A Contraband Camera: Photos Of World War II WASP (2024)
It's hard not to want to ask a million questions as you look through Lillian Yonally's World War II-era color photos of American female pilots in uniform. Female pilots in World War II? Flying bombers? In color? What was their story?
For those who weren't alive then, it can sometimes seem as if World War II took place in black and white -- no doubt the result of absorbing countless historical photographs. In contrast, Yonally's color shots, gauzy and toned with primary blues, greens and reds, look as if they were plucked from a daydream.
Lillian Yonally at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, in 1943. Courtesy of Lillian Yonally hide caption
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Courtesy of Lillian Yonally
Yonally, now 87, was one of about 1,100 young women in the Women Airforce Service Pilots, a short-lived military program known as WASP that trained civilian volunteers to fly planes stateside so men could report overseas for combat duty. The women, who were required to have previous flight experience, trained at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, and then were stationed at 120 Army air bases within the U.S.
NPR Photo Editor Coburn Dukehart and I interviewed Yonally to find out what it was like to be part of the first group of female military pilots. You can hear her talk about her experiences and view her rare color photographs in the slideshow below.
Yonally shot the photos from 1943-1944 at Avenger Field, when she was 21 and training as a WASP, and then at Camp Irwin in California, where she was stationed. At Camp Irwin, she would tow targets behind her plane so gunners on the ground could practice shooting -- with live ammunition. The groundbreaking WASP program was halted after just two years in large part because male civilian pilots lobbied for their jobs, but not before proving that women could fly. (They're being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Yonally will be there.)
Yonally's father gave her a camera, an Argus C3, which she said was considered contraband on base. It didn't stop her from shooting, though, and she took photos of her friends, the planes she flew and her instructors. She would mail the film back to Boston, and her dad would develop it into color slides. This way, she thought, her family could see what she was up to, and she would have a record of her experience waiting for her when she got home.
Lillian Yonally on the wing of a Douglas Dauntless during her service as a WASP. Courtesy of Lillian Yonally hide caption
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Courtesy of Lillian Yonally
Lillian Yonally on the wing of a Douglas Dauntless during her service as a WASP.
Courtesy of Lillian Yonally
And then there are the stories behind the photos themselves. One of a plane -- a BT-13 -- with a pink and purple sky bursting in the background was meant to show her family that she was up at dawn. Yonally, it turns out, was never known to get up early. Another is of a wishing well at Avenger Field, where the young pilots celebrated after passing tests. Another image shows Yonally in a jumpsuit and holding a US Air Corps mailbag --taken to show her family her new training attire.
We also wanted to know whether Yonally and her fellow pilots realized just how truly special the WASP program was. She got most excited while talking about the act of flying and about women in flight. She is clearly passionate about both, but Yonally is, like the other WASP featured in Susan Stamberg's story and those in an accompanying interactive, unassuming about her duty.
A BT-13 at sunrise at Avenger Field. Yonally took this photo to show her parents that she was getting up early for training. Courtesy of Lillian Yonally hide caption
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Courtesy of Lillian Yonally
"I don't think I took time to think about it," Yonally told us. "I just thought it was a wonderful opportunity, and we were very gung-ho for it."
Nevertheless, she says, the photos capture the start of showing "that women could do anything."
From 1943 to 1944, over 1,000 women flew over 60 million miles ferrying aircraft and personnel, towing targets, and other transport duties as part of the WASP. The WASP flew every military aircraft including Boeing B-17 and B-29 bombers.
Many images and other records can be located online in our National Archives Catalog. For additional select images of WWII, see: Pictures of World War II, Select List.
The Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) were a brave and dedicated group of aviators who helped the U.S. win the WWII battles in the air. They did not participate in combat directly.
This photo by Joe Rosenthal of the American flag being planted on Iwo Jima may be the Second World War's most iconic photo. Fifty years after the picture was taken, the Associated Press wrote that it may be the world's most widely reproduced.
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.
In the United States, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP) is a sociological term which is often used to describe white Protestant Americans of Northwestern European descent, who are generally part of the white dominant culture or upper-class and historically often the Mainline Protestant elite.
This site provides information regarding military personnel, health, and medical records stored at NPRC (MPR). If you are a veteran or next-of-kin of a deceased veteran, you may now use vetrecs.archives.gov to order a copy of your military records. For all others, your request is best made using a Standard Form 180.
There is no database that you can search to find an active-duty U.S. military member or retiree. But you may be able to contact them through their branch of service.
Contact organizations like the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, or American Ex-Prisoners of War to ask for a veteran's application, or to find people who might have known your veteran. VFW applications include a copy of the discharge papers form DD-214.
In 1944 bills in Congress to militarize the WASPs met with strong opposition from some individuals, including famed columnist Drew Pearson, and failed like other attempts. Due to political pressures and the increasing availability of male pilots, the WASPs were disbanded effective on Dec. 20, 1944, with no benefits.
After disbandment and the end of World War II, many former WASPs found integration into civilian life difficult. In 1949, WASPs were invited to join the newly-created Air Force Reserve, but only in a non-flying role.
The aviation industry saw the greatest increase in female workers. By 1943, 310,000 women worked in the aircraft industry, representing 65 percent of the industry's total workforce.
The image, known as Death of a Loyalist militiaman or simply The Falling Soldier, has become almost universally recognized as one of the greatest war photographs ever made.
In September 1942, after several times rejecting proposals to use qualified women pilots for flying duties, Army Air Forces Commanding General Henry H. Arnold agreed to form two groups designed to help meet the need for pilots to ferry aircraft.
From 1942 to 1944, more than 1,000 women were trained to ferry aircraft, test planes, instruct male pilots, even tow targets for anti-aircraft artillery practice. Despite serving with grit and determination, women pilots often encountered disbelief and resentment. Thirty-eight would give their lives.
Janet van Dyne debuted in Tales to Astonish #44 (plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by H. E. Huntley, and drawn by Jack Kirby, June 1963) as Henry "Hank" Pym's partner, becoming the Wasp to avenge the death of her father, scientist Vernon van Dyne. She co-starred in Tales to Astonish from issue #44 to issue #69 (1963–65).
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