World War II

Interview Contact: Barbara Chase

I went to interview Barbara Chase. She invited me into her living room and we started the interview. I asked her if she would tell me something about World War II. She started right off.

"Life became a bit more restricted. Meat and sugar was rationed, and each person was allowed five pounds of sugar every two and a half months. Gasoline was also rationed. "A" coupons were used for vacation driving. Vacationers could only drive 120 miles a month. And if cars from New England were spotted in Florida, they were reported to their local rationing boards, and vice versa, of course. "B" and "C" coupons were used for getting to and from work.

No washing machines or refrigerators were being made as factories had all been converted to turning out equipment needed by the armed forces.

My husband tried to enlist but was turned down as he had scared eardrums. But his three brothers were in the service, the war hit pretty close to home for us.

When the war started our country emerged from the Great Depression. There were no "Help Wanted" ads for months. All this began to change when the employers needed to replace the men that were in training camps overseas. Thousands of women entered the work force and took jobs in factories as well as joining the military service, where they became WACS [Womens Army Corps (other than nurses)] and WAVES [Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (woman in the Navy)].

New opportunities also opened up for black people, many of whom left the south and moved to big industrial cities like Detroit and Chicago. A look at the "Help Wanted" ads in 1944 show that wages for women were very low when compared with today. A machinery ship advertised for women to do vital work at $26.00 for a 48 hour week, pointing out that many of our women employees then made 60 to 70 cents an hour.

After the allies defeated the forces of Italy's dictator, Mussolini, they captured Rome. General Eisenhower opened a second front by crossing the English Channel on June 6, 1944, which is known as D-Day. From the shores of France, the Americans and British pushed on to eventually reach Berlin where they met up with the Russian troops, who were our allies. The war in Europe was finally over and Hitler's armies defeated.

Renee Cole