A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
Happy Labor Day!
Today we begin a series of photographs from September 1943 of WAVES at work in the Naval aviation. In this photo, WAVE Violet Falkum spins the propeller of an SNJ training plane at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Happy September!
Today’s artifact is the WAVES newsletter from September 1943. This was a monthly publication sent to all WAVES no matter where they were stationed.
It comes from Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies.
What is on your shopping plans this weekend? For this WAVE, new shoes were a must. Note the instruction sign in the upper left explaining what enlisted personnel must do in order to get “shoe certificates.” During World War II, many materials were rationed for the war effort, and so things like leather shoes were limited.
The 1943 photograph comes from the National Archives.
An unidentified WAVE pharmacist’s mate on the job, at the dispensary at Naval Air Station Seattle c. 1943. The photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVES at Naval Air Station Seattle in 1943. But who’s resting and who’s still at work. Velma Fields (front) has her feet up but she’s still on the job, doing some “damage control” on her blouse (note the needle and thread), while Louise Eiselein (rear) looks ready for work as she gets a chuckle from the latest issue of the New Yorker (and look at how BIG the magazine is!!!).
The photo comes from the National Archives.
One destination for Navy WAVES? Naval Air Station Seattle. And mail call there was an eagerly awaited event. Women claiming their letters in 1943 include (front row) Vera Hoffman, Emma Rose Higgs, and Ida Sykes; and (back) Harriet Slottee, Lois Bailey, Norma Johanson, and Pollyanna Person.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVES leave their training post in Normal, Oklahoma, in summer of 1943, heading via train for their next assignments. WAVES in Norman trained in aviation specialties.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVE Elvina Foland is checking the time table to see what time she’ll need to be there to catch her train, at the station in Norman, Oklahoma, c. 1943.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
WAVES at boot camp learned about the various jobs open to them. Here, a display with posters and photographs shows what the women might be doing in various positions, such as Aviation Machinist’s Mates.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies.
WAVE Violet Falkum bids farewell to sailor Matty Melidoni, after leaving Yeoman training camp at Norman, Oklahoma c. 1943. The caption for the photograph reads:
Last minute clutches and hurried good-bye kisses were in evidence everywhere for the Waves that were lucky enough to have their boy-friends at the station to see them off.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Hinges of History 