Published: November 09, 2009 11:35 pm      

‘Everyone wanted to help out’

Women describe homefront roles during World War II

CUMBERLAND — Sitting in a cement cellar for six hours only to come out and have sirens calling you back underground isn’t what many people are used to now-a-days, but that’s what Erna Bucklew remembers from her days in Germany.

“I lived in Munich, Germany, during World War II and we spent a lot of time in the cellar,” she said. “We would sit, talk, read and chew our nails. We just had to hope the house wouldn’t fall on our heads. It was miserable.”

Bucklew, who now lives at the Kensington Algonquin, was recruited to work in a German ammunition factory during that time, where she first started in the machine shop but later moved to the office area and performed clerical duties.

“I worked eight-hour days, sometimes 10,” she said. “And, having worked in a fur shop, it was hard to work with the machines. But it got easier when I moved to the office side and I worked there for the rest of the war.”

Three years afterward she met an American soldier, got married and moved to the United States, where she ended up working for the government.

Many other women all over the world were working in factories, taking care of families and homes while their husbands, brothers and children went off to fight.

Mildred Haag worked hard to support war efforts on the homefront.

“My husband and five of my brothers were in World War II,” she said. “And I worked for the Air Force. I started in Middletown, Pa., and then was sent to Buffalo, N.Y.”

Haag was an expeditor. When an aircraft needed a part, she was the one to get the call, ship it out to its respective place, make sure it was received so it could be installed into the plane, and she was expected to get all this done within 45 minutes to an hour.

“It was interesting and I sure did a lot of running around. But everyone worked, everyone wanted to work and to help out our boys,” she said. “But I enjoyed it. Every time I got a part out I felt like I was helping my husband.”

Maxine Rice was another working woman of World War II, making yarn for parachutes.

“I worked the reel,” she said. “You had bobbins of yarn which you tossed over a bar and that was my job.”

Rice said she only made 39 cents per hour, or $15 a week, with $5 going to her mother for board. She said she didn’t necessarily enjoy the work, but it was a way for her to make money and also help out with the war.

Velma Fowler, who worked in a wool mill in Parsons, W.Va., helped in the effort by making material and blankets for American troops. And though it was hard work, it was something she wanted to do to show her support.

“Everyone wanted to help out,” she said. “People got along then and we enjoyed doing things for one another. We were all on ration then, so when we had something we didn’t use, we would give it away. We also would write our boys, send them packages and just do all we could.

“It was a hard time; we had to do without,” Fowler said. “We worked hard, but we knew we were working for our boys.”

The women participated in a discussion of their roles being similar to the famous Rosie the Riveter at a program held Monday afternoon at the Kensington and then gathered for a group photo posing as Rosie.

Contact Tess Hill at thill@times-news.com.