Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-1997

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

History

Major Professor

Susan Becker

Committee Members

Charles Johnson, Elizabeth Haiken

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) as pilots for the Army Air Force during World War II. Numerous primary sources were cited for this study including memoirs, newspapers, magazines and Army Air Force and government documents. Forty-three WASPs provided personal information either through personal interviews or questionnaires. The WASPs were primarily Caucasian, middle-class and well-educated. Eightyseven percent of the women had at least one year of college and fifty-seven percent had at least their four year degree before joining the WASP. The original group of women to fly for the Army Air Force, the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), were highly experienced pilots and proved themselves capable of flying military aircraft. The WAFS had an accident rate lower than their male counterparts and by April 1943 were no longer limited in the types of aircraft they were allowed to fly. The name WASP began to be utilized in August 1943, and by late 1943 the WASPs began to fly primarily pursuit aircraft. With the addition of less-experienced pilots and the increasing number of flights in the more challenging pursuit aircraft, the women's accident rate increased. Upon disbandment, the women were evaluated by their bases. Although the bases reported the women were less mechanically inclined than their male counterparts, their abilities and efforts as ferry pilots were highly commended. The WASP disbandment not through any fault of their own, but rather a number of circumstances beyond the women's control. The shift in the war in favor of the Allies, the attack from unemployed male pilots, and the negative attitudes of the American public toward women replacing men rather than releasing them, all contributed to WASP disbandment. Overall, the WASPs were found to have been effective pilots for the Army Air Force, and an important part of women's history.

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