A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
Part of Naval duty is keeping things shipshape. here, WAVE Aspasia Phoutrides, Master at Arms, makes sure the cots are up to snuff in the WAVES barracks in NAS Seattle, Washington in September 1943. WAVES say the blanket at the foot of the bed was known as “the admiral.”
The photo comes from the National Archives.
WAVES in the dining hall during boot camp in Cedar Falls, Iowa, early 1943. They are (from left): Paula Weis, Ann Walus, Edna Brown and Esther Swenson.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
After training at specialty schools, WAVES traveled on trains to their station assignments. Here, WAVE Doris Green is shown the engine of the train she’ll be taking from the Cedar Falls, Iowa training facility by Engineer W.J. Cherney.
The 1943 photograph comes from the National Archives.
In our final photo in our series of WAVES in naval aviation, WAVE Mary Anne Gasser assembles a generator that has been cleaned and overhauled. The photograph was taken in September 1943 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida.
The image comes from the National Archives.
The magneto is a type of electric generator that uses magnets to generate an electric current. Magnetos have traditionally been used in aviation piston engines, keeping the ignition separate from the batter and charging system, keeping the engine running in case the battery fails.
Aviation machinist’s mate Dorothy Wuester is using a paint brush to work on the magneto in the engine machine shop. Today’s entry in our series of photographs of WAVES at work in the Naval aviation was taken at Los Alamitos Naval Air Station in September 1943.
The photograph comes from the national archives.
WAVES Bernice Sansbury and Violet Falkum work on the engine of an SNJ, in today’s entry in our series of photographs of WAVES at work in the Naval aviation. The photograph of the aviation machinist’s mates was taken in Jacksonville, Florida, in September 1943.
The photograph comes from the national archives.
In today’s entry in our series of photographs of WAVES at work in the Naval aviation, WAVE Evelyn Schultz works in the waist blister of a PBY patrol bomber. The photograph of the aviation machinist’s mate was taken in Jacksonville, Florida, in September 1943.
The photograph comes from the national archives.
Inside this Navy aviation hangar (the O&R Building), WAVE Ann Garman talked with a seaman guard. We had a chance to shoot inside some of these hangars for the film, and the light and architecture is amazing.
This September 1943 photograph was taken at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, and is today’s entry in our series of photographs of WAVES at work in the Naval aviation.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVES Parachute Rigger Mary Arnold puts a parachute in an SNJ at NAS Jacksonville, FL c. September 1943. The photo comes from the U.S. National Archives.
WAVE Aviation Machinist’s Mate Bernice Sansbury winds the inertia starter of an SNJ, in today’s entry in our series of photographs of WAVES at work in the Naval aviation. This September 1943 photograph was taken at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Hinges of History 