Nancy Harkness Love was one of a little more than a thousand women, all civilian volunteers, who flew for the United States in World War II. Although in 1940 Love had proposed a group of women pilots could contribute to the war effort by ferrying planes from factories to bases, her proposal was not accepted until 1942, when 29 experienced female pilots were formed into the WAFS, the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Squadron. In 1943 this group merged with the Womens Flying Training Detachment under Jaqueline Cochrane, and became the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots. “Over fifty percent of the aircraft that had to be moved were ferried by women,” said Robinson. They flew planes from the factories to the bases, but also brought the damaged planes back from the bases to be decommissioned or repaired. Between September 1942 and Dec. 1944, when the WASP was decommissioned, the women flew over 60 million miles. Their duties included towing the targets for military ground gunner practice, which, said Robinson, led to a few close calls. They received no benefits. “They were instantly forgotten, as soon as the war was over,” said Robinson. They even had to pay their own funeral expenses; 38 of the women died, either in training or in service, and for some of them this meant their friends passed the hat to pay for burial. Nor did the Army allow for military honors, or the placement of a flag over their coffin.
Posted on: Sun, 11 May 2014 01:39:18 +0000
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