Woman We're The Unsung Heroes Of The Second World War!

During World War II in North America Women's lives drastically changed in many ways, as women from Europe, Eastern block and Asian countries. As with most wars, many women found their roles from housewife to opportunities created as new responsibilities widen. Husbands lovers, son daughters went to war or went to work in factories or in other parts of the country, the loved ones had to pick up their responsibilities. With fewer men in the workforce, women filled more traditionally male trades. In the military, women were excluded from combat duty, in North America and were called on to fill the work in the trades men had performed, as freeing men for combat duty. Some of those trades forced women near or into combat zones, and as combat came to civilian areas, therefore many women died. Women in other Allied countries had combat roles fight beside men in infantry unites,++ Roles.




Rosie the Riveter Poster.

Women served in many positions in direct supporting roles in military efforts. Military women were excluded from combat positions in North America, but that didn't keep some from being in harm's way, nurses in or near combat zones or on ships, suffering many casualties. Many women became nurses, or used their nursing expertise, and enlisted in the war effort. Some became Red Cross nurses. Others served in military nursing units. North American and other countries women were the unsung heroes of WWII. Each nation at war sacrificed and contributed its all; this included the women.


Nurse Recruitment Poster, World War II

In North America even though they weren’t given the option to go and fight other countries did. There was much to be done, building planes ships tanks weapons gear, tailoring combat uniforms munitions bombs+++ some were pilots, Spy's and they did it with Honoured pride, and some with Gallantry. The strength and bravery with which these women joined the war effort does is not expressed enough in a Male dominated WWII historian World. During the Second World War, more than 45,000 Canadian women volunteered for military service. Every woman volunteered in her own way “Servicewomen” fought in the Women's Division of the RCAF, The Canadian Women's Army Corps and the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service.Great Britain began recruiting women to the services in 1938, but Canada did not. Only when the RAF "proposed to send members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, the WAAFs, to Canada to work at air training schools, [did] the Canadian government act to avoid embarrassment." "The Women's Division of the RCAF was authorised in July 1941, and quickly enlisted thousands of young women; 17,000 by 1945. In August, the Canadian Women's Army Corps was announced and training bases were established at St. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec; Kitchener, Ontario; and Vermilion, Alberta. More than 21,000 served in the "CWACs." The "Wrens," or Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service, did not begin recruiting until 1942, and grew more slowly. Training establishments at Galt, Ontario, and St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, enrolled 6,718 recruits. All the women who served were volunteers, and many sought to play an active role in the "real" war."(Copp): (6)




About 350,000 US women served in the US Army."The Army of the United States had 239 kinds of jobs for women."About 74,000 women served in the American Army and Navy Nurse Corps in World War II. Women also served in other military branches, often in traditional "women's work" -- secretarial duties or cleaning, for instance. Others took traditional men's jobs in non-combat work, to free more men for combat. Figures for women serving with the US military in World War II: Army - 140,000.Navy - 100,000. Marines - 23,000. Coast Guard - 13,000. Air Force - 1,000. Army and Navy Nurse Corps - 74,000. In 1939, women were allowed to be part of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, a program designed to train college students to fly, More than 1,000 women served as pilots associated with the US Air Force in the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) but were considered civil service workers, and weren't recognized for their military service until in the 1970s God Done Shame. Britain and the Soviet Union also used significant numbers of women pilots to support their air forces “ Girl Power”. In the United States, women pilots were trained to fly non-combat missions in order to free male pilots for combat missions. They ferried planes from the manufacturing plants to military bases, and ended up doing much more including flying new aircraft such as the B-29, to prove to male pilots that these were not as difficult to fly as the men thought, In your face!



On August 5, 43, the WAFS and WFTD merged to become the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), with “Cochran” as director. More than 25,000 women applied with requirements including a pilot's license and many hours experience. The first class graduated on December 17, 1943. The women had to pay their own way to the training program in Texas. A total of 1830 were accepted into training and 1074 women graduated from WASP training during its existence, plus 28 WAFS. The women were trained "The Army Way" and their graduation rate was similar to that for male military pilots. The WASP was never militarized, and those who served as WASP were considered only civil service employees.

As with every war through history, where there are military bases, there were also prostitutes. Honolulu's “Sporting Girls” After Pearl Harbour, some prostitution houses which were located near the harbour served as temporary Aide Stations and makeshift Hospitals. Many of the "Girls" volunteered wherever they were needed to nurse the injured. {Remember Prostitution is one of the oldest professions!} Under US martial law, 1942-1944, prostitutes enjoyed a fair amount of freedom in the city more than they'd had before the war under civilian government. Near many military bases, reputed "victory girls" could be found, willing to engage in sex with military men without charge. Many were younger than 17. Military posters campaigning against venereal disease depicted these "victory girls" as a threat to the Allied military effort ! Free Beessss for all. Hurrayyyyyyyyyyyy.

The contribution Women made to the War effort was immense. If it wasn't for their major sacrifice we be throwing rocks at each other, In hindsight that would of been a good thing in avoiding all the horrific needless carnage that issued.



Lest We Forget Spañiard Over and Out,,,,,,..............................


All Pictures and information taken from
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/worldwariiposterart/ig/World-War-II---Victory-Home/Rosie-the-Riveter-.htm

 

While we in the west, the UK, Canada, and the US used our female citizens in the work force and non-combat roles, that wasn't the case in the USSR. They flew combat aircraft, engineered on trains near or on the front, and participated in every other area they were needed. Including sniping, here are a couple of sites with "memories" from female snipers. Pretty interesting reading in the overall site of Soviet service "persons" talking about their duty.

Overall site:

http://www.iremember.ru/index_e.htm

with these two female snipers telling their sides:

Antonina Aleksandrovna Kotliarova

Klavdia Kalugina

Neither of them were apparently as "famous" as those I found earlier, but makes for interesting reading none the less. The link inside which really opens the place up.

Главная - THE RUSSIAN BATTLEFIELD

This is fun for even we of the "western allies" to read. I would imagine it would be even more enjoyable for those whose families are "from the Soviet" to read.

 

Subhas Bose also gave women a similar role in his freedom movements, I don't know if any women were actually sent to the front lines though.

 

I do understand that of the 800,000+ women who served in the Soviet military during WW2 something like 70% served in front line units, in combat. About 100,000 were decorated for valor and bravery. For a pretty interesting look at the women in battle goto:

gendergap.com

When you will find short articles on women like Ludmilla Pavlichenko was a sniper with 308 kills to her credit, and a Lance Corporal Maria Ivanova Morozova was also a decorated sniper with the 62nd Rifle Battalion, she won 11 awards. As for the tank commanders, I know I have seen something in a documentary one time or another, but I do know that one couple, with Stalin's permission, bought their own tank so they could serve together, this was Alexandra Beikov and her husband Ivan.

Over 1000 women were trained as fighter and bomber pilots and the 586th Women's Fighter Regiment, the 587th Women's Bomber Regiment and the 588th Women's Night Bomber Regiment utilized only women pilots, engineers and mechanics. Then in co-gender groups, both Lydia Litvak and Katya Budanova served with the 73rd Fighter Regiment and both earned "ace" status even though the Soviets didn't recognize the title. More than 30 of these women pilots earned the "Gold Star of a Hero of the Soviet Union" for their heroism in air combat.

 

Brief History ​

Thousands of Russian women and girls courageously fought for their Rodina (Motherland), serving with the Voyenno-Vozdushniye Sily (Air Forces, in Russian). In 1942, three air regiments were formed from female volunteers:

• The 586th Women's Fighter Regiment (initially equipped with Yakovlyev YaK-1s and later YaK-7Bs)
• The 587th Women's Day Bomber Regiment (flying Petlyakov Pe-2 2-engined bombers)
• The 588th Women's Night Bomber Regiment, the famous "Night Witches" (flying Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes)

Many other women also served integrated with men with other aviation units. For example, in 1944, 1,749 girls served with Zabaikalsky Front, 3,000 women and girls served with the Far East 10th Air Army, 437 women served with the 4th Air Army of the Second Belorussian Front that comprised the crack 46th Guards Women Air Regiment that comprised 237 women-officers, 862 sergeants, 1,125 enlisted women and 2,117 auxiliaries. They also served flying and as gunners in the famous Il-2 and Il-2M3 Shturmovik tank busters, the "Flying Bathtub".


Women-pilots of female air regiments engaged in dogfights, cleared the way for the advancing infantry and supported them in ground support missions. The fighter pilots of the all-women 586th IAP (Russian abbreviation for Fighter Aviation Regiment, same as Fighter Air Regiment) flew a total of 4,419 sorties (per pilot) and participated in more than 125 separate air battles, in which they massed a total of 38 confirmed kills. That is, the sorties when the enemy was actually encountered.

Sexism in the V-VS was high initially, male pilots refusing to fly with women as "wingmen", or fly airplanes that had been repaired or serviced by women mechanics and ground crew. But the demonstrated, and often superior, courage and great skill of these female soldiers proved their better than average competence to fullfil their duty. The USSR highly praised the combat deeds of female pilots: thousands won orders and medals. 29 won titles of Hero of the Soviet Union. 23 of these went to the Night Witches.

Click on this Link Valentina Grizodubova

On October 28, 1937, Valentina Grizodubova flew non-stop with Marina Raskova on an AIR-12 for a world record for women's long distance non-stop flight. On September 24-25, 1938, Grizodubova with Raskova and with Paulina Ossipenko set another world record with their a non-stop flight of 5,900 km from Moscow to Siberia in an ANT-37.


During World War II, Valentina Grizodubova commanded a bomber squadron. She also served as Chairman of the Women's Anti-Fascist Committee. She was awarded the Soviet Hero star, Soviet Red Star, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Lenin, and wore the medal of a member of the Supreme Soviet. An inspiration in her time and later, Valentina Grizodubova appears on a stamp of the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, the 1937 world record flight inspired a re-creation by two American women.


Note: because Russia did not move from the old-style to the new-style calendar until after Valentina Grizodubova's birth, her birthdate is sometimes listed as January 31.

I found this also: How many Russian women soldiers actually took part in combat in World War 2 and what did they do?

800,000 Russian women were part of the Red Army during WW2. None were to be made prisonner, because the Germans obeyed no war law. The Germans killed civilians and had no respect for the wounded or the prisonners. 3.3 million were made prisonner during the first 6 months and 2 million died after only a few weeks. Many Russian women were so pretty that the Germans amused themselves at seeing them evacuating their bunkers in the ground. (like rats they would say) The Germans obeyed the law of the 3 K (Kinder, Küche, Kirche) (children, kitchen, church) Because of this policy, no prisoners were taken amoungst them and they were killed on the spot.

Many women in the Russian Air Force were made night bombers,flying U-2 aircrafts that were just made of wood and fabric, but could fly low and precisely drop bombs or supplies for soldiers behind ememy lines. The planes were sent out minutes behind each other with planned destinations for each, cutting the engines and almost gliding through the air, successfuly surprising the Germans. The germans called them Night Witches.

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwiisoviets/Soviet_Women_and_World_War_II.htm



WikiAnswers - How many Russian women soldiers actually took part in combat in World War 2 and what did they do

 

If you have a look at this thread on the Forum http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-general/9625-women-role-world-war-two.html there are posts as well as links to a multitude of sites on women who served in many different roles in World War II.

Also, see here just for links: http://www.ww2f.com/information-req...research-i-e-family-history-5.html#post464660