The Women Airforce Service Pilots: WASP
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- At the outset of World War II, the U.S. military did not accept female pilots. But women were allowed to serve as civilian contractors flying military planes in non-combat roles. The Women Airforce Service Pilots of the "WASP" flew every type of plane the United States used during the war in every role flown by male pilots except combat. The History Guy recalls the service and sacrifices of the WASP.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
The mission of CAF RISE ABOVE: WASP is to share the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots in order to inspire others, especially girls and young women, to RISE ABOVE expectations and find a greater appreciation of their potential.
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Script by THG
#ushistory #thehistoryguy #wwii
At the start I say that Jackie Cochran was born in 1936. That is a misspeak- she was born in 1906. I apologize for the error.
While it seems trivial, it is important to the WASP- the name Women Airforce Service Pilots is already plural. They referred to themselves as WASP, not WASPs.
I rather like to imagine she was a flight instructor at six years old.
@@DerpsWithWolves Some of the WASP were hardly teenagers when they started flying, but not quite that young. One initial issue with making them part of WAC was that WAC required enlistees to be twenty-one, while many of the qualified pilots that Nancy Love recruited were younger.
Don't forget about the WASP museum, in Sweetwater TX
waspmuseum.org/
Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran (May 11, 1906 - August 9, 1980). So much great info, sometimes a minor error happens, but leave it to The History Guy to find his minor error, acknowledge it and then fix it for us! Hats off to you!!
Karla Kirkpatrick I don’t know that “betrayed” is a fair description, but it certainly was controversial. The core argument was that including women in Mercury would slow the process, and there was a political imperative to win the space race.
My Grandma was a WASP! She had well over 2000 hours by the end of the war!!🤘🏻🤘🏻👌🏻
Liar.
Wow!!! What a legacy!
I have the honor of having a daughter who is a pilot for a major US airline . Thank you for your work kind sir .
You should be very proud
@@nighthawk5295 you definitely did want to start trouble, don't pretend, we all see you, and are unmoved.
Pilots tend to be caretakers of each other. I watch the Blancolirio Report. I hope they offer him an instructor position now.
@@KristopherBel Good for you.for calling that person out. It appears that comment was deleted. Hopefully by that person, correcting himself.
As a nurse, I took care of a lady who was one of the first members of the W.A.A.C. Of course I can't reveal her name but listening to her stories greatly humbled me in regards to my own military career. She passed away in a veterans nursing home in Missouri and I was proud to have known her. She was buried with full military honors as one of the first WASPs to fly in service for our country.
A couple of years ago, I met a woman who was an officer in the Army in NYC in WW2. She supervised the sending of uniforms, blankets, etc to Europe
How neat !
You're allowed to name names, if you wish to do so. My Dad's war service record was finally unsealed about 15-20 years ago, while my brother's Viet Nam service record is still sealed, as he was in Navy Intelligence.
@@Vampirebear13 in this case it falls under HIPPA laws.
If your brother’s Navy intelligence was anything like my Army intelligence... One of my tasks was drafting the citations for medals given to people leaving our unit. I couldn’t say what the person had really done, because it was classified, and more to the point, it was typically a waste of time. I learned creative writing.
My high school English teacher, Ms Lippincott, was one of those ferry pilots during WWII. Her husband, a fighter pilot, had been shot down while battling in the skies over Europe. His body is in Arlington National Cemetery. She convinced me to remain in school, when I had decided to quit education and work construction. Thank You for your service Ms Lippincott.
What a blessing
"Behind every strong man, stands a stronger woman." Not sure who the quote is from, but it was my mother's favorite saying. lol
Liar.
My mother was one of those female pilot trainees, but never got to see much more than ferry duty. She was never happy/content w/ the menial task and knew she could out-fly most men. She gave me my initial ground school and flight training and I got my private pilot's license at age 17. My mother had over 40K hours of logged flight time when she passed at age 70 due to cancer. Sure hope she gets to fly wherever she's at now, w/ no man to hold her down. Miss our flights together.
Your Mother was just as much a super hero as the men fighting anywhere. They were and always will be the greatest generation. Two of my uncles spent the war building roads and bridges, they were both trained engineers. They all did what they could to win that war, not seek glory. Much respect to your late Mother.
@@nighthawk5295 What?
@@nighthawk5295 Another example of male anger and misogyny that holds us down to this day. Forty years ago when I learned to fly, women were still not really welcome anywhere. There are still issues, as you amply demonstrate.
@@nighthawk5295 Trust you to be what? I wouldn't trust you to take out the trash, much less explain such an issue adequately. You have however, explained your own meat-headed misogyny and total lack of native intelligence quite adequately. You would never understand this of course, but others will - if women were in charge to the level that so many war mongering men have been, there would BE NO WAR.
Maybe that's true, but if she were as good as she claimed she would have probably been put in the air. She sounds more like an early version of today's lazy female that lives pissed at the world for not handing her everything. I bet if she could have sold her panties and bathwater in her day to avoid going to college, she would have.
I heard a story about Paul Tibbets bringing a WASP team to his base to fly the B29 and shame his crews, because they were afraid of flying the tricky Superfortress... Says a lot about the value of these women.
Yea, sometimes people willing to give their lives to prove a point can be extremely useful. Look at how Japan used kamikazes, or how Islam uses suicide bombers. Those with something to prove are great assets for those with something to achieve.
Alain, you are correct sir. Not only the B-29 but also the B-26. Something else that is not mentioned in this History video is that Ms Jackie Cochran also went to work for NASA and tried her best to get women into the astronaut program. What a shame, sometimes the best man for the job is a woman.
Many male pilots of the day were only certified on three or four types. Most of these women were certified on dozens. Their training often consisted of nothing more than reading the spec sheet ten minutes or less before takeoff.
@@sambrandt3688 In the book A Higher Call, B-17 pilot Charlie Brown recalled when he met and befriended a WASP working at his airfield. He said she quickly ended his longing to fly the B-26 when she shared how dangerous it was. She said something like "She (the B-26) may look pretty, but if you don't give her enough air speed during takeoff or landing, she'll drop like a rock". Needless to say, he and his buddies were horrified. Hats off to these ladies for their commitment and courage.
"And their service deserves to be remembered."
You're damn well right THG!
It's frustrating to think of how often prejudice stopped advancement. Ability should determine success.
The 1940s was an age before the birth control pill. So there are other things going on here that enabled these women to stay in the cockpit. You lump it all into 'prejudice'. THG just avoids these aspects altogether. But do the math.
And even if the only thing you want to look at is ability, this was also an age before hydraulically boosted flight controls. One critical part of ability is basic physical strength. This is an even more obvious aspect which THG avoided. Cross-controlling a P-38 with its engine out is one thing. Now try handling asymmetric thrust on something like a B-17. Or a B-29.
@@dahawk8574 I'm not denying some prejudices at certain times weren't considered a cultural negative, but indeed it has to agreed that in all fields, in the past, advancements were slowed by prejudice. I wasn't making a political comment but one of missed opportunists to advance. All the best.
it's only because some idiotic psychopats are in power, not normal, sensitive and clever people... ENOUGH!
@@fidziek I would take your argument more seriously if you knew how to spell. And some of the idiotic psychopaths that are in power are women...…..
Still, the WASPs helped the U.S. war effort significantly. Germany, Italy and Japan didn't have any counterparts to the WASPs. It was a highly progressive concept at the time.
Back in the 90's, I helped out a couple with their condo. I noticed a portrait of the woman on the wall, dressed in pilot gear... Being an amateur historian, I had to ask... Yes, she was a WASP!
They invited me over later for dinner and drinks, and the opportunity to hear of her exploits (and bonus points - her husband served as a destroyer captain at Okinawa).
Great Americans.
We sorely lack their leadership now.
Wow, how cool was that!
Not going to lie, I'm so jealous lol.
Lovely story
Wow! Wow! Wow!
These women all had amazing stories. I’m especially proud of two WASP from my home state, Minnesota. Elizabeth Wall Strohfus served as an instrument flight instructor, towed targets for combat practice with male pilots and flew dive bombers for mock battles with B-17s. In the 1970s she successfully lobbied Congress to give the WASP veteran status. Virginia Mae Hope flew weather personnel and equipment in the AAF Weather Wing. At age 23 she tragically died with 15 other pilots as a passenger in a transport plane in Omaha in Dec 1944. Thank you so much for your accurate and very informative presentation. Well done!
I knew Liz and miss her. She was so much fun at WASP reunions over the years.
My aunt Leslie was a WASP ... So proud of her 🇺🇸
Liar.
My grandmother was a WASP, Virginia Wilson-Hammond. I never got to meet her, but my dad said she was an amazing woman who loved flying more than anything and was fiercely proud of her service.
That is so awesome. I just looked her up on the WASP roster available on their website.
On 43-W-5 they list her name as Wilson, Virginia (Hammond)
Lol you ppl sure love to lie.
A few months ago I visited Avenger Field in Sweetwater Tx. home of the WASP. Not only did I visit the museum but there was a live event going on that included the attendance of 3 or 4 WASP veterans. All in all, a moving afternoon.
I got back home the day before yesterday from Homecoming weekend at Avenger. It was the first with no WASP in attendance. There were, however, the spreading of Susie Bain's ashes on the old runway, and Jean Harmon's were chucked out of a T6 by the woman she mentored. According to Jean's daughter, her mom wanted to be tossed out of a plane, and her dad wanted to be booted off the back of a Navy boat. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it right now.
I had the honor of working with one in the Civil Air Patrol in the 70s, her zest for life and love of aviation were inspirational.
Must have been an honor
Wow!! What an experience!!
Thanks for the post!!
It is imperative that the contribution these ground breaking women made for their country be recognized .
As many of you may know, there is a national WASP museum. It is located near me here in Sweetwater, Texas. It is amazing.
Thank you HG!
I attended one of the reunions at Avenger field with my daughter (in her 20s at the time) and she had the opportunity to meet a few of those ladies and see some of the aircraft they flew. My daughter has mention several times about that trip and the ladies she met while there. We each got a reproduction set of wings, she wears hers on various occasions, and relishes every opportunity to answer the question "What type of wings are those?". Her face brightens up, she stands straight, and tells them about the WASP.
Jaqueline Cochrane one of the aviatrix that flew in the British ATA in WW2 , before returning to the U.S. she was one of the 166 women ferrying aircraft, mostly unarmed until later in the war, other notables were Amy Johnson, and Dianne Barnato Walker , daughter of Woolf , one of the Bentley boys. In 1943 the British government (rightly so) put the ladies on equal pay to men, a first in Great Britain . We owe them a lot.
Johnson was killed delivering an Airspeed Oxford. She bailed our over the Thames estuary. Her parachute was seen, but she couldn't be found in the rough seas.
Spot on comment. Thank you.
Apparently the house opposite my home was used by the ATA to house its staff and used bicycles to get to White Waltham airfield. I wonder if Jacqueline Cochrane stayed there.
@@BrightonandHoveActually Jackie Cochran was the director of the 24 women pilots she brought from the U.S. to help out the ATA. Unfortunately, she directed her program from the Savoy in London while her girls did the dangerous ATA flying. I think it is a bit rough on her - but there is a book "Sisters in Arms: British and American Women Pilots During WWII" that compares the ATA to the WASP. Jackie was quite a character for sure. People loved her or hated her. Still a great story to tell.
@@designerduds1 Interesting. The house know is nice. Not up to the standards of the Savoy perhaps - but the Luftwaffe also dropped rather fewer bombs in the vicinity. (A total of three in the entire war, I believe). If you are ever in the area, the local museum has a Spitfire simulator, which is rather fun.
Inspirational. My tiny high school had an aviation class. We were two girls amongst about 5 boys. We held our own.
My cousin Christine Schott was in the first USAF female pilot training program, and became the first woman to solo a T-38. She also coined the term "Box Office" referring to the cockpit.
My first instructor was a WASP. It was her discharge paperwork that Sen Goldwater used to force the Air Force and Carter administration to recognize WASPs as having served in the military.
SO glad you did this, my Dad was a B-17 guy, and knew a number of these ladies. He and his fellow crewmen could never understand why their service was so limited when it came to combat roles...bothered him all his life about the way they were treated. BRAVO for doing this!
So many people have never gotten the recognition they deserve throughout history. The WASPS are among them. Thank you ladies.
Thank you for recognizing this branch of service. During WW2 I had 2 Great Aunts that worked the Chicago docks, working very long hours loading jeeps and trucks aboard ships. I also had a Great Aunt that did the aircraft ferry service, my Dad said that she sometimes flew to Greenland in order to get the craft to Europe. Once again, I thank you for this episode in honor of a forgotten service.
My maternal grandmother went through training to be a wasp when her mother found out she pulled her out. I was a kid and never asked for proof but that woman never lied to me, and so I have no reason to suspect that she had.
Glad you recognized their service. They have given us our current women flying combat missions. Proud of them.
Thank you History Guy for this story of the W.A.S.P. Pauline Anna Zeurcher, just age 22 in 1942 joined the WASP and served until disbandment. This hardy woman was my mother. Mom fly high.
Thank you for another excellent presentation. May you, your wife, your HG team and all your loved ones be safe and healthy in the coming weeks. Your videos are a much welcome distraction!
Few things can be as daunting as flying a Mitchell bomber, alone, in the dark, without maps or beacons.
Thanks. Mrs. Beyer, one of my college teachers while I was stationed in Germany, ferried B-17s during WWII. I appreciate this as, yes, they deserve to be remembered.
As a pilot, about three years ago, after watching another video on the WASPS, I wrote a
comment stating that I wished there were a lot more female private pilots. I received so
much hate mail in return, that I was totally surprised. I still stand by what I said.
What kind of reasons do they give? Why would such a comment even be controversial?
@@V.Hansen. youtube comments tend to attract the worst kind of people. including raging sexists
Some people post negative, juvenile comments just for the sake of disrupting the dialogue. Don't let it bother you....they usually don't know what they're talking about.
So Proud knowing about all these amazing Heroines. THG flies hugh bringing us another episode from History That Definently Deserves To Be Remembered.
My mom was a teenager growing up in Wisconsin during the war. She told stories of huge flights of planes flying past, no doubt being transported off to war. Now I wonder how many of these were piloted by women.
FYI - In 1945, a private airport was built in Nashville on 145 acres of land near Cornelia Fort's family home. The airport was named in her honor and served the general aviation community in Nashville until its closure in 2011. I attended college in Nashville beginning in 1967 and would often visit Cornelia Fort Airport to watch the planes take off and land and to indulge my own dream of becoming a pilot. Never realized until watching this video who the airport was named after, but recognized the name the instant you said it. Amazing.
This was incredible! Thank you for this amazing story! So interesting to hear true stories of women during the wars doing incredible things! Thank you so much for this video! So inspiring!
My aunt used to fly with the WAFS while her husband was paratrooping into france before d-day. both survived
My private certificate Flight instructor was a WASP. Ethel Jones Sheffler.. She was also First Lady to get her Rating in the Hiller 360. And she was one of the founders of the whirly girls now the women’s helicopter pilots association. Best flight instructor ever!!! Thank you THG ....This is close to my heart.
Go, get em Girls! We can do anything, and always do! Thanks for the inspiration today!
A friend of mines Father worked at Hoover Dam and his mother flew during the war. She died just before recieving her invitation to the White House. One thing she was most proud of was that she flew her grandchildren and great grandchildren just months before she died and her husband died 2 years later. They were an example of the Greatest Generation they lived in the same house since the 40's near Nellis AFB. They lived 3 doors down the street from a church and 3 doors past the church is Buddhist temple. They're America loving GOD fearing respectful to all colors of people. And a couple that never said GOD'S NAME IN VAIN. 72 years of marriage. I've been truly blessed to have met so many great and impressive people in my life. History Guy you hit that spot all the time. 🎯 Thank you Playboy!
@randall2020 Maybe we're the under achievers falling short in attaining our true greatness!
@randall2020 Is this your great achievement in life, ruining a good story because you are triggered? Those people of the greatest generation all ran circles around whatever you will accomplish in life. You know why? It wasn't all about themselves. What they lived through in both the depression and the war would have you on your knees. And that story was a good example of the greatness of those people. After the war was over, their lives started getting better and better. And they not only enjoyed it for themselves, but tried to build on it to pass it on to their children and grandchildren. They were all about family, friends, and country. Now half our people cannot even see past the end of their nose. And I will not even get into the church thing. I already know that is beyond your comprehension.
Love your story. My folks and uncles and aunts were of that generation. Plus all the wonderful people I worked and learned under in my younger days. What great people. What a love for their family, friends, and country. What a great outlook on life. We have lost so much by losing these great people. Thank you for sharing!
@randall2020 That story was one of memories about good people, and the love shared in that family. You ripped it once, then when I called you down for it, you ripped it again. Since you are so triggered, I will bid you good day with hopes that you get over whatever has turned your crank.
@randall2020 I will let those who read the comments decide who the crank is. I will just say that I hope you can read someone's story without the need for attacking their beliefs in the future.
General Chuck Yeager thought Jackie Cochran was one of the best pilots he ever knew. Giving her the status of having "The Right Stuff".
I met a WASP in high school. She was awesome. Ran into her again at an airshow. RIP Floribelle Reese
This is a great story an you tell it with such honor for these fine ladys. Thank you for bringing there story to the light..
I took my Private Pilot checkride in 1976. My instructor told me I'd have a female examiner. I didn't think much about that, I was just concerned with passing the checkride. So I was shocked when a little old lady came walking out of the office and introduced herself as Patricia Grant. After the ride I found out she had been a WASP and had flown almost everything from fighters to bombers to transports. In 1976 she had 50,000 hours of flying time which is astounding when you realize the typical airline pilot retires with around 20,000 hours. Wish I'd had more time to talk to her, I'm certain she had some very good stories.
Why didn’t you mention the WASP Museum located at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas.... this is where the WASPs were trained....
Ben Jones , Visit the website.... WaspMuseum.org.... thanks for the tribute...
LW Bryant - just informed WASP museum of this video. They are excited! Thank you!
@@psychoticbob since a lot of folks are stuck at home now would be a good time to buy books on line and read. This may actually be a good think when we get on the other side and this becomes history
A good friend of mine and I are from Nebraska and became private pilots around 2003. He loaned me a book about “Sharpie”. Thank you so much for including her.
Great Vidio! My Father trained for his pilot wings beside these brave trailblazers. He laughed and joked about Waspsssss and Waaaccs but with an underlying admiration of them. They helped to train him and already wore the silver wings he had coveted.
"Public opinion wouldn't allow it". How did they know- *they hadn't tried it.* Chapeau to all these pioneers who did such a valuable (and sometimes undervalued) job when it was most needed.
You touched on the British equivalent- the Air Transport Auxiliary aka "The Spitfire Girls" who similarly delivered fighters and bombers to front-line airfields and also collected damaged but flyable planes to return them to more specialist repair facilities.
Another facinating episode of History which deserves to be remembered. Thank you THG!
Elizabeth Wein has written two young adult books about women in the ATA: _Code Name Verity_ and _Rose Under Fire_.
Thank you for this wonderful tribute to these sometimes-forgotten brave ladies who made such contribution to the war effort. I am a volunteer at the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa ID, and am proud to say that we have an entire wall of the museum dedicated to the WASPs! Amazing women!
That's a great museum - was there in Sept of last year. And I found my WASP instructors and my father-in-laws (Submariner) name in your wonderful archives. Will be back again when out west.
@@ajg617 Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed your visit to the Warhawk!
My grandmother had a good GF who was a WASP. I knew from a young age who they were. She moved B17s among other planes. She was very proud of her WWII duty. She told me lots of stories. She went home at the end and became a housewife.
I am currently in a musical written about the WASP. They were truly amazing people!
By Dec. 1944 the Army Air Force actually had a surplus of pilots. I knew one who could not get overseas because they didn't need him. He ended up flying around the east coast on submarine patrol.
Perseverance while on duty is such wonderful virtue. I honestly am in great envy of these brave ladies.
I remember learning about this on tv I when was really young but it was very short documentary on these amazing woman.
Women were not thought of much back then, in fact, they weren't thought much more than black people were.
Amy Shira Teitel's new book "Fighting for Space" has a lot of information about Cochran's journey through history (including details about her time with the WASPs). It's a good read/listen
As always, we’ll presented. I appreciate how you just tell the story and let the viewers come to their own conclusions. We can see the unfairness for ourselves. I don’t need a course in “Western paternalism” to recognize facts and work for change.
I had the good fortune to work for Sue Parrish at the air museum her and her husband Pete started, The Kalamazoo Air History museum aka The Airzoo. She was a grand lady.
At 12:20 is awesome picture of Micky Axton, maiden name Mildred Tuttle. She was good friend and college roommate with my Mom. She was an accomplished pilot, flew everything up to and including B-29's. She was also a warm and wonderful person, I feel so honored to have known her just a little bit. Thanks again to the History Guy for remembering
I knew Micky and she stayed with me in Seattle to attend an event at the Seattle Museum of Flight. It was amazing she had to leave the WASP because she had a daughter - but became the only female on the B-29 flight test crew in Wichita trying to stop engine fires on the big plane. That is why the men did not want to fly it!
@@designerduds1 The postwar B-36 had similar issues. It was made even worse by the fact that the pusher propellers would have their air inlets clogged with ice in bad weather or certain latitudes. An incredible bomber, but man was it tricky to fly.
@@thunderbird1921 Hi - saw you pop up with this a year after this presentation received so much notice. I am connected to a producer now to tell the true story of women pilots in WWII (not only the WASP) in a 10-hour miniseries for television. What a difference a year makes!
Hello! As a student at Harvey Mudd College I met a former WASP Mrs. Iris (Cummings) Critchell who ran a pilot training program the Bates flight program. I did not enter the program, but was quite impressed with Mrs Critchell. [What is also amazing, she must still be alive working on her 100th year.]
Thank you for bringing this subject to the light. I am constantly frustrated that people served in the military with less recognition than they have deserved.
Again, Thank You!
You are right about Iris. She is surely alive today because she swims almost every day. She was in the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a swimmer!
Thank you for sharing the legacy of these courageous women and their sacrifices. They made enormous contributions during the war and deserve all the recognition that can be given. May we never forget! During the mid-1950s I served as a Civil Air Patrol cadet in Texas and no doubt served with a number of women who had served during WWII.
History that really does deserve to be remembered. Thank you for your service.
Thank you Guy. This brought me to tears over those who lost their lives in the service to our country. So young, so beautiful, so daring!
Another great video. Thanks for your service ladies.
Absolutely ! great,very wise and strong women.Great respect 🕊️
Thanks History Guy. It will please me greatly to remember this important segment of military service by women. Americans owe our service men and women so much.
Thank you so much for researching and creating this tribute to WASP. I have no connection to WASP. I am so happy these women are finally getting the recognition they truly deserve.
Many stories have been told of the legendary aces of WWII, I found it quite refreshing to hear of these brave women pilots working behind the scenes performing an invaluable service for their country.Some whose careers ended tragically, and at a way too early age.Heroines all !! Great video history guy !! 👍 😁
Didn't the Luftwaffe start using women pilots for combat missions toward the end of WWII. I know the first person to fly the Komet rocket fighter was a woman, and I can't remember her name, but she was one of the last people that POS Hitler let down into his bunker and she said she would fly him to S. America in a Condor. Glad he did not go...now he's in hell.
@@Skywalker8562 Hanna Reitsch, yes she was a very skilled woman pilot.but I believe she was a test pilot.her landing in Berlin in the last days of the war in a small plane carrying gen. Von greim, was incredible !
@@spacecadet60 Do you know which street she landed on? It would have had to have been right next to the Fuehrer bunker because the Russians were shelling the hell out of the place.
@@Skywalker8562 she landed the little plane in the Berlin zoo (tiergarten) on an improvised airstrip,not far from the famous Brandenburg gate,and all while under Russian fire.there is an interview with her somewhere here on you tube that was very interesting.you should look it up. ✌
Little Hanna Reitsch was a very skilled aviatrix, and quite a character as well.and in my opinion,her story is history that deserves to be remembered.😉✌
Great story. Great topic. In 2007 I met a group of wasps at a P51 air show in Ohio. Each one had their own display area with a list of the dozen or so different planes they had been trained on and flew. One had written her story in paper back which now lives in my office like those hats do in yours. At the time I knew I was looking at people significant to history.
First, a note of appreciation to "The History Guy" who has simply enriched my life. Several years ago I visited the Palm Springs Air Museum. They had an exhibit honoring these brave women. Not mentioned here, (but clarified in the exhibit) was that there were cases where the women's aircraft controls were sabotaged by unhappy elements ... with tragic results. How anyone could do that escapes me.
Dear Sir. I know I'm just another comment but I really enjoy your contributions and content. Thank you for your work.
Thank you for recognizing the work these brave women did. Also, love the lava lamp . Adds a nice bit of color.
Two more points about the WASP: First, many flights made by these pilots were ferry missions from the factory to army airfields, the WASP being the first to take untested air frames aloft. Many old warbirds will have a female pilot as the first entry in its log. Second, the WASP mascot was Fifinella, a female gremlin character created by Roald Dahl and drawn by Disney Studios animators.
CorrectionL Fifi was drawn by Disney himself.
My grandfather cousin was a WASP which our families were quite close despite living on opposite coasts. I remember her loving the T-6, the P-47 (despite its poor visibility when landing) and most of all the P-51. She said that ferrying was especially dangerous because they inevitably had many things wrong and that each out the factory plane was a test flight. The radios never seemed to work and the wind sock was her best friend lacking tower communications. I small little thing from the Dakotas throughout her life she was an activist for the WASPs and many other causes. Passing on in her 90s she is much missed.
The Jackie Cochran airport is near to us in Palm Springs. Also here in Palm Springs are the original tie downs, now neighborhood cul de sacs, that held planes to the ground during our high winds here. Some of the the tie down loops, and bolts are preserved the pavement. Many women pilots flew planes built elsewhere in CA to Palm Springs for deployment to the Pacific.
I was taught to fly by a former WASP, soloed on my 16th birthday.
Growing up in a very rural (at the time) part of northern South Carolina I had two close friends. We were all born in 1954 two of us on the same day and the other a month later. My mother worked in a local textile mill that produced many tons of material for GI fatigues, one friend's mother was a WAVE stationed in California while my other friend's future mother was a WASP who ferried everything from trainers from Point A to Point B within the U.S. to B-25s, B-26s, B-17s, and B-24s as well as P-38s and P-51s to England and later in the war B-26s, B-24s, and even B-29s to various islands in the Pacific and Australia. Until shortly before her passing I had no idea that she was also one of the few, at the time, women who held both private and commercial multi engine pilots licenses in our state. Mrs. Sparks never bragged about and rarely even mentioned her war time experiences but she kept numerous framed photos on the shelves in the living room and several photo albums that covered those experiences and those of her fellow WASPs.
History Guy, Cornelia Fort was born to a prominent family in Nashville, TN. There was a small airport there built on her family's property that operated until 2010. It was closed and the land given to the city after the Nasville floods. It is now a natural area.
Daughter of the Air, is a biography of Cornelia written by Rob Simbeck.
I enjoy your channel, keep up the good work.
I knew a chap who flew Beaufighters. One day a plane came in making a perfect touchdown and out popped a tiny girl with a shock of blonde curls. He said she landed the thing better than they could.
These women were often literally chucked the keys to planes they had never seen before. One pilot I spoke to said four girls (and they were just girls many of them), including herself, had to ferry a B17 across the Atlantic. “There’s the manual. Britain’s that way. Get on with it.”
Viola Kirby stated she was a pilot ferrying planes during WW2. She RIP in 1980's( +/- ) in S. Calif. I never verified her service but if she was a WASP, she deserves to be remembered.
My first flight instructor in California was a female CF double I and she told me of the incident involving Ms. Cornelia Fort. The incident was caused because the lading gear on the one students plane was not down and locked. Ms. Fort instructed the student to hold the aircraft in level flight while she positioned her aircraft underneath to try and put pressure on the wheel and strut with her top wingtip surface and hopefully forcing the gear to lock in place. That was a “Ballzy” move unfortunately it cause her to take wing leading edge structural damage along with aileron damage causing lose of control to her aircraft. She should have bailed out but tried to land the aircraft, another “ballzy” move, but as was reported she was killed in her attempts. I don’t know the accuracy of my instructors story but with what The History Guy has reported in this lesson I now believe it more than ever. I think I would have loved to have had the opportunity to fly with her at least once.
Pure excellence, Sir. Sincerely love and appreciate that You and Yours, are doing your part to preserve History. Thank you.
My late friend, Louise Bowden, was in an early class. Her classmate in the next cot was killed in training. The cadets had to pool their money together to pay for the train fare to ship the plain wooden box, found in a storeroom, containing her remains, and Louise, who accompanied the box, to her home town. The Army wouldn’t pay for it because they were civilian women. Draping the box, and later, the casket, with an American flag was expressly forbidden, as the fallen cadet was NOT military.
On December 20, 1944, WASP were ferrying aircraft, as usual. When they arrived at their destinations, they were informed that the WASP had been disbanded and were immediately escorted off base, as ordered, with no means of getting home. Imagine ferrying a P-40 or a P-39 from Buffalo to Anchorage and finding yourself stranded in an Alaskan winter...
While ferrying P-51’s from Greenville to Gander, Louise’s engine started running rough about 10 minutes into the flight. She returned to base, but the engine quit halfway back, so she bailed out and joined the Caterpillar Club, landing under canopy in a farm field, about 100 feet from the burning wreckage of the crippled “daughter of Dallas.” She was given a ride back to base by a passing preacher and was unceremoniously given another parachute and Mustang to ferry. Five minutes out, the engine quit and Louise found herself under another canopy. This time the base sent someone out to pick her up. Offered a third parachute and plane, Louise demurred, and waited until the next day before continuing on to Gander.
There is a saying I just recently heard, "Women are like tea bags, "When in hot water, we don't know how strong they will be."
I'm an African American pilot. I saw and met a group of them in Kansas City once. Much respect.
Ms Cochrane refused to admit black women. Rasism? Perhaps not. My theory she didnt wished to get more opposition for her group than it already was... Anyway, this little example shows there WERE qualified black afro-american female pilots, with over 300 solo hours - probably payed from their own pockets. Otherwise, they wouldnt even get that interview / refusal by ms Cochrane. With lesser qualifications she would simply say; sorry, you dont have enough of experience... Or something.
Thank you! Another excellent video!
Thank you Mr.K
There is a scene in the movie Tora Tora where a female instructor pilot takes over the controls from a student. I guess this is where it came from. A big salute to these Brave young woman. It's a shame none of them had a chance to fly in combat.
Great story. For anyone passing through Texas mainly Sweetwater Tx stop in at the WASP museum it’s definitely worth the stop
Once again an excellent documentary well presented. These ladies deserve to be remembered as do the ladies who ferried the aircraft here in the UK. Thank you History Guy.
I live about 3 miles from New Castle County Airport (ILG) which was a WASP base during the war. To be kept at a distance from the the Dover Airbase further south. There has been ongoing discussions of how to memorialize the WASP service at the field.
I heard one account that when the B-29 was developed, many pilots did not want to fly it, so Paul Tibbetts trained a group of WASPs to fly the plane, and essentially shame the combat pilots into flying the Superfortress.
That is a true story.
Love your shows. Keep up the good work
This has to be one of your greatest episodes. My stepmothers grandmother was a WASP pilot. Dorothy "DD" johnson
The airport in Thermal, Ca is named for Jaqueline Cochran. Not only was she the first pilot to fly a supersonic aircraft, but she was actually the first woman to fly supersonic while in the backseat of a Navy RA-5 Vigilante, and the first woman to land and takeoff from an aircraft carrier.
Fascinating presentation. I have a greater appreciation of history since discovering your channel.
These Ladies from the early 20th century..., driving planes, working in heavy duty factory jobs... nursing injured combatants... what happened to them, why they are not any like them no more? Still, respect to all of them, in all countries during the great wars. This was a beautiful video for an excellent subject.
Thank you for your presentation.
This was an informative video. I think it is very clear now that Women pilots were excellent pilots and could handle any aircraft that they were tasked to fly. And fortunately we got away from unequal pay for those pilots. Now Women in the service do a spectacular job no matter what it is. But, there probably still is some unequal promotions and jobs. Let them try to do what ever they want to do. Just like men do the same. Thanks for doing this story!
Thank you for bring us a wonderful bit of history.
Thank You!
I pass by the WASP museum in Sweetwater Texas twice a week. I must admit, I knew very little about the WASP until now..