Shore salt: First Naval District Women's Reserve news monthly

              VOL. 2, No. 8
FIRST NAVAL DISTRICT WOMEN'S RESERVE NEWS MONTHLY
EVES' OF ARMED FORCES
WERE YEOMANETTES
World War 1 Veterans Still
Serving Navy Today
by Mary Condon, Lt.   (jg)
The first women to serve in the armed
forces of the United States on an equal
footing with men, were the group known
as the Yeoman (F) popularly called Yeo-
manettes. There were 10,004 of them who
served with distinction in World War One.
Six members of this group are now on the
13th deck doing today, as civilians, much
the same work as they did in the last war.
NO LAW
The Yeomanettes came into being without act of Congress, not after, but shortly
before our entrance into the last war. An
acute shortage of clerks and stenographers
just led the Secretary of the Navy, who
was then Josephus Daniels, later Ambassador to Mexico, to enquire, "Is there
anything that says a yeoman has to be a
man?" Thus in that emergency women
were enrolled as yeoman, the distinction
between the sexes being marked by adding
the letter "F" to the female yeoman.
These women together with 1713 nurses
and 209 marinettes were the only women
on the same footing with men, given all
allowance and pay and clothing outfits
given to the men of like rank. They are
the only women eligible to membership
in the American Legion and the only
women who received the bonus to veterans
of World War One.
ALL TYPES OF GIRLS
The girls came from every walk of life,
—there were school teachers, debutantes,
clerks, and librarians. They walked right
on the job without indoctrination, training, or uniforms. They filled vacancies
in the city in which they were sworn, or
neighboring stations. Some of the girls
worked in the Navy Yard, some in Personnel, a very few in Communications and
in the medical service. In the flurry of
the war no one seems to have gotten
to defining their position or to setting up
rules governing their conduct. Even after
the uniforms were established they didn't
have to wear them after hours. No one
cared how far they might venture out
in the harbor. Many of the girls from
wealthy families served without pay. In
a way the women did everything in the
Navy except go to sea, and that they
would have loved to do. In some Navy
Yards in the country they not only did
paper work but were assigned to recruiting duty, organized drill teams, learned
the manual of arms and sold liberty bonds.
(Continued on page 4)
iMEN'S RI
AUGUST 15, 1944
Boston Waves Celebrate Second Anniversary with Diversified Activities
Cutting the WAVES' Second Anniversary Birthday Cake is Rear Admiral Robert A.
Theobald, Commandant of the First Naval District with Chef DiMatteo supervising
the procedure. Lieut. Edith M. Carson and Capt. John Barleon are looking on with
intense interest.
WAVES in Boston celebrated their
Second Anniversary this year in their
newly commissioned barracks at 20 Charles
St., formerly the Hotel Lincolnshire.
Three days activities at these barracks
included luncheons, teas, parties and open
house.
At 1200 on 26 July 1944 a luncheon was
given for members of the press. Open
house was held from 1600 to 2100 on the
26th and 27th of July, with parents,
friends, relatives and "Just curious" people getting a glimpse of G. I. Jane's new
home.
Photographs of WAVES at their different types of work were exhibited and enlisted women were on hand to explain the
duties of their particular ratings. Of
special interest was a group from N. A. S.,
Squantum, Mass., who flashed their ratings
of Aviation Mecs, Parachute Riggers, Control Tower Operators and Recruiters and
aroused much envy among their sister-
WAVES   wearing   more   prosaic   "crows".
WAVES from the U. S. Naval Frontier
Base displayed the spirit of the Navy in
song. Among the selections rendered
were the familiar "Waves of the Navy",
"Anchors Aweigh", and other melodies
remembered by WAVES in boot camp and
at bases throughout the country.
Fargo barracks furnished a small orchestra (composed, of course, of sailors),
which supplied soft, "between-the-acts"
music;  Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, etc.
The quarterdeck was the busiest section
of the ship and served as the reception
center for more than one-thousand visitors during the activities at the barracks.
Floral decorations, which were arranged
so beautifully by Mrs. Thorvald S. Ross,
sister of Lt. Harriet Parker, were donated
by the Waltham Field Station of the State
Department of Agriculture. They were
especially noteworthy and created an atmosphere reminiscent of home.
More formal and more spectacular ac-
(Continuea on page 3)