Women in the Military WWII

[Vets Dottir]

I think you may be bang on about what she did, Tony B ... your description seems to ring some bells in my mind, vaguely, about what was said. Wish I could remember. Maybe I will remember out of the blue soon

 

Meanwhile, I was surfing earlier and there are a lot of sites online about women of WW2 and more books about them out there, like "Proudly She Marched" which I'm going to have to try and find a copy of them, only published in the last couple of years and I never heard of them until now! 2 Volumes (One about the Army CWACS and the other about the Navy WRENS) and a companion DVD apparently The covers are really nice (wish I had the books to scan and show you) showing both branches marching smartly and proudly on their separate book covers ... I can just see the vitality and pride in their body language in those pics! What an amazing thing for women to be part of ... changing roles and all that jazz

 

http://www.cfuwkw.org/trillium.html

 

 

Proudly She Marched, Training Canada's World War II Women in Waterloo County documents the untold story of the 21,634 women who enlisted in the military and worked as cooks, clerks, drivers, mechanics, medics, dental assistants, radio operators and countless other support positions to free up more men to fight. It was the first time in Canadian history that women served in uniform.

[Snapper]

Thanks Carmen! This all sounds right up our street. Read away! It all counts.

 

MB

[Lauren Child]

A little history about the Canadian WRENs ... my Dad's sister, Amy, served with the

more than 500 women mentioned who served in Newfoundland. I'm not clear what her specific tasks were, but apparently something pretty important to do with radios and very important communications (I can't remember clearly what was told to me)

 

http://www.thewrens.com/history/canada/

 

 

Have you seen this?

 

http://jproc.ca/rrp/nro_ww2.html

 

It specifically mentions HF/DF naval communications in Newfoundland.

[Tony B]

the last Tribal class destroyer is HMCS Athabaskan sh was moored at Lake Ontarion in 1968, I saw her then but was unable to go abaord. (If I'd known then etc) DF or Direction finding first started prior to the Great War, litrally as soon as W/T became viable people started Signals inteligence. Shore based Huff Duf stations, manned by WRENS were one of the most succesful though least known, of the anti U boat measures. A great deal of smokescreen disinformation and garbage was thrown about the time. The U Boats operated under control of doneitz and radio comms were esential if wolf packs etc were to be co-ordinated. Especially whilst the Air Gap existed in the mid Atlantic HF/DF was essential. even when such aircraft as the Liberator could operae all the way across, it helps if you know hwere to damm well go! It's a big ocean! The listening side was equally important, Enigma Cipher, important point Enigma was 'CIPHER' machine not a 'CODE' machine. Ciphers change all the time, codes dont. So if a mesage was sent to German Legation say in mexico, the message would be intercepted in cipher, then maybe Mexican authority would send part or all of the message in weak code or clear. Also the U Boats sent Meterolgical information, vital as most of Europes weather comes across the Atlantic, so if you want to plan a bombing raid on London, or launch D-Day you have to know what is going on in the Atlantic, no sattillites remember. As weather info has to be in a standard form, the U boats 'Weather code' transmissions could be compared to the info sent by Allied ships in the same area, providing HF/DF could triangulate the U Boat. You know what the mesage in code says. this information was then sent to the Luftwaffe who obligingly sent it out in thier Enigma variation, see the links? A lot of responsobility on those young women, any slip of the tounge would have led to the systems being changed. Not to mention Frequency analiys, and sig int, all of which those women helped pionner, and is still classified at the highest level today. You don't have to carry a gun to win a war.

[Lauren Child]

You don't have to carry a gun to win a war.

 

 

There's a great story at Bletchley Park of one girl who came back after many years. While doing a tour, one of the guides asked her what she did during the war? She answered "I sunk the Bismarck". It turned out she decoded the message that identified the location.

[T corbin]

Women,s army corps .1944 FORT GEORGIA USA . On training T CORBIN

[ArtistsRifles]

No idea why - but the bird on the left in the righthand picture conjures up images of Frank Burns wife from M*A*S*H!!

[abn deuce]

Have not forgotten about the British women's war efforts , just found photo combining motorcycle and women in uniform

 

British Women In Wartime British women during WWII Location: United Kingdom Date taken: 1939 Photographer: William Vandi

 

[abn deuce]

another photo

 

British Women In Wartime British women during WWII Location: United Kingdom Date taken: 1939 Photographer: William Vandive

[Richard Farrant]

Have not forgotten about the British women's war efforts , just found photo combining motorcycle and women in uniform

 

 

 

 

A twin port OEC, would have been requesitioned, like the snazzy black out hood on headlamp. A sporty motorcycle there

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

A twin port OEC, would have been requesitioned, like the snazzy black out hood on headlamp. A sporty motorcycle there

Glad you told me that,dont know a lot about OEC.In fact never heard of it.cheers CW.

[Richard Farrant]

Glad you told me that,dont know a lot about OEC.In fact never heard of it.cheers CW.

 

 

And you a frequent visitor to Portsmouth, if I remember correctly it stands for Osborn Engineering Co. and that is where they were made.

Edited March 8, 2009 by Richard Farrant

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

And you a frequent visitor to Portsmouth, if I remember correctly it stands for Osborne Engineering Co. and that is where they were made.

Osbornes was a boat builder.:-D

[abn deuce]

Found these links on the net OEC = Osborn Engineering Company . Seems they lasted up to at least 1960's . and that they made an interesting duel rear wheeled motor cycle for cross country use .

http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/euro/brands/oec.htm

http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/oec/index.htm

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

:-D:tup::

[abn deuce]

W.A.C.'s Women's Army Corps. , U.S.Army

http://www.mscd.edu/~history/camphale/wim_009.html

[abn deuce]

another woman dispatch rider and her motorcycle, can you id the motorcycle? did it survive to the present ?

Woman dispatch rider standing beside her motorcycle. Location: United Kingdom Date taken: 1941 Photographer: Hans Wild

 

[abn deuce]

At the U.S. Army testing site

 

Women mechanics working on M3 tank at Alberdeen Proving Ground. Location: Aberdeen, MD, US Date taken: 1941 Photographer: Bernard Hoffman

 

[sheringham40sladies]

Some amazing and inspirational photos here! Thanks for posting them! We are going to have to start collecting some WAVE gear for our next 40s outing to represent such a fantastic division of the US Navy!

[Smithy]

Anybody who has been watching the BBC2 TV programme, How We Won the War, will have seen some of the role's which women played during WW2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=How%20We%20Won%20the%20War