranian offensive that broke the siege of Abadan during the Iran–Iraq War. As usual for Pages of History, the objective is not to reproduce every battle literally inside War Thunder but to complete combat tasks using vehicles connected with those historical events.

The subtitle Night Witch is equally deliberate. Meklin belonged to the Soviet all-female night bomber unit that German troops famously called the Nachthexen — the Night Witches. Flying primitive Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes at night, the regiment attacked troop concentrations, transport links, depots and other targets while using darkness and low-altitude tactics to compensate for aircraft that were technologically modest even by wartime standards. The National WWII Museum credits the regiment with more than 24,000 wartime missions and emphasizes that its repeated nighttime attacks were intended not only to destroy material targets but also to exhaust and demoralize German forces.

Pages of History runs throughout September with eight consecutive windows

The event begins on September 1 and ends September 30, but its eight tasks are not simultaneously available. Each occupies a specific period before the next historical event takes over. Gaijin’s schedule is:

• September 1–5: Bryansk Operation
• September 5–8: Berlin Victory Parade of 1945
• September 8–12: Battle of Asal Uttar
• September 12–16: Baltic Operation
• September 16–19: Battle of Arracourt
• September 19–23: Battle of Hürtgen Forest
• September 23–27: Tuapse Defensive Operation
• September 27–30: Operation Samen-ol-A’emeh

Each task becomes available at 11:00 GMT and remains open until 11:30 GMT on its final day. They can be completed in Random Battles with the exception of Assault mode. The detailed requirements and eligible vehicles are displayed in-game under Nickname → Achievements → Pages of History, which is important because Gaijin’s public announcement establishes the historical calendar but does not publish a universal vehicle checklist for every task in the article itself.

That sequential structure makes September less forgiving than an event where every challenge remains available until the final day. Missing one historical window means that task can no longer simply be completed later in the month. Players interested in obtaining Meklin’s icon through gameplay therefore need to keep track of all eight periods rather than concentrating everything into the final weekend.

Every completed task awards a trophy

Completing an individual Pages of History task produces a trophy containing one reward from Gaijin’s standard historical-event pool. Possible prizes are a 20–50% Research Point booster lasting 3–10 battles, a 20–50% Silver Lion booster lasting 3–10 battles, three to five Universal Backups, one day of Premium Account or a random ground-vehicle camouflage drawn from those currently unlockable or purchasable with Golden Eagles.

The reward structure means even players uninterested in collecting every monthly profile icon can obtain useful account progression simply by completing whichever historical tasks align with vehicles already present in their lineup. Research and Silver Lion boosters can accelerate regular grinding, while Universal Backups are particularly useful during intense event periods when players repeatedly field the same effective vehicles.

The unique collectible, however, requires the complete series.

Natalya Meklin is September’s final profile icon

Completing all eight September tasks awards a profile icon depicting Natalya Fedorovna Meklin. Gaijin has also provided an alternative for players who miss a task: the icon can be purchased directly with Golden Eagles until October 3 at 11:30 GMT through the Pages of History achievement menu. The announcement does not specify a universal Golden Eagle price, so players should check the live in-game listing rather than relying on unofficial estimates.

Meklin is an especially appropriate subject because one of September’s eight events, the Tuapse Defensive Operation, overlaps directly with her early combat career.

Born in 1922, Meklin volunteered for one of the women’s aviation regiments organized after Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union. She trained as both navigator and pilot and joined the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, later redesignated the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. She initially flew as a navigator before retraining as a pilot; by the end of the war she had become a flight commander.

Gaijin specifically highlights her service during the fighting around Tuapse, where she flew bombing missions against German positions, logistical routes and crossings across the difficult terrain of the western Caucasus. She would continue combat operations through the remainder of the war and receive the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

The Night Witches turned an obsolete biplane into a remarkably effective weapon

The legend surrounding Meklin’s regiment came partly from the extraordinary mismatch between its aircraft and its missions.

The Polikarpov Po-2 was a slow, fabric-covered biplane whose design originated as a training and utility aircraft rather than a sophisticated frontline bomber. Yet its simplicity, low-speed characteristics and ability to operate from rough forward airfields made it useful for nighttime harassment. Crews could approach targets at low altitude, reduce engine power during the final run and release small bomb loads before escaping into darkness.

The aircraft’s limitations also made the job extraordinarily dangerous. Crews lacked the speed, armor and heavy defensive armament of conventional bombers and flew many missions over frontline positions exposed to anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighters. Instead of carrying one huge payload, the regiment generated pressure through repeated sorties night after night.

According to the National WWII Museum, the 588th/46th Guards regiment flew more than 24,000 missions, targeting transportation networks, warehouses, fuel supplies and military positions while deliberately preventing enemy troops from resting.

Meklin’s personal record was exceptional even inside that extraordinarily active unit. Biographical records credit her with roughly 980 wartime combat sorties, and she was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union after her first 840.

That makes September’s icon more than an arbitrary portrait attached to a generic historical event. The monthly calendar actually passes through one of the campaigns in which its subject flew.

September 1–5: Bryansk Operation

The first task focuses on the Bryansk Operation, launched after the Soviet victory at Kursk shifted the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front. Soviet forces attacked German positions around Bryansk while partisan groups operating in the surrounding forests carried out extensive sabotage against railways and transport infrastructure. Gaijin notes that partisan forces later participated directly as regular Soviet formations moved against the city.

Bryansk was liberated on September 17, 1943, a date still associated with the city’s commemoration of liberation. For War Thunder, the operation offers an obvious environment for Soviet and German Second World War vehicles, particularly the ground and aviation equipment that defined the enormous Eastern Front battles following Kursk.

The important historical context is momentum. Kursk had not immediately destroyed German military capability in the East, but it severely constrained the Wehrmacht’s ability to dictate where the next major campaign would occur. Operations such as Bryansk increasingly forced German formations into reactive defense while Soviet armies exploited a growing advantage in manpower, material and operational initiative.

September 5–8: Berlin Victory Parade of 1945

The second challenge abandons combat altogether as its historical inspiration.

On September 7, 1945, after Japan’s surrender formally ended the Second World War, the USSR, United States, Britain and France participated in a joint victory parade in Berlin. The event has particular relevance to War Thunder because the Allies used it to display some of their armored hardware.

The Soviet contingent famously presented the IS-3, whose heavily sloped armor and distinctive pike nose gave Western observers an early look at one of the Soviet Union’s newest heavy-tank designs. Britain brought Comet and Cromwell tanks, the United States displayed vehicles including the M4A3E8 Sherman and M24 Chaffee, and France participated with Shermans.

For War Thunder players, it is almost the perfect Pages of History subject. Those vehicles and their close relatives occupy familiar positions in several research trees, creating a historical task centered less on reconstructing a particular battle and more on assembling the armored forces of the victorious Allied powers.

It also gives September’s calendar a brief transitional moment. After Bryansk’s combat, players move into the symbolic end of World War II before the next task jumps forward twenty years.

September 8–12: Battle of Asal Uttar

The Battle of Asal Uttar, fought from September 8–10, 1965, was one of the most significant armored engagements of the Second Indo-Pakistani War.

Pakistani forces advanced with large numbers of U.S.-supplied M47 and M48 Patton-family tanks, expecting armor and mobility to create a breakthrough in the Khem Karan sector. Indian defenders withdrew into prepared positions around Asal Uttar and deliberately flooded sections of the surrounding sugarcane fields, transforming terrain that appeared suitable for an armored offensive into a mobility trap.

Indian Centurions, Shermans, anti-tank defenses and supporting weapons then engaged Pakistani vehicles whose ability to maneuver had been severely reduced. Indian Army material describes the battlefield as becoming a graveyard for Pakistani Pattons, with close to 100 tanks destroyed or captured.

For War Thunder, the battle offers one of the clearest examples of vehicles players can recognize directly from the game: Centurions and Patton-family tanks representing two different postwar armored doctrines.

More importantly, Asal Uttar demonstrates why raw vehicle specifications are only one component of armored warfare. A superior gun, engine or armor layout matters far less when terrain removes mobility and allows the opponent to prepare firing positions in advance. That relationship between machine and battlefield is exactly the sort of historical context Pages of History can communicate effectively.

September 12–16: Baltic Operation

The calendar then returns to 1944 with the Baltic Operation, the Soviet strategic campaign against German forces in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Beginning in September and continuing into late November, Soviet armies pushed Army Group North away from much of the Baltic region. Tallinn fell on September 22 and Riga on October 13, while subsequent fighting around the Baltic coast ultimately isolated major German formations inside what became the Courland Pocket.

One of the campaign’s more distinctive elements was the amphibious fighting around the Moonsund Archipelago. Gaijin highlights the September 27 operation against the islands and the broader naval dimension of securing the Baltic coastline.

That variety makes the Baltic task particularly suitable for War Thunder’s combined catalogue. The campaign historically involved aircraft, armor, infantry and naval forces rather than one famous tank duel. Depending on the task’s live vehicle restrictions, players should therefore pay close attention to the achievement menu rather than assuming that one familiar Soviet or German lineup will automatically qualify.

September 16–19: Battle of Arracourt

From the Baltic, Pages of History crosses Europe to Arracourt in Lorraine, scene of one of the Western Front’s most important armored clashes.

Gaijin frames the battle around American Shermans defeating German Panther-equipped formations despite the Panther’s formidable long-range firepower. Poor visibility prevented German tanks from consistently exploiting their advantages in range and frontal armor, while American forces used maneuver, artillery and air support to attack from more favorable directions.

U.S. Army historical material describes the wider Arracourt fighting as a series of offensive and defensive operations during September 1944, with the principal tank battle concentrated around September 19–22. The U.S. 4th Armored Division’s Combat Command A defeated major German counterattacks while holding the Arracourt salient. Army records credit the division with destroying more than 100 tanks and dozens of self-propelled guns across the broader operation.

Arracourt is an especially useful counterpoint to Asal Uttar. Both involved armored forces whose theoretical performance was profoundly affected by terrain, visibility, information and coordination.

A Panther could outperform a Sherman in certain ideal engagements. That did not mean a formation of Panthers automatically defeated Shermans once reconnaissance, maneuver, artillery, air power and command quality entered the equation.

September 19–23: Battle of Hürtgen Forest

The next task shifts from relatively open armored warfare into one of the Western Front’s most punishing environments.

The Hürtgen Forest fighting took place in dense woodland along the German-Belgian border, where American troops faced entrenched German defenders, minefields, artillery and terrain that frequently neutralized numerical and technological advantages. The fighting extended for months and became one of the longest and most costly American campaigns on German soil.

Gaijin highlights not only direct combat losses but exhaustion, frostbite, mines and tripwires — exactly the factors that made Hürtgen so difficult. Dense forest restricted visibility and movement, artillery fragments could turn trees themselves into lethal debris, and armored vehicles had far fewer opportunities to exploit mobility than on open ground.

German forces were simultaneously protecting approaches relevant to the offensive they would later launch through the Ardennes in December 1944. The eventual Battle of the Bulge has become far more famous, but the preceding fighting in and around Hürtgen consumed enormous resources while offering the Allies comparatively limited strategic return.

Within War Thunder, reproducing that infantry-centric experience is obviously impossible. The historical task instead uses vehicles associated with the campaign as a bridge into the broader story.

September 23–27: Tuapse Defensive Operation

The seventh task provides the direct link to Natalya Meklin.

On September 25, 1942, German forces intensified their offensive toward Tuapse, a strategically important Soviet port on the Black Sea during the larger Battle of the Caucasus. Capturing the region would have strengthened Germany’s position in the Caucasus and threatened Soviet communications, but the terrain strongly favored defenders. Mountain roads, difficult weather and increasingly stretched logistics made mechanized operations exceptionally demanding.

Soviet forces continued receiving supplies through the Black Sea while resisting repeated German attempts to force their way through the mountainous approaches. By December, the offensive had failed and German forces were withdrawing first from the immediate Tuapse sector and later from the Caucasus more broadly.

This was one of the environments in which Meklin’s unit conducted its night-bombing campaign. Gaijin specifically records her attacking positions, supply routes and crossings in the Western Caucasus during the operation.

That makes the September 23–27 window the thematic centerpiece of Night Witch. The other seven tasks build the monthly historical journey, but Tuapse explains why Meklin is its featured personality.

September 27–30: Operation Samen-ol-A’emeh

The final challenge makes the largest chronological jump, leaving 1944–45 behind for the Iran–Iraq War.

Operation Samen-ol-A’emeh took place from September 27–29, 1981 around Abadan in southwestern Iran. Iraqi forces had been besieging the strategically important city for roughly a year. Iranian forces launched a coordinated offensive that seized critical roads and crossings, disrupted Iraqi positions and ultimately broke the siege.

The operation incorporated Iranian regular Army formations, Revolutionary Guard units and substantial armored, aviation and artillery support. Historical accounts describe attacks designed to isolate Iraqi units east of the Karun River and prevent an organized withdrawal, with significant amounts of Iraqi armor and other equipment abandoned or captured during the retreat.

The strategic importance went beyond reopening access to one city. The success at Abadan represented an important shift in Iranian morale and operational momentum after the defensive crisis of the war’s opening year.

It also gives War Thunder’s September event a very different final vehicle pool from its Second World War challenges. Cold War-era armor and aircraft replace Panthers, Shermans and Po-2s, demonstrating just how broad Pages of History can become when its monthly calendar follows dates rather than one single conflict.

The event moves from 1942 to 1981 without losing its central concept

That historical breadth is one of September’s strongest features.

Pages of History does not pretend Bryansk, Asal Uttar, Arracourt and Abadan are directly connected. Their link is the calendar: each major event occurred during September, allowing War Thunder to use its enormous multinational vehicle catalogue to move between very different generations of warfare.

The progression effectively becomes a mechanical history tour. One task might encourage World War II Soviet or German machinery; another centers on Centurions and Pattons; another moves toward vehicles of the early Iran–Iraq War. The player remains inside the same combat game while the military technology, geography and tactical context change completely.

That is precisely where War Thunder’s breadth becomes useful. Few military games contain enough vehicles from enough countries and eras to construct an event moving from the Caucasus in 1942 to India in 1965 and Iran in 1981 without abandoning the game’s core systems.

Exact task requirements should be checked as each window opens

One thing Gaijin’s public announcement deliberately does not provide is a full table of every vehicle and score requirement for all eight tasks.

Instead, players should open:

Nickname → Achievements → Pages of History

The menu displays the currently active task, its requirements, compatible vehicles and overall monthly progress.

That matters because “vehicles linked to these historic battles” should not be interpreted as permission to use every machine from a participating nation. War Thunder events frequently define specific vehicle lists or requirements appropriate to the historical scenario. A German vehicle existing in 1944, for example, does not automatically mean it qualifies for Arracourt or Hürtgen.

Checking the active achievement before beginning a grind is therefore the safest approach.

Missing one task does not permanently lock the Natalya Meklin icon

Players primarily interested in the historical portrait have a fallback.

The Natalya Fedorovna Meklin profile icon remains purchasable for Golden Eagles until October 3 at 11:30 GMT, even if the eight tasks were not completed.

This preserves the distinction between achievement and collection. Players who complete every historical challenge obtain the icon as the final event reward. Players who miss a window because of work, travel or simply forgetting that one task ended can still obtain it through premium currency.

The trophies awarded for each task remain the exclusive benefit of actually participating in those individual windows, meaning buying the portrait afterward does not replicate the entire month’s reward stream.

Night Witch gives September’s Pages of History a strong personal anchor

The most effective Pages of History events are the ones where the featured profile icon is more than a portrait attached to eight unrelated dates.

September 2026 succeeds because Natalya Meklin connects directly to one of those events.

She joined the 588th at 19, flew nighttime combat missions through the Caucasus and continued fighting across multiple fronts until the war ended. Her regiment’s use of vulnerable Po-2 biplanes became one of the most famous stories of women in Soviet combat aviation, while Meklin herself accumulated roughly 980 missions and rose to flight commander.

The Night Witches’ reputation also fits War Thunder particularly well because their effectiveness was never derived from having the most technically impressive aircraft. The Po-2 was slow and lightly equipped. What made the unit dangerous was how pilots exploited those characteristics through nighttime operations, low-altitude approaches, repeated sorties and tactics adapted specifically to their aircraft.

That lesson carries surprisingly well into War Thunder.

A vehicle’s stat card matters.

How and where it is used matters more.

September offers eight battles, eight trophies and one Night Witch

Pages of History: Night Witch begins September 1 and runs through September 30, 2026. Players must complete eight historical tasks in sequence, covering the Bryansk Operation, Berlin Victory Parade, Battle of Asal Uttar, Baltic Operation, Battle of Arracourt, Battle of Hürtgen Forest, Tuapse Defensive Operation and Operation Samen-ol-A’emeh. Each successful task awards a trophy containing a booster, Universal Backups, Premium time or a camouflage, while completing all eight awards the unique Natalya Fedorovna Meklin profile icon.

The calendar moves across the USSR, Germany, France, India and Iran and from 1942 through 1981, but Meklin gives the month a clear centerpiece. During the Tuapse fighting represented in the seventh task, the 19-year-old aviator was already conducting nighttime bombing missions over the Western Caucasus as part of the unit that would become famous as the Night Witches. She survived the war, became a flight commander and was recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Players unable to complete the entire sequence can purchase her icon with Golden Eagles until October 3 at 11:30 GMT. Everyone else has a month to earn it the historical way: eight battle windows, eight different pieces of military history and a vehicle lineup that will change repeatedly as the calendar advances.

From Soviet Po-2s over the Caucasus to Centurions and Pattons at Asal Uttar and Cold War armor around Abadan, September’s Pages of History is effectively a journey through almost forty years of warfare.

At the end of that journey waits one of the most famous pilots of the Night Witches. More information here.