Women in World War II (U.S. National Park Service) (2024)

FAQs

What kind of jobs did women perform in World War II? ›

During World War II, millions of women went to work outside the home for the first time. Millions more continued to work--as they had been doing for years. They labored in factories, building ships, tanks, and bombs for the war effort. They toiled in schools, hospitals, and offices.

Female pilots served their country during WWII as members of the WASP. The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the largest of the women's branches during WWII, with 150,000 members.

The United States, by comparison, elected not to use women in combat because public opinion would not tolerate it. Instead, as in other nations, about 350,000 women served as uniformed auxiliaries in non-combat roles in the U.S. armed forces.

Women's auxiliary branches were created for every branch of the military, including the Women's Army Corps (WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Women were restricted from combat zones; however, many became nurses to help the men injured in combat.

Artist Norman Rockwell's cover for the May 29, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post magazine was an illustration of a female riveter with the name "Rosie" painted on the lunch pail. Women who worked to produce tanks, ships, planes and other materiel during World War II called themselves "Rosies."

After the war, most women returned home, let go from their jobs. Their jobs, again, belonged to men. However, there were lasting effects. Women had proven that they could do the job and within a few decades, women in the workforce became a common sight.

During World War II, members of WAC were assigned to the Army Air Forces, Army Ground Forces, and the Army Service Forces - comprised of nine service commands, the Military District of Washington and the Technical Services.

Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (later the Women's Army Corps or WAC), the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), and. the Women Accepted for Volunteer Military Services (WAVES).

After much debate, Congress approved, and on 3 July 1943 the WAAC became the Women's Army Corps, or WAC. Some WAACs did not want to continue as part of the Regular Army, and around 25 percent of them decided to leave the service.

ser·​vice·​wom·​an ˈsər-vəs-ˌwu̇-mən. Synonyms of servicewoman. : a woman who is a member of the armed forces.

What were female marines called in WWII? ›

The pattern set during World War II of calling women Reservists "WRs" was followed after the passage of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act in 1948 by referring to the women as "Women Marines," or more often as "WMs . " In the mid-1970s there was a mood to erase all appearances of a separate organization for ...

The aviation industry saw the greatest increase in female workers. By 1943, 310,000 women worked in the aircraft industry, representing 65 percent of the industry's total workforce.

For example, two women from a medical unit captured at Mglinsk in 1941 were immediately killed. In some cases, they were specifically targeted, or merely suffered the same fate as the men they were captured with. However, female prisoners could also be subjected to torture and horrific sexual abuse.

During World War II, approximately 350,000 U.S. women served with the armed forces. As many as 543 died in war-related incidents, including 16 nurses who were killed from enemy fire - even though U.S. political and military leaders had decided not to use women in combat because they feared public opinion.

They also drove trucks, repaired airplanes, worked as laboratory technicians, rigged parachutes, served as radio operators, analyzed photographs, flew military aircraft across the country, test-flew newly repaired planes, and even trained anti-aircraft artillery gunners by acting as flying targets.

They continued to work clerical jobs as they did during World War I, but they also drove vehicles, repaired airplanes, worked in laboratories and cryptology, served as radio and telephone operators, rigged parachutes, test-flew planes and even trained their male counterparts in air combat tactics.

When America entered the Great War, the number of women in the workforce increased. Their employment opportunities expanded beyond traditional women's professions, such as teaching and domestic work, and women were now employed in clerical positions, sales, and garment and textile factories.

During WWII, 350,000 women served in the armed forces. They worked as nurses, drivers and mechanics.

Overview. Industrialization in the early 1800s began drawing white Northeastern women out of the home and into the factory and schoolhouse. Particularly notable were the women who worked at the Lowell Mills in Massachusetts.