Women Airforce Service Pilots

Women Air Service Pilots (WASP)
The WASP badge

Elizabeth L. Gardner, WASP member, at the controls of a B-26 Marauder
Agency overview
FormedAugust 5, 1943 (1943-08-05)
Preceding agencies
  • Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD), formed September 1942
  • Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), formed September 1942
DissolvedDecember 20, 1944
Employeesabout 2,500 accepted for training
1,074 completed training
Parent agencyUnited States Army Air Forces

The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots[2] or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots[3]) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became trained pilots who tested aircraft, ferried aircraft and trained other pilots. Their purpose was to free male pilots for combat roles during World War II. Despite various members of the armed forces being involved in the creation of the program, the WASP and its members had no military standing.

WASP was preceded by the Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) and the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). Both were organized separately in September 1942. They were pioneering organizations of civilian women pilots, who were attached to the United States Army Air Forces to fly military aircraft during World War II. On August 5, 1943, the WFTD and WAFS merged to create the WASP organization.[4]: 45, 49–50, 173 

The WASP arrangement with the US Army Air Forces ended on December 20, 1944. During its period of operation, each member's service had freed a male pilot for military combat or other duties. They flew over 60 million miles; transported every type of military aircraft; towed targets for live anti-aircraft gun practice; simulated strafing missions and transported cargo. Thirty-eight WASP members died during these duties and one, Gertrude Tompkins, disappeared while on a ferry mission, her fate still unknown.[5] In 1977, for their World War II service, the members were granted veteran status,[6] and in 2009 awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.[7][8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Cornwall Postmaster Ferried Warplanes in World War II," The Evening News, Oct 8, 1971, page 3a; "Women Pilots May Become Members of the Army Air Forces," The Reading Eagle, Nov. 1, 1943, page 20; "Veterans Begin Aid Fight," The Age, May 25, 1977, page 20; "Veterans Bill Advances," St. Petersburg Times, Nov. 4, 1977, page 3A; "Women in the military," Sarasota Harold Tribune, May 26, 1995, 5B; "Sunday's the Day for Washington Gals To Fly Somewhere for Breakfast," The Evening Independent, Jul. 31, 1947, page 6; "War Prisoner's Wife Enters Flying Group," Prescott Evening Courier, Jun, 16, 1944, page 8; and "Early Decision Pilots Her Through Life," Toledo Blade, Jan.10, 1975, page 10.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference kl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Ure, James (2017). Seized by the Sun: The Life and Disappearance of World War II Pilot Gertrude Tompkins. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-61373-590-9.
  6. ^ "WWII Female Pilots Honored With Gold Medal". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. March 10, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  7. ^ "Women Airforce Service Pilots Congressional Gold Medal". U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  8. ^ "Thune Recognizes Women Airforce Service Pilots from World War II". United States Senator John Thune. May 21, 2009. Archived from the original on December 24, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2013.