“With the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, women pilots went aloft to serve their nation. . . . A soaring tale in which, at long last, these daring World War II pilots gain the credit they deserve.”—Liza Mundy, New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls
“A powerful story of reinvention, community and ingenuity born out of global upheaval.”—Newsday
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Fort had escaped Nashville’s debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S. Army Air Forces put out a call for women pilots to aid the war effort, Fort was one of the first to respond. She became one of just over 1,100 women from across the nation to make it through the Army’s rigorous selection process and earn her silver wings.
The brainchild of trailblazing pilots Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) gave women like Fort a chance to serve their country—and to prove that women aviators were just as skilled as men. While not authorized to serve in combat, the WASP helped train male pilots for service abroad, and ferried bombers and pursuits across the country. Thirty-eight WASP would not survive the war. But even taking into account these tragic losses, Love and Cochran’s social experiment seemed to be a resounding success—until, with the tides of war turning, Congress clipped the women’s wings. The program was disbanded, the women sent home. But the bonds they’d forged never failed, and over the next few decades they came together to fight for recognition as the military veterans they were—and for their place in history.
The Women with Silver Wings is a well written and true history of the female Airforce service pilots (WASPs/WAFS) serving during WW2. Released 21st April 2020 by Crown Publishing, it's 448 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a meticulously researched and annotated history of the WASPs which includes photographs and documents. As a work of nonfiction, I found it readable and worthwhile. The author is adept at bringing the stories of the women to life and I found these tantalizing glimpses of their lives before and after their service to the war effort absolutely riveting. I hadn't heard much about what their service entailed or how it took until 1977 for most of them to be recognized and awarded the status their service deserved.
In addition to the meticulous research and writing, the book is comprehensively annotated with reference notes and documents for further reading. Many of the notes have links to web resources for more information. This would make a superlative selection for relevant classroom study in history or allied subjects including gender studies and women's history.
I found the in memoriam list of the names of the 38 women who lost their lives in service very touching. It was a nice addition to the book.
Five stars. Well worth a look.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
