Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Whirlwind Romance

Romance often moved quickly during World War II. Phyllis Jensen Ankeney grew up in the same neighborhood as her husband-to-be. She remembered admiring his Navy uniform after he enlisted in the service, but romance didn’t blossom until after she had joined the WAVES and they were home on leave together.

He got pretty upset when he found out I had gone in the service (laughs). He didn’t think a woman shouldn’t be there either at that point. But anyway, we came on home on leave together, not knowing it. He came from the South Pacific and I came from Florida.  We happened to come home at the same time. We went together for the few days we were  at home. Other than that, I had not dated him.  And he said that we’d get married — that I’d get a ring for my birthday in January. This was in September.  We were married the seventh of October.

We talked every night. And he wanted to get married. I said, “I don’t have any leave coming, If we’re going to get married you’re going to have to come here.” So he came right on down there. But we did have a church wedding in Pensacola.  A Lutheran church.  No family, no one around.  Just the ones from the base that came in. The minister had a youth class there on Sunday night and he asked if I would invite them to be at the wedding, so I did.

They ended up moving back to their home town after World War II and Phyllis got pregnant almost immediately after she was discharged. Her husband did get called up into the Navy again, during the Korean War.

The photograph comes from the collection of Phyllis Ankeney.

Romance Week!

With the approach of Valentine’s Day, we’re turning our focus to romance during World War II.

Margaret Anderson Thorngate, who we’ve featured before in these posts, met her husband Fred during the war:

 I was a member of the Fourth Interceptor Command. That’s when they had that — no radar in those days, so you looked for airplanes in the air, at sea, whatever. I belonged to that.  Another girl and I had the duties on Sunday afternoons, which we picked because they we could sun ourselves on the sand dune where the observation post was.  And so Fred was stationed in the beach club down the street, down the little ways. He came trotting up one day, when I was — one Sunday afternoon when I was sitting there in my black bathing suit watching for airplanes (laughs). With my glasses picked him up right away.

Margaret and Fred wrote back and forth to each other during the war,  while he was stationed overseas and she was in the WAVES in California. Eventually she agreed to marry him.  So in late summer 1945, he got a leave between assignments, so he returned to California.

He came back from overseas and we were going to get married. I met him at my aunt’s in Glendale. He rang the front doorbell and I ran out the back. I was scared to death (laughs). And she (Margaret’s aunt) made me — she made me answer the door and I couldn’t talk.  I couldn’t talk!   Absolutely, for 20 minutes I couldn’t say anything.  And he was just laughing. I thought, “This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done in your life!  You’re going to marry somebody you haven’t even seen in two years and barely know!”

They were on their honeymoon when the war ended.

Something worked about their unconventional romance – Margaret and Fred are still married.

The photo comes from the collection of Margaret Anderson Thorngate.

The Boot Camp Experience

Part of the Hunter College boot camp experience for the young WAVES was learning what it mean to be in the Navy. And that meant restrictions, as WAVE Virginia Gillmore remembered:

The hard adjustment was the way they treated a few people.  One of the really hard things was the fact that if we kept our hair off our collar that was the requirement.  And that if you did your hair up, your long hair up and kept it off your collar you’d be ok.  But one cold morning they mustered us outside our apartment house outside in the street — that means they lined us all up — or we lined up.  And they went behind all the girls with long hair and they pulled their bobbie pins or whatever was holding their hair up out and let their hair fall down, and then took scissors and clipped their hair off.  And these girls had been told they wouldn’t have to have their hair cut.  There was almost mutiny that morning.  None of us thought it was fair. Because the regulation was just keep your hair up off your collar.  But we all kept quiet.  So it was a little fear that I didn’t think was entire necessary in our training.  But I suppose we all have to go through something.

All in all, boot camp was a good, positive experience.  We felt lots of support from the instructors, as a whole group.  But we did have to toe the line.

This photograph comes from the National Archives.

Learning the Ropes

The last photo in the essay following one woman, Maria Ramona Espinosa, through boot camp at Hunter College shows the WAVES’ classroom activities.

The caption reads:

Maria Ramona Espinosa recites in one of the classes which occupy a large part of her time at the training school.

The photograph comes from the National Archives. It dates from September 1943.

Getting the Uniform

The second image in the photo essay of Maria Ramona Espinosa at boot camp at Hunter College followed as she was fitted for her Navy uniform.

The caption reads:

Apprentice Seaman Esponosa, her hair done up in regulation style, has her first uniform fitted.

The photograph comes from the National Archives. It dates from September 1943.

A Girl Joins the Navy

Part of the WAVES recruitment efforts were to show the experiences of women in the Navy, and boot camp was no exception. This photo essay followed one woman, Maria Ramona Espinosa, through boot camp at Hunter College.

In this photo, she arrives at the gate of the Navy facility, dressed in her civilian clothes. The caption reads:

Maria Ramona Espinosa goes thru some of the steps necessary to become a WAVE at Hunter College, Bronx, N.Y. Arriving at school she gets her first directions from a Shore Patrolman at the gate.

The photograph comes from the National Archives. It dates from September 1943.

The Map

When women were stationed at the Hunter College boot camp, they received a map as part of their orientation packet. The map showed where the key buildings were, and included the surrounding apartment buildings.

This copy of the map comes from the collection of WAVE Margaret Anderson Thorngate. It shows the path she would take from the building where her quarters were located (Building D, a former apartment complex) to the Mess Hall, where meals were served.

Hunter College: Living Quarters

Hunter College was primarily a commuter college; there weren’t any dorms on the campus grounds. The Navy needed housing for 8,000-10,000 women at a time (plus instructors), so it turned to the Bronx neighborhood for help. Apartments surrounding the campus were commandeered by the Navy for the duration of the war.

An article in the New York Times talked about this development:

While … merchants on Kingsbridge Road, the nearest shopping center, all claimed their businesses would suffer, none complained.  Businessman Max Steubens, who ran a self-serve market, depended on the 13 apartments for most of his business, but when interviewed said, “I’m more than willing to do my share toward the war effort” (1.13.43) A few days after this, complaints arose because nearby apartments were raising rent for the occasion. The situation was investigated and The New York Times made sure to note that, “The complaints they received were logical and natural and not at all unpatriotic” (1.14.43)

This photograph comes from a postcard booklet designed for WAVES recruits to send it home to their parents, families and friends. It shows the converted apartments, where women lived 8-10 to a one bedroom unit.  It is from the Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Hunter College: History

Hunter College was established in 1870 as part of New York City’s public university system. It was located on the Upper East Side of New York City. The Bronx campus (now known as Lehman College) first opened in the 1930s; by this time Hunter had locations in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island as well.

The Bronx campus remained under Navy jurisdiction until 1945. Then it briefly housed the United Nations, before being returned to the Hunter College system in 1946.

Hunter was the women’s college of the system through the 1950s. The Bronx campus was one of the first to go co-educational, and the entire system allowed women by 1964, The Bronx campus was renamed Lehman College in 1968.

This photograph comes from a postcard booklet designed for WAVES recruits to send it home to their parents, families and friends. It shows the Hunter College training station.  It is from the Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Hunter College: Boot Camp

In early February, 1943, the Navy opened its new WAVES boot camp at Hunter College. The Bronx, New York campus (now known as Lehman College) was commandeered by the Navy for the duration of the war.

Boot classes of two thousand women would begin every two weeks or so. They would spend six weeks at Hunter learning military basics before being moved along to specialty training.

This photograph comes from a postcard booklet designed for WAVES recruits to send it home to their parents, families and friends. It shows the flag of for the Hunter College training station.  It is from the Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.