WAVES (left to right) Jane Rosenbaum, June David and Thelma Stretch do their laundry and write letters in their quarters at Cedar Falls. The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Mess Hall
WAVES in the mess hall at boot camp in Cedar Falla, Iowa.
They are (left to right): Paul Weis, Ann Walus, Edna Brown and Esther Swenson.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Leave
No, this WAVE isn’t getting ready to go trick or treating (Happy Halloween). Juane Boegeman is happy because she’s getting to go on leave with Private Jerry Wampach from her boot camp in Cedar Falls.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Dance, Dance, Dance
All work and no play makes Jane a dull WAVE. At the Radio School on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, WAVES held a jitterbug content – and this couple took home the top award.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
A Heavenly Choir
WAVE Ann Atridge leads a group of WAVES at the radio training school in Madison, Wisconsin, in rehearsal for their weekly radio broadcasts on a local radio station.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
A Happy Song
It wasn’t all work and no play for the WAVES in the initial training camps, which opened in fall of 1942.
Here, WAVES at the Stillwater, Oklahoma, Yeoman training school raise their voices in song as they gather around a piano.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Code Class
Code class is in session at the radio school for WAVES, located on the University of Wisconsin, Madison, campus. The instructor (in the background) carefully times his messages for the WAVES, each in her own headsets and equipment.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Careful Timing
Radio coding class is in session, in this photograph from the National Archives. The University of Wisconsin Madison was one of the first training centers for WAVES to open, beginning in October of 1942.
In this photo, the instructor (in the foreground) carefully times his rate of sending coded messages with his timer, which is in his left hand.
Radio Coding
WAVES at the University of Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, learned how to code and decode radio messages – both friend and foe. Here, a WAVE is practicing with the equipment.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Classroom Coding
A sea of young women in headsets – that was typical of how WAVES learned the skill of radio coding at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, one of the first training schools that opened for WAVES in fall of 1942.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Hinges of History 