A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
What is a girl to do?
WAVE C. Reed arrives at the Acorn Training Detachment, Port Hueneme, California, with her wardrobe but no place to store it. And it looks like sh’es not alone – look at all those suitcases surrounding her!
The 1943 photograph comes from the National Archives.
Did you that WAVES had a horsey set? These women are members of the Acorn Training Detachment at Port Heuneme (Point Magu, California), taking advantage of a day off to go for a ride on a sunny fall day.
The 1943 photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVES at the Hunter College boot camp get a chance to try out the Link Instructor first hand, c. 1943. The machine was used to train pilots during World War II. In this photo, you see a WAVE in the cockpit holding a mic, and in the background a second WAVE giving her “instructions” from the controller desk.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
Classroom instruction at boot camp for WAVES uses innovative techniques, including showing the women the equipment they might be working with during their Navy career. Here, women at the USS Hunter see a Link Instructor, a flight simulation unit used to train pilots.
The c. 1943 photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
Another important thing for WAVES boots to know: where the Navy was fighting during World War II. The Hunter College boot camp instructed them in the various battle arenas, including how ships would travel across the seas.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
WAVES at the Hunter College boot camp learned every aspect of military life. Here, they’re leaning the various Naval protocol, including the process for a regimental review.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
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.
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.
Hinges of History 