Did women drive tanks in World War II?

Answer 1

Not in combat. Not even in the Soviet (Russian) Red Army, which did have many women in various combat roles. There were probably women employed at the industrial facilities where tanks were built who drove tanks, off the assembly line, in testing, maybe onto trains for shipment, but I suspect there were not very many women doing this as part of their jobs. Not everyone at that time was able to drive even an automobile, and people in general were not as mechanically knowledgeable as they became after the war. Most families in the US did not have a car before the war, so even in the Army finding men able to drive was a specialized skill worth noting. And driving a tank was a much rougher, bone jarring experience compared to any car. The tanks were built to accommodate men of average size, which would mean that anyone not that size - say, a smaller person such as the average woman, was going to have a hard time just trying to see out the small vision slit provided for the driver to see where he was going. Steering was done by pulling on two levers, which were brakes for each side. So if you wanted to go to the right, you pulled on the right lever, which braked and stopped the right track, while the left continued to move, pivoting the tank to the right. This took muscle.