The WASP proved that a military plane cannot really distinguish between male and female; only between good and bad pilots

The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941, catapulted an unprepared USA into World War II. Most military pilots soon departed for the warfront leaving behind a severe shortage for tasks such as ferrying squadrons of aircraft from factories to training bases, providing target practice, testing new planes and training. Hardly any men were available, but what about the thousands of skilled women pilots?

Renowned fliers Jacqueline Cochran and Nancy Harkness Love separately proposed that women’s wings be established specially to ferry aircraft. After months of resistance, their endeavours finally bore fruit. Beginning September 1942, the two independently started to train small groups of women to fill the gaps left by the missing men. On August 5, 1943, their efforts were united to create the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). About 25,000 women from across the USA applied, but only 1,830 were accepted and just 1,074 completed training and became WASP (not WASPs, because WASP itself is plural). Walt Disney’s lovable female gremlin Fifinella became their official emblem.

The initial trainees needed a pilot’s licence and 500 hours of flying time, but those who joined averaged more than 1,000 hours. They had to pay their own passage to the training base in Sweetwater, Texas. It was the only all-female military flying base in history and the girls called it Cochran’s Convent. They received no gunnery training and very little formation flying and aerobatics, but went through the manoeuvres necessary to be able to recover from unusual attitudes. The percentage suspended during training compared favourably with the elimination rates for men. The first class graduated on December 17, 1943. Each month another batch began, 18 in all. After training, WASP fliers were stationed at 120 bases across the US. Eventually so many were available that Cochran announced that they would accept any function (she called them “dishwashing jobs”) that might release additional men for combat duty. They undertook thousands of operational flights from aircraft factories to ports of embarkation and training bases, towing targets for live antiaircraft artillery practice and simulated strafing missions, besides transporting cargo. They began by successfully handling the light planes, thus proving their skill and stamina. They were gradually permitted to fly bigger, faster, and heavier aircraft. Eventually WASP came to fly every aircraft in the military inventory. Between September 1942 and December 1944, the WASP delivered 12,650 aircraft of 77 different types.

In truth they were not mere dishwashing jobs. A few women were selected to test rocket-propelled planes, to fly jet-propelled planes, and to work with radar-controlled targets. The WASP also proved useful to redeem reputations. The B-29 Superfortress, for example, was considered to be a dangerous aircraft, prone to engine fire. Colonel Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, sent two WASP to show the men that the heavy bomber was “safe enough for a woman to fly”. Similarly, the B-36 Marauder had snuffed out so many lives that it was called the “Flying Coffin” while the P-39 Airacobra was nicknamed the “Widow Maker”. WASP graduates were again dispatched to demonstrate that the planes were indeed safe, if handled properly. Target-towing duty was the most dangerous WASP mission. Often the tow aircraft returned with its body riddled with bullet holes and there were some fatal accidents as well. In all, 38 WASP lost their lives in service. However, because they were not considered to be in the military, but under Civil Service rules, a dead WASP was sent home at family expense without traditional military honours. The family were not even permitted to drape the US flag over the coffin.