For this Memorial
Day weekend post, I’m sharing the Fly Girls, the Women Airforce Service Pilots
(WASP) and their home in the only all-woman air base ever, Avenger Field in
Sweetwater, Texas. Theirs is, to me, an amazing story.
As a
celebration, I’m giving away a set of the e-books for my Texas Time Travel
trilogy to one commenter, which includes TEXAS STORM, in which a WASP is sent
forward from 1943 to today.
Back to the WASPs
and their story.
After a great deal
of political positioning, backstabbing, and juggling which I’m sure you don’t want to hear,
the new women’s ferrying group was assigned to Avenger Field in Sweetwater,
Texas. Sweetwater is the home of many very nice people as well as rattlesnakes,
tarantulas, black widows, and scorpions with dusty winds, a huge cotton compress, and high temperatures
in summer and low temperatures in winter. I grew up in West Texas, so I take
those things for granted.
I wonder what the
women arriving from more temperate and picturesque locales thought when they
first saw their new home. For instance, since the mid twentieth century,
Sweetwater has been home to the world’s largest annual Rattlesnake Roundup. (Yes, I
shuddered when I wrote this.) Although the roundup didn’t become official
until later, those rattlers were around when the WASP were.
Even though each WASP had a pilot’s license, she was trained
to fly "the Army way" by the U.S. Army Air Forces. More
than 25,000 women applied for the WASP and 1,830 were accepted into the program. You can see that being accepted into the program was quite an honor.
Start of the WASP Program |
The women pilots were required to pay their own
way there and the return fare if they washed out; they also had to pay for
their room and board. The WASPs were treated as much as possible like male
cadets. They marched wherever they went and lived in barracks.
Elizabeth L. Gardiner at controls of a B-26 Marauder |
The WASP program began on a civilian basis
because it was an experiment. While the women fliers functioned in the
military, they lived under civilian law. They did not receive government
insurance, and hospitalization for sickness or illness was difficult to work
out.
WASP Barracks |
The women were assigned
six to a room divided by a bathroom and a room with six bunks on the other
side. Twelve women sharing one bathroom may sound like a nightmare. Remember, this was at a time in history when most homes had only one bathroom and many
still had only an outhouse. The bathrooms did have two toilets and four sinks
as well as an open shower space (no privacy). In addition to their bunk, they had a small
locker-like closet, a library-table desk, and a chair.
They received approximately 210 hours of flying
time, about equally divided between PT-17s, BT-13s and AT-6s. Approximately 285
hours were devoted to ground school instruction. The training period lasted
seven months.
Wearing her "zoot" suit coveralls over her uniform and with her parachute strapped to her, helmet on head, a manikin poses for museum visitors. |
Graduates of Avenger Field went on to flying
assignments throughout the United States. They ferried 12,650 planes of
seventy-seven different types, including B-17s. Fifty percent of the fighter planes
manufactured were ferried by WASPs. After proving themselves as ferry pilots,
they towed targets, flew tracking, smoke-laying, searchlight, strafing, and
simulated bombing missions, gave instrument instruction, and tested damaged
airplanes, a dangerous task.
Following training, the WASP were stationed at 122 air bases across
the U.S. assuming numerous flight-related missions, and relieving male
pilots for combat duty. They flew 60,000,000
miles—yes that’s sixty million miles—of operational flights from aircraft
factories to ports of embarkation and military training bases. They also
towed targets for live anti-aircraft artillery practice, simulated strafing
missions, and transported cargo.
Women in these roles flew almost every type of aircraft flown by
the USAAF during World War II. In addition, a few exceptionally qualified women
were allowed to test rocket-propelled planes, to pilot jet-propelled planes,
and to work with radar-controlled targets.
Many had been
pilots before the war and loved flying (as the heroine in my book). Her first
and last names are after two of the thirty-eight women WASP who died in the
program. Eleven died during training and twenty-seven on active duty missions. Although
these women loved flying and were patriotic, this was not a game.
Frances Green, Margaret "Peg" Kirchner, Ann Waldner, and Blanche Osborn |
Because they were
not considered part of the military, a fallen WASP was sent home at family
expense. If her family could not afford the expense, other WASP chipped in to
send their fallen comrade home. Traditional military honors or notes of
heroism, such as allowing the U. S. flag to be displayed on the coffin or a
service flag in a window were not allowed.
After completing their months of military flight training,
1,074 of them earned their wings and became the first women to fly American
military aircraft. While the WASP were not trained for combat, their course of
instruction was essentially the same as male aviation cadets. The
WASP thus received no gunnery training and very little formation flying and
aerobatics but went through the maneuvers necessary to be able to recover from
any position. The percentage of trainees eliminated compared
favorably with the elimination rates for male cadets in the Central Flying
Training Command.
When the B-29 Flying Fortress was being tested and crashed several times due to an engine fire,
it spooked most pilots from flying in the plane. In fact, many refused, something I didn't realize was possible without severe punishment. Lt.
Col. Paul W. Tibbets was assigned to get this plane flying. To show the men the
plane was safe and reliable, Tibbets recruited two of the WASP to fly the four
engine B-29, Dorothea “DiDi” Moorman and Dora Dougherty. Instead of the regular
six months training plus two years toward an Aeronautical Engineer degree, DiDi
and Dora had three days to get ready for their demonstration. Of course, the two women had already qualified as WASP and had ferried numerous types of planes.
Tibbets did not inform the women about the engine’s fire
problem. On one of the training flights, the engine caught fire and filled the
cockpit with smoke. Dora didn’t hesitate for a second and instructed her male
flight engineer to feather #3 and pull the fire extinguisher. Handling the
emergency by the book, she got the fire out and, with the remaining three
engines turning, landed the plane safely.
Tibbets' plan was a resounding success. The WASP convinced
their male counterparts that the B-29 was safe and reliable provided it was
managed properly. The men stopped complaining. For those of you who don’t know,
it was Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets who piloted the Enola Gay (named after his
mother) to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
The B-29 known as the Flying Fortress, The Enola Gay |
In 1944, WASP members at Maxwell Air Field founded the Order
of Fifinella organization. Earlier, Fifinella had been designed by Disney and
gifted to women pilots. The organization's initial goals were to help the former
WASP members find employment and maintain contact between themselves. Through
the years, the Order of Fifinella issued newsletters, helped influence
legislation and organized reunions. The group held its final meeting in 2008
and was disbanded in 2009.
Fifinella |
The records of the WASP program were classified and sealed for
35 years, making their contributions to the war effort little known and
inaccessible to historians. In 1975. under the leadership of Col. Bruce
Arnold along with the surviving WASP members
organized as a group again and began what they called the "Battle of
Congress". Their goal was to gain public support and have the WASP
officially recognized as veterans of World War II.
Statue of Fifinella at Avenger Field Museum |
In 1977 the records were unsealed after an Air Force press
release erroneously stated the Air Force was training the first women to fly
military aircraft for the U.S. The documents were compiled that showed during
their service WASP members were subject to military discipline, assigned top
secret missions, and many members were awarded service ribbons after their units
were disbanded.
It was also shown that WASP member Helen Porter had been issued
an Honorable Discharge certificate by her commanding officer following her
service. This time, the WASP lobbied Congress with the important support
of Senator Barry Goldwater, who himself had been a World War II ferry
pilot in the 27th Ferrying Squadron. During hearings on the legislation,
opposition to the WASP members being given military recognition was voiced by the
Veterans Administration, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I don't know why these groups disapproved but can only guess it's because the WASP did not go into battle.
President Barack Obama signing the bill for the Congressional Gold Medal paperwork |
On July 1, 2009 President Barack Obama and the United States
Congress awarded the WASP the Congressional Gold Medal. Three
of the roughly 300 surviving WASPs were on hand to witness the event. During
the ceremony President Obama said, "The
Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a
time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and
continue to give so much in service to this nation since. Every American should
be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally
give them some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve."
Madge Moore, WASP |
On May 10, 2010, the 300 surviving WASPs came to the US
Capitol to accept the Congressional Gold Medal from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and other Congressional leaders. On New Year's Day in 2014 the Rose
Parade featured a float with eight WASP members riding on it.
Ladies, thank you for your service. Thank you to all who
served your country!
Sources:
http://waspmuseum.org/ Sarah Byrn Rickman
Fly Girls, by P. O’Connell
Pearson, Simon and Schuster
WASP of the Ferry
Command, by Sarah Byrn Rickman, UNT Press
Now, about my book in which a WASP, Jeannie Luttrell, is forced to parachute from her plane in a storm in 1943 and lands in 2018: TEXAS STORM, book 3 of the Texas Time Travel trilogy is now available from Amazon. The trilogy starts with TEXAS LIGHTNING, in which Penelope Jane "Penny" Terry comes forward from 1896. In the second book, TEXAS RAINBOW, Eleanore "Ellie" St. Eaves comes forward from 1921. The three books involve men from the Knight family, handsome and wealthy brothers Jake and Bart and their cousin Caleb. Click on each title above to be taken to the purchase link. These books have received great response from readers.
I find the WASPS story fascinating. I have a friend who has written 5 books (most non-fiction) about these women. Like you she found a passion and has spent time over the years interviewing and writing about them.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled that you found a way to incorporate their story in a new book.I'm also thrilled you wrote about them in this post. More people need to know about these women and their accomplishments. Thank you. Doris
Wow, what an interesting article. I love Peggy Henderson and Linda LaRoque time travel romance. I look forward to reading yours.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this. I love learning these hidden histories. How cool to incorporate it into a time travel, too.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, What an exceptionally great piece of work illuminating the WASP story! Thank you. I have your trilogy on my Kindle and look forward to enjoyable reading sessions! In addition to Sarah Byrn Rickman's work, a local Sonoma writer, Jeanne Sloan, has written novels of women who served in WWII, including WASPs. There's a museum in Richmond, CA that honors such women and I must go soon!
ReplyDeleteCaroline,
ReplyDeleteThe WASP history is remarkable. It's one of my pet research topics. It's good to see their stories coming forward more and more.
I had never hear of the WASP pilots. Isn't it the way that women always seem to have to go above and beyond their male counterparts just to get a chance to do something worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting and well researched article, Caroline. Thank you for this wonderful information.