A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
Check out the left-hand side of this photograph. Those are animated figures, included in training films to, in the words of the Navy, “add interest.” Here, Jane Orbison inserts the figures into the films at the Photo Science Lab in Anacostia, Washington, DC.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
From the Navy-provided caption:
Sk3C Sharlene Osler models the new uniform, consisting of dungarees slacks and chambray shirt, which will replace the present aviation coverall worn by members of the Women’s Reserve engaged in work requiring protective covering. The slacks are Navy blue denim with pockets on each side. The cotton chambray shirt is a lighter blue, with short sleeves and one patch pocket. The wrap-around turban is of Navy blue material.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Here’s a sample of the type of barracks where WAVES lived. This facility is from Washington, DC.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Here’s an example of how the WAVES photographs were used in Navy publications, in this case the monthly WAVES Newsletter. Here, hospital corps workers (aka pharmacist’s mates) are at work at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
At the Naval hospital in Oakland, California, WAVES Eleanor Kerper and Dorothy Overstreet operate an x-ray machine checking for skull fracture on the patient.
The 1943 photo comes from the National Archives.
Hey, there, photographer Marjorie Sellers! Say, “cheese!” Sellers was one of two WAVES on photo duty at NAS Seattle. Here she’s working in the photo lab.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Every Saturday at the Treasure Island base, World War II-era WAVES were part of the “ship” inspection with the Captain (bases are known as ships in Navy parlance). Above is a description of a typical Saturday inspection, including a charming story at the end, as published in the WAVES Newsletter.
In this 1943 photograph, WAVES Jane Rosenbaum, June Davis and Thelma Stretch (left to right) do their laundry and write letters at night in the room at Yeoman School in Stillwater Oklahoma.
The photo by Wayne Miller comes from the National Archives.
From the Navy description of this photograph of WAVES in training at the Aviation Gunnery School in Pensacola, Florida:
This 3A-2 trainer shoots a beam of light at the moving picture of a pane projected on the screen. Movement of the place is controlled by the operator of the projector, a WAVE who completed the course 2 weeks earlier.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
Another in our summer travel series. Here, WAVES are at the Norman, Oklahoma train station buying tickets.
The 1943 photo comes from the National Archives.
Hinges of History 