Service and Dress Uniform
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WAFS Uniforms
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Civilian employees working for the Army Air
Forces were not required to wear any type of distinctive dress. However,
Nancy Love insisted on having her girls uniformed to receive a better attentiveness
in public and to boost the moral of her pilots with providing a smart uniform.
She ordered a local tailoring shop in Wilmington, Delaware to procure distinctive
uniforms for WAFS personnel. These uniforms had to be purchased privately
by the WAFS.
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Service and Dress Uniform
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The Service and Dress Uniform consisted of
a belted jacket with matching six-gore skirt or trousers made of grayish-green
wool serge.
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It was worn with a piped garrison cap made
of the same fabric. The garrison cap was in the same style as the men’s
garrison caps but had the front curtain fold on the left side.
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The single breasted jacket was closed with
four gray plastic buttons. It had two upper and two lower patch pockets
with buttoned pointed flaps. The jacket was equipped with a cloth belt
and shoulder loops. Additionally, it had sleeve stripes in dark grayish-green
color. |
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| The General Army Airforces Headquarters patch
was worn on the upper left sleeve. A half-circle tab with the letters WAFS
embroidered in blue was sewn below the AAF patch.
Above the left breast pocket, the Air Transport
Command / Ferrying Division (ATC/FD) wings were worn and the ATC/FD disk
on the shoulder loops.
A small pair of wings with the vertical silver
propeller, as used by the Air Corps, were pinned on the lapels of the jacket
and on the left front of the garrison cap. |
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The grayish-green WAFS uniform was worn with
a khaki shirt for duty and a white shirt for formal occasions. The collar
of the shirt was worn open over the uniform jacket.
Brown oxford shoes or plain brown pumps (if
the skirt was worn), brown leather gloves and a brown leather purse completed
the outfit. |
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WAFS Overcoat
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The gray woolen overcoat with buttoned-in lining was double-breasted
and was equipped with four pairs of gray plastic buttons. The coat had
a half belt on the back. It could be worn with a white scarf.
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WTFD and Early WASP Uniforms
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WTFD and early WASP Trainees
Uniform
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Like the WAFS, WFTD members were civilian employees of the Army
Air Forces. Therefore, they were not issued official Army uniforms but
had to wear civilian clothes. However, when the first class approached
graduation, requests about an official uniform for the WFTD arose.
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To keep the costs for the WFTD trainees low, it was decided that
they should wear private purchased khaki slacks with a short-sleeved white
shirt for graduation. The collar of the shirt was worn open and a men’s
khaki garrison cap without piping completed the outfit.
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Also, the WASP trainees wore this uniform nicknamed "General's White"
until the Santiago Blue WASP uniform was introduced.
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Note: WASP Wings on
this outfit
were only worn on Graduation Day |
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The white shirt with khaki slacks and cap combination
could be also worn with the A-2 leather jackets.
On the black and white picture
taken at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas, in 1944 are (from left to right)
Patricia Nethercutt, Beryl Owens, Jimmie Parker, unknown, Jeanne L. Norbeck,
and Frances Opavski. |
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Graduated WASP Uniforms
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After graduation, WASP assigned to the ATC/FD wore civilian clothes
at first. Later, the ATC/FD ordered to wear Army officer's "pinks and greens".
The "pinks and greens" consisted of combinations of light drab (pink) or
dark olive drab trousers and light drab (pink) or dark olive drab shirts.
A tan or olive drab tie was worn with the shirt and webbing belts in the
same colors were worn with the trouses. A light drab
(pink)or a dark olive drab men's garrison cap with gold-black officer's
piping completed the outfit.
The following insignia were worn with this uniform. The AAF General
Headquarter's patch was sewn on the upper left sleeve of the shirts. The
WASP wings were worn above the left breast pocket and a
small pair of wings with the vertical silver propeller, as used by the
Air Corps, were pinned on the lapels of the jacket and on the left front
of the garrison cap.
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Graduated WASP Summer Uniform
During warm weather, graduated WASP wore khaki shirt and khaki trousers.
A men's khaki garrison cap with gold-black officer's piping could be worn
with this outfit.
The Army Airforce General Headquarter's patch was sewn on the upper
left sleeve and the WASP wings were worn above the left breast pocket.
Pictures also show WAFS wearing khaki shirts and trousers but
with ATC/FD wings above the breast pocket. |
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WASP - Santiago Blue Dress Uniform
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WASP Dress Uniform
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Two very detailed pictures of the Santiago Blue Dress Uniform worn
by WASP Jeanne Lewellen Norbeck can be found at:
Atterbury Bakalar
Air Museum
Santiago Blue Dress Uniform, Pic-1
Santiago Blue Dress Uniform, Pic-2
Some pictures show WASP wearing their uniform improperly. For example,
not using the belt with the long jacket, having the shirt collar open and
outside the jacket or wearing the long jacket with the slacks which were
only intended to be worn with the battle dress jacket. |
.v |
Improperly worn Uniform
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[ I. Development ]..[
II. Facts about the WASP ]..[
III. Uniforms ]..[
IV. Sources ]
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