A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.
Here, she talks about her experiences in boot camp at Hunter College in New York – specifically, mealtime.
Her story is part of the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.
Eileen had a moment of doubt when she was in boot camp. She remembers waking up at Hunter College in New York to a particularly rainy and overcast morning. The WAVES were marching to breakfast wearing “havelocks.” (A havelock is a covering, pictured below, that hangs down from a military hat for protection in rain or sun. Eileen calls it, “rain gear.”) She questioned her decision to enlist for a moment that morning.
“Clump clump clump. We probably looked like we were nuns from the nunnery or something. You know, dark clothes, marching along. And I looked over at the – there was the El train you know, high. You could see the lights of it. And I thought to myself, “What on earth did I sign up for? What did I think I was doing? Marching along at this ungodly hour to get breakfast? … And that was the one time when I wondered why I was where I was.”
Navy WAVES, pictured above, marching in Cambridge, Mass. (US Navy photograph)
First “chow” is served by the Red Cross at the Hunter College campus, as the facility is placed in service as the basic training center for Navy and Coast Guard women, 8 February 1943. (US Navy photograph)
We’ve talked about Eileen Horner Blakely on our blog in the past. She served as a yeoman, and her story is a big part of our film.
Here, she talks about her experiences in boot camp at Hunter College in New York – specifically, mealtime.
Her story is part of our month of video countdown to the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
What was it like to live in those apartment houses converted to Navy barracks during the war? Irene Bendekoff can tell you. She was housed in apartments near the Hunter College Navy boot camp.
Her story is part of our month of video countdown to the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
Yesterday, we shared the memories of Edna Jean Clark, talking about her experiences enlisting in the WAVES. Here, she talks about what it was like to be in the boot camp at Hunter College in New York.
Her story is part of our month of video countdown to the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
Watching football this weekend? Maybe this photo of some WAVES at the USS Hunter (aka Hunter College Boot Camp in New York) will help you get some team spirit. Give me an N! Give me an A! Give me a V! Give me a Y! What’s that spell? NAVY!!!
The photo comes from the New York Historical Society.
This is pretty serious stuff. Published 71 years ago today, these are the punishments WAVES could receive for various offenses during boot camp at the Naval Training Center in the Bronx. Disobedience of Shore Patrol? That S.C.M stands for “special court martial.” D.C? Detention Center.
Shape up, ladies!
The schedule comes from the special collections in the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
WAVES get a taste of summer! Swimming was part of the recreational activities for WAVES at their training school in the Bronx. Here, the women learn the basics.
The 1943 photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVES at Hunter College Training School in the Bronx, New York, stand at attention for their graduation review, November 1943. New groups of WAVES would start classes every two weeks for their boot camp training.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Part of the Hunter College boot camp experience for the young WAVES was learning what it mean to be in the Navy. And that meant restrictions, as WAVE Virginia Gillmore remembered:
The hard adjustment was the way they treated a few people. One of the really hard things was the fact that if we kept our hair off our collar that was the requirement. And that if you did your hair up, your long hair up and kept it off your collar you’d be ok. But one cold morning they mustered us outside our apartment house outside in the street — that means they lined us all up — or we lined up. And they went behind all the girls with long hair and they pulled their bobbie pins or whatever was holding their hair up out and let their hair fall down, and then took scissors and clipped their hair off. And these girls had been told they wouldn’t have to have their hair cut. There was almost mutiny that morning. None of us thought it was fair. Because the regulation was just keep your hair up off your collar. But we all kept quiet. So it was a little fear that I didn’t think was entire necessary in our training. But I suppose we all have to go through something.
All in all, boot camp was a good, positive experience. We felt lots of support from the instructors, as a whole group. But we did have to toe the line.
This photograph comes from the National Archives.
Hinges of History 