Women’s Army Corps in Europe

“The WAC has been of inestimable value...Its members have worked devotedly, often at arduous tasks requiring exceptional performance.”

—General Carl Spaatz, US Strategic Air Forces commander

About half of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) personnel—or “WACs”—sent overseas served in Europe. Most WACs stationed there performed essential administrative work, while others served in non-traditional roles including weather observers/forecasters, control tower operators, and mechanics.

Although USAAF leadership eagerly supported the program, these trailblazing women faced hardships in breaking cultural boundaries. The official US Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF) history noted “Perhaps the greatest achievement of the WACs was their triumph over the prejudices of the male military mind. The half-amused, half-scornful attitude of some officers in responsible positions was not justified by the performance of the WACs.”

At the end of the war, there were more than 8,000 WACs in Europe, with more than 33,000 serving in the USAAF in the US and overseas.

WACs in a mobile control unit truck in England plotting and guiding lost bombers back to base.

Col Oveta Culp Hobby, WAC Director, meeting with Lt Gen James “Jimmy” Doolittle, Eighth Air Force commander, in 1944. Col Hobby brilliantly led and grew the WAC (and its predecessor, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) from 1942-1945.

Eighth Air Force WAC switchboard operators. About 40% of the Army’s WACs served in the USAAF, and they were known as “Air WACs.”

Uniform worn by SSgt Theresa Kobuszewski, who served in England from May 1944 to November 1945. After the war, she was a pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1946-1947. In 1951, Kobuszewski re-enlisted in the US Air Force, and retired as a chief master sergeant in 1975.