During their training, the women not only had to wear gas masks as they crawled under logs and jumped over trenches, but they also took courses. These courses were brought in to help women identify enemy ships, weapons, and aircraft. They also learned how to board a vessel, escape a boat, and climb rope. After their exhaustive four to six-week training in Georgia, they were sent to Camp Shanks, New York, by train to head overseas to Europe.
The first unit of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion boarded the ship Ile de France on February 3, 1945, for Europe. It was not long before they received a taste of war as on their journey, they came across Nazi U-boats which sent a German V-1 rocket exploding near their ship, making all the women run for cover. Once they arrived, they were not sent straight to the warehouses. Instead, the women were to march in a parade for Lieutenant General John C. H. Lee.
A few days after the parade, the second part of the Six Triple Eight arrived in Europe and the members of the unit headed to their first warehouse. Of course, the ladies had no idea what to expect so when they walked in for the first time; they were disappointed in what they saw. Not only were the warehouses dimly lit with no heat, but the warehouses were also packed from floor to ceiling with letters and packages.
On top of the massive backlog of mail, the women of the Six Triple Eight noticed that dozens of rats had taken over some packages which contained spoiled food, such as cakes and cookies. The windows were blackened out to protect people on the inside during nighttime raids. However, the women soon let go of their discouragement and remembered their motto of no mail, so they quickly got to work. Together the women, joined by some French civilians, figured out a system to sort the mail so they could send it to the right person.
The women, dressed in long johns and extra layers of clothing to keep warm, started investigating each piece of mail to redirect it. They created nearly seven million information cards which tracked each servicemember. To distinguish members with the same name, they went by numbers. With this system, the women processed over 65,000 pieces of mail during each shift, clearing six months of correspondence within three months. After Birmingham, the unit went off to Paris in October of 1945 and was then sent back to the United States and discharged in February of 1946.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (Women’s Army Corps).” Kathleen Fargey, U.S. Army Center Of Military History. February 2014.
“Meet the gallant all-black American female battalion that served in Europe during World War II.” Elizabeth Ofosuah Johnson, Face2FaceAfrica. September 2019.
“Skirted Soldiers”: The Women’s Army Corps and Gender Integration of the U.S. Army during World War II.” Melissa Ziobro, Historical Army Foundation. June 2016.
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