World War II - Women in the Army

Entering the conflict in 1941, America joined the Allies and immediately faced a two front war against the military powers of Germany and Italy in Europe and Japan in the Pacific. Political and military leaders quickly understood that women could supply the additional military manpower America desperately needed. Public Law 554 established the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) “for the purpose of making available to the national defense the knowledge, skill and special training of the women of the nation.” Thousands of women were already serving as Army nurses and the first WAACs stepped into roles that increased efficiencies and freed men to fight. They quickly exceeded expectations and the corps grew exponentially in both strength and recognition. Ultimately, the auxiliary status would be removed and 210,000 women in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) served at home and abroad during World War II and their contributions forever changed the Army and the nation.

During World War I Edith Nourse Rogers was disturbed that American women overseas lacked suitable quarters, Army discipline, and received no veterans’ compensation. Elected a congresswoman for Massachusetts, her devotion to Army women was realized after 7 December 1941 when the reality of global war prompted the withdrawal of previous objections to her bill to establish a women’s corps. She stated that “I was resolved that our women would not again serve with the Army without the protection the men got.” Edith Nourse Rogers is pictured here with Rosemary Brennan in the 1943. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Gen. George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army, saw no logical reason to retrain men in professions which were dominated by women in the civilian world such as typists and telephone operators. This uneconomical and inefficient practice paired with a democratic ideal led him to support the establishment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. General Marshall is shown here with Capt. Florence Newsome in 1944. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt — The only African-American woman in the Roosevelt administration during World War II, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune played a critical role in bringing black women into the WAAC. She had established herself as an innovative educator, civil and human rights leader, and proponent of women’s rights. She founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935 and served as an advisor to five U. S. presidents. Working closely with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Bethune insisted that African-American women be admitted to the first class of WAAC officer candidates. Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune are pictured together here. -Photo Courtesy of Florida Memory State Library and Archives

Col. Oveta Hobby was selected as the first WAAC Director. She was highly qualified with years of experience as the editor of a Houston newspaper, chief of the Women’s Interest section in the War Department’s Public Relations Bureau, and the wife of a former Texas governor. In this photograph, Maj. Gen. Frederick Uhl, Col. Oveta Culp Hobby, and Col. Don Faith review WAACs during ceremonies for first graduating class of WAAC officers in 1942. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Army nurses landed with assault troops in North Africa in 1942 and six weeks later the first contingent of WACs arrived at Gen. Eisenhower’s headquarters in Algeria. Thousands more followed, eagerly seeking the adventures of faraway lands such as Egypt, England, Liberia, Italy, and France. Many served in forward units and moved swiftly from one location to the next as the front progressed. In this photo, WACs are leaving England for France in 1944. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in 1945 segregated Army — In February 1945, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion became the only African-American WAC unit to serve overseas. At their busiest, the approximately 800 WACs would process more than 80,000 letters, parcels, telegrams, and flat envelopes daily. In a segregated Army, the 6888th’s unofficial motto was “No mail, low morale.” Their tireless efforts to relieve the backlog of undelivered mail boosted morale to soldiers of all races serving in the U.S. Army. In this image, Maj. Charity Adams reviews her troops in Birmingham, England. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

>Cpl. Frances Burnette and Sgt. Lucy Bloom are delivering mail in Manila — The first Army women into the Pacific Theater landed in Australia. Nurses were sent on to New Zealand and Fiji and WACs were sent on to New Guinea, the Philippines, and China. The number of women serving was less than the European and American theaters because of Army commanders concern about the hazards they might face in island jungles. In this image, Cpl. Frances Burnette and Sgt. Lucy Bloom are delivering mail in Manila. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Army and Navy nurses were taken prisoner of war and sent to internment camp in Manila — When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1942, approximately one hundred Army and Navy nurses were taken prisoner of war and sent to the Santo Tomas internment camp in Manila. In their two and a half years of captivity, they fought off the diseases and cared for the other 4,000 prisoners. The liberated nurses are pictured here leaving Santo Tomas on 12 February 1945. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Japanese-American women linguists — Beginning in 1943, the War Department recruited Japanese-American women as linguists for work in cryptology and communications. Many came from Hawaii or directly from internment camps run by the War Relocation Authority. This photograph shows Nisei WACs beginning their journey to Tokyo in 1946. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

WACs stationed at Oak Ridge, Tennessee — More than 400 WACs worked in support roles for the research and creation of the atomic bomb, including at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Pasco, Washington. The first WACs reported for duty with the Manhattan District at Santa Fe, New Mexico, in April 1943. Women in the Manhattan District specialized in scientific and cryptographic techniques, metallurgy, and electronics. These women operated twenty-four hours daily on two shifts, seven days a week, under the utmost secrecy. The WACs pictured here were stationed at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

The Army’s severe shortage of pilots in 1942 prompted the organization of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). These women delivered new planes from factories to military bases, tested refurbished planes, towed targets for anti-aircraft gunnery practice, flew searchlight tracking missions, and instructed male pilot cadets. WASPs flew almost every aircraft in the Army’s fleet and this dangerous work resulted in the deaths of thirty-eight female pilots. In this photo, WASPs Catherine Houser, Violet Wierzbicki, and Virginia Disbrow, are at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas in 1943. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

While the original intent of opening the military to women was to support the war effort, the contributions and accomplishments of these trailblazers were recognized with the passage of several pieces of legislation that established a lasting presence of women in Armed Services. The Women’s Armed Services Integration Act firmly established the WAC as part of the regular peacetime Army.

Resources
World War II - U.S. Army Women's Museum Exhibit
The U.S. Army in World War II: The Women's Army Corps (PDF 25.3MB)
The Women's Army Corps: A Commemoration of World War II Service (PDF 680KB)
The Army Nurse Corps: A Commemoration of World War II Service (PDF 260KB)
Captured Army Nurses - Images from the Philippines, World War II
WAAC - WAC, 1942-1944, in the European Theater of Operations
Manhattan District WAC Detachment