Elizabeth Chambers (pilot)
Betty Chambers | |
---|---|
Born |
Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey August 25, 1920 Los Angeles, California U.S. |
Died |
May 11, 1961 40) Los Angeles, California U.S. | (aged
Nationality | United States |
Other names | Elizabeth Black |
Occupation | Women Airforce Service Pilots |
Elizabeth "Betty" Maxine Chambers (August 25, 1920 − May 11, 1961)[1] was one of the first female pilots in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program in which women took on non-combat flying duties so more male pilots were available for combat.[2][3] She was in WASP Class of 44-W-3 as part of the 318th Army Air Forces Flying Training Detachment.[4][5] She became a pilot shortly after her husband lost his life while flying, despite the fact that she had a new baby,[2] and was the only recent widow and mother to have served as a WASP.
Early life
Chambers was born in Los Angeles, California, to Samuel Cramsey and Gertrude Cramsey (née Hulse).[6] She grew up in Hollywood, California.[7][8][9]
Career
Prior to World War II Chambers worked for the Walt Disney Company and Universal Pictures, where she did post-production work that involved inking outlines for cartoon celluloid cells in preparation for painting during the picture process stage of film production.[3][7][10]
Chambers was married to Robert William Chambers, a United States Army pilot who had previously worked at Lockheed in the engineering department.[11] Later, during her service as a WASP, Chambers would be sent on a mission to tour a Lockheed plant.[12]
In 1942 during the war, Robert was killed in an aircraft crash.[13][14] After his death, Chambers and her baby moved in with her parents and she got a job as a telephone operator at Southern California Telephone Company.[3]
Chambers applied to be a WASP. She said: "Just the day before [my husband's] accident Bob had heard about the WASPs and he wanted me to fly ... in fact, he wanted to teach me, but it didn't work out that way. I love flying as he did, and I hope to be able to replace a man to do the job that Bob wanted to do."[10] She entered training on October 4, 1943, and graduated on April 15, 1944.[15]
Chambers trained at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, and then was sent to Turner Field in Albany, Georgia. She then attended the Army Air Force Tactical School in Orlando, Florida.[2][3] Chambers was stationed at Greenwood Army Air Field in Greenwood, Mississippi.[16] At Greenwood, Chambers accrued over 420 hours of flight time up until December 20, 1944.[17]
As a pilot she flew North American AT-6 advanced trainers, PT-17 biplane primary trainers, Beechcraft AT-10 twin-engineer trainers, and the BT-25.[18]
Chambers' service ended when the WASP program was disbanded at the end of 1944.[2]
After the war, Chambers worked at American Airlines at LaGuardia Airport in New York City until 1946. She eventually lost touch with the WASP community, a close-knit group who often held reunions and get-togethers.[19]
Honors
On November 2, 1977, President Jimmy Carter passed Public Law 95-202, which gave those that served in the WASP program military veteran status. They were previously considered civilians.[2] In July 2009, President Barack Obama signed a bill that gave the WASPs the Congressional Gold Medal.[20][21]
Personal life
In 1941, Chambers married Robert William Chambers, a United States Army pilot.[11] Their son, Robert Michael "Mike" Chambers, who was born in 1942, was in the 1943 movie Heaven Can Wait, playing Don Ameche's character as a baby.[10][22][23]
In 1947, she married Robert Edward Black, a lumberman.[6] She died in 1961.[24]
See also
References
- ↑ "Elizabet M Cramsey - California Birth Index". FamilySearch. 25 August 1920.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Today marks the 70th anniversary of the deactivation of the WASP program". National Archives and Records Administration. 20 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 Mattingly, Ashley (20 December 2014). "A WASP's Story". Prologue: Pieces of History. National Archives.
- ↑ "WWII WASP Graduates: WASP Class 44-3, 57 Graduates, 4/15/44". WWII Women Pilots - Women Airforce Service Pilots. 15 April 1944.
- ↑ "WASP Class 44-W-3". TWU Libraries. Texas Woman's University. 1944.
- 1 2 "Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey mentioned in the record of Robert Edward Black and Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey". FamilySearch. 29 December 1947.
- 1 2 "Betty M Cramsey - United States Census, 1940". FamilySearch. 1940.
- ↑ "'Don Ameche' Eats Crackers Frm WASP Table; Suffers Himself To Be Pawed By Trainees" (PDF). The Avenger: News from the "Mother-H ive" of the Army WASP's (Vol 1, No. 11). Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas: Texas Woman's University. 21 January 1944. p. 3.
- ↑ WASP Class Books 1944 (PDF). Texas Woman's University. pp. 22, 31, 51.
- 1 2 3 Darr, Ann (19 November 1943). "Betty Chamber's Son Played Don Ameche At Age Of One For Fox Films" (PDF). The Avenger: News from the "Mother-Hive" of the Army WASP's (Vol 1, No. 7). Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas. p. 3 – via Texas Woman's University.
- 1 2 "Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey mentioned in the record of Robert W Chambers and Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey". FamilySearch. 2 February 1941.
- ↑ "Betty Chambers, W-3 Tours Lockheed Plant" (PDF). The Avenger: News from the "Mother-Hive" of the Army WASP's (Vol 1, No. 19). Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas. 19 May 1944. p. 3 – via Women Air Service Pilots Digital Archive at Texas Woman's University.
- ↑ "Robert William Chambers California Death Index". FamilySearch. 10 September 1942.
- ↑ "2LT Robert William Chambers". Find a Grave. 10 September 1942.
- ↑ "44 W 3 Graduation Program" (PDF), Women Air Service Pilots Digital Archive, Texas Woman's University, p. 25, 2013
- ↑ "Greenwood AAF, Greenwood, Mississippi (250.42.1)". Texas Woman's University.
- ↑ "GAAF WASP History: Greenwood, Mississippi" (PDF). Texas Woman's University. 1944. p. 13.
- ↑ "Women Airforce Service Pilots: Elizabeth M. Chambers" (PDF). Women Air Service Pilots Digital Archive. Texas Woman's University.
- ↑ "Dan Cupid's Log Book: 1944 Classes" (PDF). WASP Newsletter: February 1946 (Vol 3, No. 1). Order of Fifinella. February 1946. p. 12 – via Women Air Service Pilots Digital Archive at Texas Woman's University.
- ↑ "WWII Female Pilots Honored With Gold Medal". All Things Considered. NPR. 10 March 2010.
- ↑ 123 Stat. 1958 Public Law 111-40: Women Airforce Service Pilots Congressional Gold Medal (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O. 1 July 2009. OCLC 437033643.
- ↑ "Robert Michael Chambers California Birth Index". FamilySearch. 11 June 1942.
- ↑ "Notes: Heaven Can Wait (1943)". Turner Classic Movies. 1943.
- ↑ "Elizabeth Maxine Black". Find a Grave. 11 May 1961.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elizabeth Maxine Chambers. |
- Elizabeth M. Chambers at the Women's Airforce Service Pilots Digital Archive at Texas Woman's University