Women at Work
Initially, the WASP were only permitted to ferry light aircraft. To better support the war effort, Jackie Cochran advocated expanding the WASP mission to do any job necessary so men could be relieved for combat duty. Eventually, the women delivered fighters, bombers, and transport planes from factories to USAAF installations nationwide. The WASP job duties went beyond just ferrying aircraft. They became engineering test pilots for malfunctioning aircraft and utility fliers for administrative personnel. By towing targets and flying drones, the WASP provided live ammunition training for male pilots and ground-based antiaircraft artillery. The WASP piloted bombers for searchlight training, worked as flight instructors for new male cadets, and supported several top-secret missions for the atomic bomb and anti-radar devices.
Restricted
In September 1943, when Col Tunner's men complained about the difficulty of ferrying B-17s over the North Atlantic, he recruited WAFS pilots Nancy Harkness Love and Betty Gillies to assist. Without a second thought, the two women joined the mass movement of aircraft. They flew the B-17 Queen Bee from Ohio to New York, Delaware, and ultimately Canada. However, as they taxied for take-off in Goose Bay, Labrador, they received an order from Gen Arnold declaring female pilots were only allowed to ferry aircraft for domestic flights. “Though no WASP-piloted overseas flight was ever made, the women did a magnificent job at home.” -Colonel William Tunner, Commander Ferrying Division, ATC.
Opposition and Sacrifice
Despite their training, skill, and experience, not everyone accepted the WASP in their new roles. Women had to defend against theories like whether their slender builds could handle an aircraft. The women were frequently confronted by open hostility and unfair obstacles due to gender discrimination by male pilots and commanding officers at their duty stations. Thirty-eight women lost their lives in service to their country. Because they were classified as government civilians and not as military service members, the WASP killed in the line of duty were denied military funerals and the other appropriate hallmarks of US gratitude for their service. “They did not recognize us for anything, even flags on our coffins.”- Nadine Canfield, 44-W-9.
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