World War II Woman

Censoring Mail in the WAVES

A friend living in Fairfield, Iowa sent me the material for this entry. It is from the Fairfield Ledger.

“The Navy was a wonderful adventure,” said Mary Backstrom, a Navy WAVE (Women Accepted for Voluntary Service) yeoman during World War II “That war was different. We were attacked. There was so much patriotism then and I HAD to do something.”

Mary went to Hunter College in New York state for boot training, and then on to what is now University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls for yeoman’s training. Since she had had previous secretarial experience, she was there only two months. Mary reports that her first night in Cedar Falls, she had a top bunk right near a big bell. It rang right next to her at 5:45 a.m. and she fell right out of bed onto the floor.

Following her training, she was given the choice of assignments. Having come originally from Seattle and having a boyfriend there, she chose to return to Seattle. She married the boyfriend while stationed there.

She worked in censorship, reading both incoming and outgoing telegrams, and also listening to telephone calls. If she heard anything suspicious, she had to report it to her officer. She never knew what happened to the offender after that.

“One fellow used a code word to try to tell his wife where he would be stationed next. Well, his wife never got that telegram and I bet he got into trouble,” Mary commented. Eventually, the censorship station was closed down and Mary was sent to Oakland, California to serve as a secretary.

Mary became pregnant and was discharged after about two years of service.

“Being in the Navy was one of the best experiences of my life. Everyone was so nice. No one ever wanted to disgrace the uniform,” commented Mary.

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

.

Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Two Nurses - One Army, One Navy

From Ordinary Heroes by Steve Wagner and Sharon Wells Wagner (previous entry), I am including the stories of two women who served.

Margaret Schatz Wolf was born in Mohnton, Berks County, Pennsylvania, where the only industry was a stocking factory. She didn’t want to end up there. Her dream was to become an airline stewardess, which in 1939 required a nursing degree. Off to Reading Hospital School of Nursing she went, graduating in September of 1942.

Wanting a change of scenery, Margaret and her friend Helen went to work at Allentown Hospital, but soon decided to enlist as Navy nurses. Helen was accepted but Margaret failed the test because of her poor vision. She went down the street and was accepted at the Army recruiting office. A year after Margaret enlisted, her sister Anna May enlisted in the Marines. Her brother John had enlisted prior to the war and was stationed near Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack. Fortunately, he was safe.

Margaret served both in the United States and England.

Geraldine A. Houp was born in Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania. She was a nurse at George Washington University Hospital when she heard the news on the radio from President Roosevelt that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. While in nursing school she had signed up for the Army Reserves, and after learning that psychiatric nursing was not for her, she went to work at George Washington University Hospital.

Life had been tough for Geraldine and her family, where she one of seven children. Everyone was expected to perform tasks around the house and on the farm. Life became particularly difficult after the death of her father when she was fifteen. She accepted the responsibilities that were laid upon her then, and later as she cared for patients at George Washington University Hospital. Still, she felt that she wanted to serve the country in time of war and she decided to join the Navy.

Geraldine served both in the United States and Panama.

For more stories of World War II, go towww.peggeorge.com

.

Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Ordinary Heroes

Last month, I was pleased to have a book signing at the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at the annual World War II weekend. Featured was an authentic recreation of both Allied and German army camps, complete with original World War II vehicles. Over 100 living history enthusiasts portrayed military personnel from the European Theater in 1944. Volunteers presented programs on World War II medical services, weapons and equipment, communications, military vehicles, and the life of the common G.I. This event is held every September.

Sitting across from me in the bookstore was Sharon Wells Wagner and her son Steve Wagner, who had just recently released their book Ordinary Heroes. Sharon had earlier published a book about her father, Red Wells.

Told through the eyes of its participants, Ordinary Heroes, is the result of more than sixty interviews. It is a collection of true stories woven into one single narrative spanning the entire years of World War II. The book begins with the attack on Pearl Harbor, takes us through the many battles in the Pacific Theater and on to the final days in Europe.

These men survived many hardships and, at times, almost certain death. Two of the men were killed in action – one when his B-29 crashed off Saipan; the other on D-Day on Omaha Beach. A number of the men were wounded and others were taken as prisoners of war.

With Sharon and Steve, and participating in the book signing, were many of these “ordinary heroes.” Among them was Frank Lashinsky with his wife Dorothy who had been at the table next to mine for the three days of the World War II weekend in Reading, Pennsylvania earlier this year. It was good to see them again.

Also in the book are two women about whom I will write shortly. One was an Army nurse; the other a Navy nurse.

Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Establishing a Recovery Camp in China (coninued)

Although Alice was in charge of the base kitchen, she had a committee of capable people to assist. The neighboring base at Kunming was closed because it was too open, and it was too difficult to protect it with its power plant, roads and rail access. The occupants were moved to Camp K25, where Alice was located.

Supplies were shipped to another base in China, which was an air flight away. This was part of a combined British and American supply line coming over the “hump” through India. Alice and some companions flew to check out the supplies, which were packed in long narrow boxes. They tried to figure out what was in them by lifting them at the corner. If they were heavy, it was likely canned goods were in the box and they knew they would have food for awhile.

One container was particularly heavy. The pilot loaded it into the plane and flew a weight test run and decided it was safe to take it back to the base. When opened, they discovered an unassembled generator, complete with instructions written in English. What a wonderful find! They were then able to perform surgical operations at night when necessary.

Some of the Chinese evacuees brought their children with them. These children were very useful as they went into the jungle gathering fruit. Also, the base had a very strange-looking guest arrive one day. He was a bit shabby in his appearance, but he turned out to be a very well educated German botanist. He recognized which of the leaves were edible and because of this knowledge, they were able to have lots of greens, a big improvement to their diet.

Alice’s dad was in the United States at the beginning of the war, training people who were to go to China. He was unable to leave the country and was assigned to Pittsburgh where he continued his work on lubes. He invented a thin oil to replace the usual white oil used for coating baker’s cooking sheets, when the white oil was no longer available. Her mother was attending a reunion of college friends in Java, now Indonesia and was in a prison camp for awhile.

As the close of the war approached, Alice decided to continue her education in New Delhi, where she pursued math and physics for a period of time. Then she headed to the United States and Ellis Island, where she ran into difficulty because she had no birth certificate. Finally, with the help of a Polish lawyer, she was free to join her family.

After completing the necessary credits for teaching, Alice settled into a career as a math teacher.

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

Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Establishing a Recovery Camp in China

In 1939, Alice was attending a university in the city of Foochow, a large port of entry across from Taiwan. She had lived in China many years where her father was a technical lubrication engineer. Everything changed in 1939 when the Japanese set up a blockade along the coast of China. It was necessary to evacuate to safer territory.

Alice and almost 400 other people from the coast, along with 127 students and 11 staff members from the college, began a long trek on foot with mules and carts carrying their equipment and other belongings. They traveled twenty to twenty-six miles a day until they reached a site they felt safe, about 1700 miles inland. Occasional Japanese planes flew overhead and communications were nil.

Plans were underway to set up a recovery area for men returning from battle. Alice wanted to head up that job, but she knew the commander wouldn’t want a woman. Her name was sent to the commander with just her first initial. When she got off the plane, the commander thought she was a stowaway, but since she had a thorough knowledge of the Chinese language, he ended up welcoming her.

With the help of the villagers in the area, they cleared out an area of the jungle. Villagers continued their normal activities so that planes overhead would not suspect a camp was being set up. The workers cleared sections of the jungle a mile or more apart, again so that the Japanese flying overhead would not be suspicious.

At one point, Alice faced a mutiny. The workers knew the Japanese crept through the jungle one inch an hour, so that they could not be detected. The workers were frightened and wanted the tables in the dining room to be arranged so that someone always could be aware of any unwelcome Japanese. This meant enlarging the dining area, which Alice agreed to. Seating was staggered in sets of 4 people, with no one sitting opposite anyone else.

When some British evacuees arrived, a new problem occurred. They didn’t want tea; they wanted coffee, but didn’t like the way it was made at the base. They wanted percolated coffee, so Alice sent scouts out to retrieve parts from downed planes. They were able to assemble a percolator, however no one thought it made sense to put the holes in the sieve part, so Alice did it herself. The next problem was that they were unable to pour the coffee out of this large percolator and needed to siphon it, but couldn’t figure out how. Finally, after a five-day delay, a hollow bamboo stalk did the trick.

More of Alice’s story tomorrow.

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

Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Honor Guard to President Roosevelt

In 1939 May had been visiting in England for six months when war broke out, making it impossible for her to return to the States. So she settled into life in England, doing home nursing and assisting in First Aid courses. She found the spirit of the English people wonderful and positive, so sure they would come out on top.

May was so caught up in life in England, she wanted to join the Royal Naval Service. However the U.S. consul told her she would lose her American citizenship if she did. Instead, she returned home with the consul’s family, and many other consuls’ families on the ship Washington.

May lived in Hampton Bay with her parents for one year, as she continued her interest in England’s war effort. She sold clam chowder for British War Relief and worked on Bundles for Britain. She also recalls going to dances at Fort Dix, New Jersey to help entertain our troops.

Six months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorized the WAVES. May joined and received her boot training at a college in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She recalls receiving $120 from the pay officer, only to be relieved of $100 in the next room. That money was used to pay for her uniform. As with Navy uniforms, the three stripes represent three victories of Lord Nelson at the Nile, at Copenhagen, and at Trafalgar.

May was chosen to go to school at Atlanta, Georgia, to become a Link Trainer instructor. Following that, she went to Corpus Christi, Texas as a Specialist T 3^rd class. When President Roosevelt and the President of Mexico met in Corpus Christi, May was in the honor guard, wearing her dress blues and white shirts, black tie, and a little cotton hat with a white top.

May’s career in the WAVES continued at Beeville, Texas where she taught instrument flying. Then to O.C.S. at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she received her commission as an Ensign. She was assigned to an instrument squadron at Whiting Field at Pensacola, Florida, where she remained until her discharge in November of 1945.

Posted in Blog | No Comments »

The Red Phone Between Churchill and Eisenhower

Jean grew up in West Kirby, west of Liverpool in England. In 1939, she joined the auxiliary of the RAF (Royal Air Force). Her first assignment was to the 8^th Air Force base at Sealand, near Chester, England. She was in radar and telephone operations there for about a year before being sent to RAF headquarters in London.

There her group was stationed at Albert Square, across from the Royal Albert Hall, where several apartment buildings had been taken over by the RAF for offices and housing. Bombing occurred regularly night and day. One night a direct hit demolished her quarters killing 33 of her co-workers and friends. She was on duty and missed the direct hit but was hit by falling bricks. The sirens sounded for three and a half hours.

Her assignment while in London was in charge of the Red phone between Prime Minister Churchill and General Eisenhower. Churchill was in a bunker below Piccadilly Circus; Eisenhower at his headquarters somewhere in London. Jean recalls Mr. Churchill coming on the phone with nothing more than the word, “Eisenhower.” On the other hand, Gen. Eisenhower would say, “Good morning, may I have the Prime Minister?” Also, she and Gen. Eisenhower shared a common birthday. On that day he would come on the phone saying, “Good morning, many happy returns. What are we going to do to celebrate today?” Because of her excellent service, Jean was awarded the Air Force Medal by the Prime Minister on the steps of the Guild Hall.

Jean served in headquarters until November of 1943 when she received a much deserved R&R at Hereford in the Midlands at Credenhill Air Force base. She remained there until the end of the war, and where she met and married her GI husband. They have been married 63 years. Jean came to the United States in 1945 as a GI bride.

Posted in Blog | No Comments »