Chapter 16

December 1944

 

News of the closing down of the Women Airforce Service Pilots organization came as a sudden shock to Emily and Madge in California. They were both stunned.

“General Arnold shut the program down?” asked Madge.” How can he do that?”

The reason he gave was that skilled male pilots were returning from the war, so they are in and we are out,” replied Emily as if it were a simple matter of fact.

“There are dozens of B-25 bombers and P-51 pursuits lined up waiting for delivery. I do not see any male pilots around here that are qualified to fly them,” said Madge, as she waved her arm in the direction of the aircraft.

“Apparently, the WASP organization officially shuts down on December 20. General Arnold made the announcement a couple of weeks ago at the graduation ceremony at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, officially the last class to graduate from Avenger Field. He also admitted in his closing speech that women can fly airplanes as well as men, he is proud of all of us, we did a great job,” scoffed Emily with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

“That wasn’t much notice,” grumbled Madge.

“Oh, he wanted us all to be home in time for Christmas,” smiled Emily with a continued hint of sarcasm.

“Very considerate of him” replied Madge matching Emily’s distain.

“At least he admitted that women can fly as well as men can, that was a complete change of opinion compared to what he said in 1941 when he told Jackie Cochran that he didn’t think that a young slip of girl could handle a single engine trainer aircraft never mind a four-engine bomber in bad weather. I do not think that his positive comments about our flying ability will help us to find other jobs as pilots in the near future. Our career ferrying military aircraft has come to an abrupt end,” said Emily.

Emily was at a loss as to what she would do after December 20 when the WASP organization officially disbanded. She would not think about it today. She would continue delivering the aircraft as scheduled until December 20, which was two weeks away.

December 20^th came too soon as Emily and Madge had suspected. All the women of the WASP had to find their own transportation back to their homes. Once again, treated without the respect they had earned. Emily was not ready to go back home yet. The war was not over; she felt that she still needed to do something for the war effort. She would talk to Jackie Cochran; maybe there were jobs to do back at Avenger Field to help close down the operation. If Jackie did not have a job for her, she could most likely sail back to England to rejoin the ATA until the war ended. That was a possibility thought Emily.

She mentioned the idea of re-joining the ATA to Madge, but Madge’s fiancé, an engineer, and top turret gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress had returned to the USA to sell war bonds. The crew of the ‘Memphis Belle’ was the first USAAF heavy bomber to complete twenty-five missions over Europe. The captain named the B-17 after his wartime girlfriend who was from Memphis Tennessee. The crew would fly the B-17 Flying Fortress across the USA not only to sell war bonds, but also as a morale building inspiration for the home front. These men symbolized to the American people the courage of all the men who flew these bombers over the skies of enemy territory every day. Madge did not want to leave the USA; she was hoping that the war would end soon, so her fiancé would not have to return overseas and they could finally get married.

Emily thought she might meet up with Gene overseas, she was leaning more toward the idea of going back to England.

Emily’s mother was not happy when she wrote a letter to tell her parents that she might go back to England to re-join the ATA until the war was over. She explained that the WASP had disbanded and she wanted to continue to do her bit for the war effort.

Emily began arranging her departure for England, when she received a letter from her British friend, Sarah Randal of the ATA. Sarah wrote in her letter that the ATA would soon disband because the Normandy invasion had altered the war, the RAF did not need as many fighters or bombers to fight the Germans. The military refused to give permission to the women pilots to fly to Europe to deliver medical supplies as well as other items needed by the service men. They allowed only male pilots to fly to Europe because they felt that it was too dangerous for the women. The male ferry pilots would return to England with POW or seriously wounded soldiers who required immediate medical treatment or hospitalization.

Most of the women pilots had already quit the ATA; aircraft production had dropped off considerably. The women who remained in the ATA, as Sarah decided to do could deliver the airplanes to the north of England for the male pilots to fly to Europe.

“This is not fair,” Emily said, aloud, as she read the letter. The women pilots of the ATA in England as well as the WASP in the USA had proven themselves as competent pilots. Now it was over for all of them, it ended as quickly as it had begun, they served their purpose, now, back to domestic life, cooking and cleaning.

Emily did not mind that the WASP did not receive military status that Jackie Cochran had worked so hard to attain for the pilots, but she hated the way the organization ended so abruptly with such short notice. She realized that it would end someday, but she expected to continue flying at least until the war ended.

Since traveling to England to re-join the ATA was no longer an option, Emily spoke to Jackie Cochran about a job. The best Jackie could do was hire Emily to assist Mrs. Deaton once again, this time it was to help close down the program at Avenger Field, so in January, Emily returned to Avenger Field. It would only take a couple of months to pack up everything and store it, but it would keep her busy for a while and give her some extra money.

The good news was that it looked as though the Germans were in defeat; the Allies were pushing their way into Germany. A few days after she arrived at Avenger Field a disturbing letter finally reached her from Gene telling her that the Germans had managed to zero in on his fighter plane. A Messerschmitt shot him in the tail of his P-51, but he managed to bail out over France, where a French family rescued him. He expected to come home soon. He was in pain so it was difficult to write; a nurse would finish writing the letter for him. Emily was happy to hear he was coming home, but concerned about his injury. He did not give all the details in the letter of what had happened or how severe the injuries were that he received. She figured if he was coming home that it must be serious.

He wrote in the letter that he had met Wing Commander Edward Randal at the officers club at Biggin Hill as well as Flight Lieutenant Robert Duncan, but he had not met her friend Sarah Randal. Occasionally, he joined Edward and Robert at the London clubs, but not often.

Then he added, you will never believe this, but I saw the note that you left in the P-51 Mustang. He noticed it pinned to the bulletin board at the American base where they delivered the P-51 Mustangs from the USA. He thanked her, saying that not only did it lift his spirits, but also the spirits of every pilot who read it. It was good to know that American people back home were thinking of the USA pilots overseas. Emily could not believe it! Gene had actually read her note. She smiled to herself as a tear trickled down her cheek. Miracles do happen she thought. He was alive, although wounded; probably on his way home, any day now and he had read her note.

Emily decided to visit Gene’s parents; they probably knew more about the seriousness of his wounds. The next day was Sunday; Emily arranged a ride into Sweetwater with one of the dining staff who lived in Sweetwater; her assignment was to take inventory and pack all the utensils in the dining area at Avenger Field.

She walked up the front steps of the large inviting porch and wrapped on the ornately carved wooden front door. The door opened and she came face to face with Gene who was on his way out. They were both so surprised and happy to see each other they were speechless for a moment. Gene invited her into the house as they kissed and embraced. She noticed that he only put one arm around her, but did not want to mention it at that moment. Then they both started to talk at once.

Gene said, “I was just coming over to Avenger Field to ask someone if they knew where you could be reached.”

Emily said, “I came here to ask your parents if they had any information about when you were coming home.”

They both laughed, then they heard Gene’s mother ask, “Who is it dear?” as she walked from the kitchen to the front door drying her hands on her apron.

“Emily!” she exclaimed in surprise, “It’s good to see you again.”

Emily barley heard her as she was still trying to get over the shock of seeing Gene after such a long time.

Mrs. Crenshaw ushered them into the front parlor where Gene’s father sat in his favorite chair reading the evening newspaper as he puffed on his pipe. He put the paper aside as he stood to greet Emily saying that he was happy to see her again.

They chatted while Gene tried to think of a way to be alone for a while with Emily, when everything started to work in his favor. After a half hour of socializing, Mr. Crenshaw excused himself explaining that he had some paperwork to do for the pharmacy that was required for tomorrow. Mrs. Crenshaw, looked at her watch exclaiming, “Oh dear, look at the time. I am late for my meeting with ladies auxiliary at the church.”

Alone at last, thought Gene. He sat closer to Emily taking her hand in his; they had so much to tell each other. They started talking at the same time again, laughed and decided to kiss instead.

They talked for hours in the parlor. Emily was curious about how Gene had received his wounds; he was still favoring his left arm.

Gene answered, “It is a long story, and it is getting late. Then he quickly changed the subject asking Emily if she would like to have dinner with him tomorrow evening. They agreed that he would pick her up at 7:00 PM at Avenger Field. He would take Emily to his favorite restaurant, a small family run business that served delicious home cooked food just outside of Sweetwater. After dinner he would explain to her how he was shot down in his P-51 Mustang by a German Messerschmitt ME-109.”

“I am scheduled for more surgery and therapy in a hospital here in the USA because I have limited movement in my arm.” He demonstrated as he attempted to lift his arm.

“I am glad you are safe, it could have been a lot worse,” replied Emily.

Gene explained, “I will start to instruct new recruits on the P-51 Mustang for the USAAF as soon as I am fit to do so.”

“I am happy to hear that,” answered Emily. “It is great to have you back home.”

They silently embraced each other for a long time.

Gene asked, “What about you? Are you still with the WASP?”

Emily answered sadly, “General Arnold disbanded the WASP organization on December 20th last year. I am back at Avenger Field helping to tie up some loose ends with the paperwork. I will not be there for long, possibly another two weeks.”

“What will you do then?” asked Gene.

“I not sure what I will do, I will probably go back home to see my family, I suppose I will take some time to think about it,” replied Emily.

Some of the WASP has formed the ‘Order of Fifinella.’ The purpose of the organization is to circulate information on the WASP Newsletter about re-employment opportunities, as well as to maintain communication among the WASP. They hope to form a unified organization to influence legislation and potential employers in aviation. There is a list of possible job opportunities in the Red Cross and one for an aircraft inspector, but the positions disappear quickly.

“I am certain I won’t be flying any more combat missions with my shoulder injury. I think I am destined to train new pilots for the duration of the war,” declared Gene unhappily.

Emily could sense his feeling of disappointment.

“When I finish college after the war is over, perhaps we could have a future together,” he suggested shyly.

Emily smiled at him asking, where would we live?

“Anywhere they need a pharmacist,” he answered.

They both laughed as they embraced each other. Emily was happy to hear Gene say that he would live anywhere. Emily was only in Sweetwater because she had to be here. Sweetwater was not the place where she wanted to spend the rest of her life. She did not have to live in Fort Worth either, but definitely not Sweetwater.

“It sounds like a good plan,” answered Emily.

“So,” asked Emily, “You are unofficially asking me to marry you?”

“Yes, I am,” answered Gene smiling.

Emily smiled back, “Then my answer is yes, unofficially of course.” They kissed for a long moment to seal their commitment to one another.

“I promised my parents that I would finish college before I got married,” said Gene as he lowered his head. “So I cannot tell them about our plans, I hope you understand.”

Emily nodded her head in agreement, but she was not sure that she did understand. She felt there was something that Gene was not telling her. Maybe he did not want to tell his parents about their engagement because there was another woman that they preferred Gene to marry. Conceivably, she was a woman in his home town of Sweetwater; she probably belonged to their church. The Crenshaw’s were always pleasant to her, but she sometimes felt that they thought Gene and her were just casual acquaintances. His sister did mention a woman who was a nurse overseas, who would return soon, but no one added anything else about her. Gene went quiet after the mention of her name. Emily did not think much about it at that time.

I guess it is a secret engagement, she thought to herself. She decided that she should not tell her parents about their plans either, at least until after the war. The war seems to put everyone’s life on hold, thought Emily.

The time had flown by; it was starting to get late. Emily had to return to Avenger Field, so Gene borrowed his father’s car to drive Emily back to the base. Gene parked the car in the parking area; he got out of the vehicle and walked around to the other side to open the passenger door for Emily. As Emily slid out of the seat, he confirmed that he would pick her up at seven o’clock the following evening. They started to walk back to the barracks hand in hand. This was not acceptable when Avenger Field was operational with the WASP training program. Now, it did not matter. The WASP no longer existed. They kissed goodnight and held each other tight. When they finally parted, Emily waved goodbye as Gene walked back toward the parking area to his father’s automobile.