World War II Woman

Charlotte at Army Ordnance

After graduation from high school, Charlotte moved to Yeadon to her grandmother’s home (see previous entry), and went to work at Army Ordnance in Philadelphia at Oregon Avenue and the riverfront, the Delaware River. Next door was the Publickers Distillery. Because of the odors from the distillery and from the river, the women closed all the windows and ran fans. It was very hot in the middle of the summer, but the heat was better than the smell.

Charlotte’s typewriter was very wide, about two feet, and she typed on thin blue paper, which printed through to the three or four copies of a manifest, which was placed on the ship when it departed. It was not easy on the eyes, typing on blue paper all day long, seven days a week, so she and the other typists wore special glasses with pink lens. Every day, a van would pick up 15 workers at the train stop at Suburban Station at 16^th Street and drive them to work, reversing the procedure in the evening.

From the Army Ordnance, stevedores loaded food, ammunition, equipment, and other supplies onto three or four Liberty Ships at one time. MP’s, who were wounded military men, guarded the whole facility. One of the men Charlotte recalls was Mike, the only survivor from his battalion on D-Day. The MPs were housed on Hog Island, where occasionally Charlotte and her friends would visit by bus. They would also visit men in the nearby veterans’ hospital.

Charlotte’s friend’s mother belonged to the Navy Mothers. They met in a large, old home on Spruce Street, where they entertained sailors on leave in Philadelphia. Charlotte and her friends helped. Charlotte also went to a huge canteen in the basement of City Hall, which was usually filled with soldiers, sailors and marines. Here the volunteers served food, talked and entertained the military.

It was a busy, full life for Charlotte. It could have ended with V-J Day, but it didn’t. Even though her job at Army Ordnance ceased, she took another government exam and was hired at Immigration and Naturalization. More in the next entry.

For more about World War II, go to www.peggeorge.com.

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