Alex Corsaro
1. Adams, Simon. World War II. New York: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc, 2000
· Almost every task that had been restricted to men was being taken over by women.
· Bus conductors, train signal operators, drivers, mechanics, clerical workers, engineers, roles in resistance forces, and special operations carried out in enemy territory
· Gasbag- a certain lady’s handbag has a special compartment for concealing the owner’s mask; Other masks were carried in cardboard boxes decorated with fabric
· Air-raid training- in India there was a fear of Japanese invasion so women in Bombay trained for air-raid precaution (ARP) duties; Others trained as auxiliaries to support the troops fighting in far East
· Nazi mothers- mothers were awarded for bearing large numbers of children; Mothers of the new “master race”; Mothers were encouraged to stay at home and raise their children
· Land girls- take over farms and grow much needed food; In Britain the Women’s Land Army recruited some 77,000 women to carry out tasks such as plowing and harvesting
· Night watch- operated powerful search lights that tracked incoming enemy bombers; women prepared antiaircraft guns but were not allowed to fire them; night search also included patrolling the streets
· Donations- housewives donated old household items due to lack of iron, tin, and aluminum; pots and pans were melted to make planes; iron railings, old cars, and metal scraps were used to make ships; old clothes were re-woven into socks and scarves.
· Rosie the Riveter- Fictional character in the U.S; national symbol for the new working woman; 16 million U.S citizens called into the armed services so women needed to be replacements; jobs include making bombs and airplanes, ships and tanks, running the railroads, and other vital services
· Aircraft maintenance- Because of a shortage of male pilots and mechanics, women had to learn to fly and maintain planes. They delivered new planes from the factories to the military airfields, serviced and prepared planes between missions
· Parachute makers- seamstresses worked long hours; thousands of parachutes were required by all armed services; used by fighter and bomber pilots for bailing and for airborne troops that dropped into battles
2. Harvey, Sheridan. “Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War I.” 24 June 2005. 14 Apr. 2006 http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/journey/rosie-transcript.html
· Rosie the Riveter- home front equivalent to G.I Joe
· Image was created by J Howard Miller, but is usually associated with Norman Rockwell
· “Rosie the Riveter”- song by Redd Evans and John Jacob Leob
· Identification of Rosie- big and dirty; oversized with working class brawn; wears goggles and a shield; leather arm band provides protection; various pins for blood donation, victory, and her security badge; overalls, loafers, has a large riveting gun lying in her lap
· American flag background
· Feminine aspects of Rosie- Wearing lipstick; compact and handkerchief hanging out of her pocket; nail polish; curly hair; visor looks like a halo and provides and angelic look
3. Scarborough, Rowan. “Iraq War Muddles Role of Women.” 17 Oct. 2005. 15 Mar. 2006
http://Washingtontimes.com/national/20051016-095421-2277r.htm
· “I wish I could forget those endless narrowing hours. Hours of giving injections, anesthetizing, ripping clothes of, stitching gaping wounds, amputations,, sterilizing instruments, settling the treated patients into their beds, covering the wounded we could not save. I still had not grown accustomed to seeing people torn and bleeding and dying in numbers like these.”- anonymous nurse veteran
· Hardships- it was hard to care for German and Japanese POWs because many were under the age of 18 and lacked medical care
· Language barriers; One german soldier misunderstood the concept of taking blood and thought that the nurse was trying to execute him by slowly bleeding him to death
· Christmas- Nurses managed to put on a brave front and cheerful faces
· On Christmas they decorated Christmas trees with tinsel and flags (at one Belgian hospital)
· At a hospital in the South Pacific nurses sang Christmas carols to the wounded soldiers.
· 57,000 nurses served in the arm nurse corps, and 16,000 nurses served in the Navy nurse corps by V-J Day
· By the end of World War II, 201 military nurses had died, 16 from enemy fire
4. “Women and World War II.” 10 Apr. 2006 http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~cg3outline.html
· Women with children were not encouraged to join the war
· Housewives could not buy certain goods because they were needed to help make necessities for the war: sugar, silk, nylon, rayon, coffee, tea, butter, meat, and gasoline
· Shortage of steel so canned foods were rationed
· The government promoted “Victory Gardens”- gardens in backyards that produced foods that would typically be found in grocery stores.
· After the way women were in jeopardy of losing their jobs
· Women were faced with choices and by exercising these choices they were able to explore their own individuality and independence
· Some women continued to work after the war, but most were faced with the cutting of wages or demotions
· War allowed women to make their own decisions and to fight for their rights
5. Zeinert, Karen. Those incredible Women of World War II. Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1994.
· Many women wanted to fly, but few could afford to in the 1930’s.
· In 938 women gained access to the Civilian Pilot Training Program, which was less expensive
· The government was not willing to let women train, but allowed women to help train men to fly military aircraft
· Some woen went to England and were offered to work for Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA); ¼ of the organization was women; Women ferried planes from manufacturers to armed services
· “We are in a war and we need to fight it with all our ability and every weapon possible. Women pilots are a weapon waiting to be used.”- Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady
· WFA- Women Flyers of America; Genia Novak is one of the leaders of the WFA; The group included more than 3000 women by the time WWII began.
· Amelia Earhart flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932 in 14 hours and 56 minutes
· Jaqueline Cochran- well-known pilot; won five national and international speed records
· ATA turned to Cochran for recruiting help
· At first the government ignored her idea of training women to fly for the armed services
· Se agreed to recruit pilots for the British when they approached her in 1941
· She developed an organization called WASP ( Women’s Air Force Service Pilots); program enabled women to ferry all kinds of military planes
http://www.dod-g.com/photos/ww2photo/soldier/YugoslavWomenPartisansWWII.jpg
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