Fly Girls – Part 3 – Two proposals

SitRep-

Picture it. May 1940.

Europe is on fire.

The Nazi flag flies over Paris and the Germans look across the English Channel to the west. Depending on where they are and the weather, they can even see England. Moves have been made against some the islands the English own.

And now waves of Nazi fighters and bombers are pounding that island nation.

German submarines are sinking shipping bound to England in droves.

And in the United States, the war is here.

Men are being called away from the factories and farms. There are lines at the enlistment offices. Men are boarding trains for training facilities so new that you can still smell the paint in the buildings.

In factories, managers are wondering how they’re going to fill vacant positions.

And women are ready to help.

The proposals-

Nancy’s proposal

“What do you think?” Nancy Love asked her husband.

Robert Love reviewed the letter. He read through it once, and then a second time. “I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t go for it,” he said.

He read through it one last time before handing it back.

Dear Col. Olds,

It’s come to my attention that there aren’t enough pilots to deliver airplanes from the factories to the bases. I think I have a way of fixing that.

I know forty-nine women who are pilots. Each has over a thousand hours of flight time in different airplanes. They would be more than happy to work to help fill the need.

In the attached plan, you’ll find a proposal to use women to fly and deliver the aircraft where needed.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance or answer any questions.

Sincerely,

Nancy Harkness-Love

“I’d post it,” he suggested.

Nancy had it in the mail within the hour.

Col. Olds liked the plan. He submitted it with a rather more detailed addition to integrate female pilots into the Ferrying Command. The plan arrived on the desk of General Hap Arnold, Commanding General of the Army Air Corps. He reviewed it and then turned it down flat.

He’d already promised Jackie Cochran that he’d veto any plan that didn’t make the women commissioned officers.

But circumstances change things.

Jackie’s Plan

Not long ago, I saw the movie Justice League. In it, Barry Alan asks Bruce Wayne what his superpower was. Bruce’s response is true. “I’m rich.”

Having money is a superpower. It can make things happen.

And it certainly did for Jackie. Being married to one of the richest men in America opened doors. Lots of them. One of those doors was Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady. In a meeting with Mrs. Roosevelt, she laid out a plan to use women to ferry aircraft to wherever they needed to go. What she envisioned was a military unit. The women would all be commissioned officers and she would be charge. She envisioned something like the six triple eight under Maj. Hobby.

Mrs. Roosevelt was intrigued and put her in touch with General Hap Arnold.

Soon enough, Jackie Cochran had her meeting with Arnold.

“I’ve seen similar proposals,” General Arnold said in the meeting.

“I’m sure you have,” Jackie replied. “But any proposal that doesn’t give my ladies a commission isn’t worth considering.”

I can almost picture General Arnold leaning back in his chair. She had a valid point. He also knew it would be a hard sell. “You know, the Brits are doing something similar to what you’re proposing.”

“That’s what I’ve heard.”

“Would you consider taking you and some of your ladies over there. Study how they’re doing things and then lets build that into the proposal?”

“I would,” Jackie said. “Just don’t green light anything that doesn’t give a woman a commission or put a woman in charge.”

“That I can do,” Arnold assured her.

Her and several of her girls flew to England and studied their program. they studied how it was set up and were getting some good ideas for the program.

And that’s when things went to heck.

Cochran was in pub talking with one of her British counterparts when one of her pilots came in.

“We’ve got a problem,” she said and handed her a dispatch.

“What!” Jackie exclaimed after reading it. “He promised this wouldn’t happen until after I got back.”

She reread the dispatch. Nancy Loves idea was adopted and implemented. The WAFS (Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron) had been born.

“Pack up,” she said. “We’re going home.”

The minute she was back in the states, Jackie Cochran went to the nearest phone and made a call.

“General Arnold, please,” she said when the secretary answered. “Tell him it’s Jackie Cochran.”

She was nice to the secretary.

She’d be livid with General Arnold.