WAVES Commander Mildred McAfee and Navy Secretary Frank Knox are at a rally celebrating the first anniversary of the WAVES founding. The celebration was in Washington, DC on July 27, 1943.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Page Out of the Newsletter
Taking a look at a page out of the WAVES Newsletter, it shows how the Navy uses its photographs to talk about the work of Air Gunnery Instructors. We saw this image earlier in the week. The women are working on .50 caliber machine gun turrets, and needed to learn how to shoot the guns in order to take over in training men in the skills needed for war.
According to the article
The instructor of these WAVES will see its results in the war zones.
The clipping comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Partnership First
This image demonstrates the importance of partnership between the WAVE gunnery instructor and her pupil, who will later fly missions overseas. Here is WAVE Instructor Gladys Cox and Rex E. Bisbee, who graduated at the top of his class.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Switchboards + Guns
The Navy’s description of this photo from the Naval Air Gunners School in Hollywood, Florida:
‘Telephone girls’ at a deadly switchboard wear head-phones hooking them to their pupils as the tell the latter the ‘wrong numbers’ they get in firing at targets on the high-speed range. The turrets are identical to the ones the future gunners will occupy on warplanes.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Gunners on Duty
WAVES Florence Johnson and Rosamund Small walk out to the target range at the Naval Air Gunners School in Hollywood, Florida. They were among the first WAVES to qualify as instructors of electrically-operated 50 caliber machine gun turrets in April of 1944.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Flagging the Plane
It was a chilly day in March 1944 when WAVE Betty McIntire signals a plane to taxi out onto the runway at the Naval Air Station Anacostia. She’s an Aviation Machinist’s Mate.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
WAVES Inspection
Here, WAVES Lt. Commander Mildred McAfee inspects the WAVES on duty at the NAS Brooklyn with Captain Newton White.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Inspection of Personnel
WAVES Lt. Commander Mildred McAfee inspects personnel at NAS Brooklyn in July 1943. She’s joined by Captain Newton White.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Mail Specialists
Get your mail! WAVES pick up their mail at the naval post office at WAVES Quarters D in Washington, DC from (left to right) Ruth Carter, Patricia V. Campbell, and Marion Eastman.
The 1944 photograph comes from the National Archives.
The Navy, Part II
This is the second two page spread the Old Gold dedicated to the work of the Navy at Iowa State Teacher’s College. The yearbook focused in this section on the WAVES’ daily routine.
The yearbooks come from the archives and special collections at the University of Northern Iowa.
Hinges of History 