A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
We’re going to round out the month of October here at the Hinges of History blog with a look at WAVES in aviation.
This photo is of an unidentified WAVE sitting in the “cockpit” of a Link trainer, which was used to train Navy pilots in the skills of instrument flight.
It comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
Ah, the adjustments WAVES had to make
during boot camp!
This cartoon comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
WAVES Ida Kathleen Hashinger and Caroline Henderson work on wiring harnesses for engine electrical connects at Naval Air Station Jacksonville Florida.
The October 1943 photograph by Ens. V. Jorgensen comes from the National Archives.
Jacksonville WAVES work on a plane engine in this October 1943 photograph.
It’s by Ens. V. Jorgensen and comes from the National Archives.
Yes, we realize it’s only October and too early for Christmas decorations! But this “Christmas Tree” is a place where equipment is stored and organized. WAVE Mary Edna Miller headed there to grab some nuts and bolts in this 1943 photograph.
It’s by Ens. V. Jorgensen and it comes from the National Archives.
It’s not just Rosies who had riveting duties. Here, WAVES at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, do some repair work on a plane. They are (left to right) Mary Cleo Smith, Doris Youlio, and Mary Gale Booth.
The photograph by Ens. V. Jorgensen comes from the National Archives.
WAVES learn to repair and maintain engines on a Navy flight plane during training in Norman, Oklahoma.
The photograph by Lt. JG Wayne Miller comes from the National Archives.
The singing star spent some time harmonizing with the WAVE singing platoon during World War II.
The photograph appeared in the newsletter for the WAVE training school in the Bronx, Conning Tower.
Elizabeth Reynard was one of the women who helped to organize basic training for the WAVES and came up with their name. I’m not sure of the date of this newspaper feature on her, but it offers an interesting insight into one of the earliest World War II-era WAVES.
This is one of our favorite color photographs of the WAVES, showing women trying on the new overseas hat at Naval Air Station New Orleans. The hat would be a uniform addition (the “bucket” style hat would also remain an option during World War II), bu the overseas hat would eventually become the sole uniform standard for Navy women in the post-war years.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Hinges of History 