6888th All Black Female Battalion of WWII
By
John C Abercrombie
Today is day 2 of 31 devoted to the Women most often forgotten in history. They are our sisters and deserve recognition for their bravery and dedication.
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Link to the Tribute to women Amazing Black History 2023- This way to enlightment and pride.
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Since America came into being, Blacks have been involved in every war. On Amazing Black History, we go back to the American Revolutionary War with some of the following.
• Armistead, James Click here
• Black Founding Fathers Click here
• Bucks of America Click here
• Creswell, Wentworth Click here
• Dabney, Austin Click here
• Forten, James Click here
• Haynes, Lemuel Click here
• Hector, Edward “Ned” Click here
• Lee, William “Billy” Click here
• Poor, Salem Click here
• Salem, Peter Click here
• Whipple, prince Click here
These are some of the heroes of the American Revolutionary War. There are others, including Crispus Attucks, the first person of any race to die in that war.
In succeeding wars, Blacks have volunteered, and others were drafted, but they all fought with valor. With this in mind, we sometimes overlook the role of women, especially women of color who performed valiantly. Such a unit was the 6888 an all-Black, all women’s unit in World War II. They served in England and France accomplishing a vital role with extreme competence.
This unit was not recognized and honored until 75 years after they returned from serving overseas. Never mentioned, never honored until one-man Commander Carlton Philpot set out to recognize the unit. Thanks to the diligence of Mr. Philpot, we will never forget these well deserving heroes.
The Armed Forces found itself with a huge backlog of mail intended for the military, government and Red Cross workers serving in Europe. There were millions of pieces of mail in the backlog.
Many of these pieces of mail, letters and boxes, sent from home (USA) were stacked in warehouses and there was much more mail arriving daily. The problem included poorly addressed packages with limited information on them. Packages addressed to “Junior”, “US Army” or other nicknames such as “Buster”.
Many troops were simply being moved around and there was not an effective way of keeping up with these changes. There were 7 million troops serving and many had names in common. There were 7,500 men named Robert Smith for example.
One report acknowledged the problem “Since D-Day, an for a long time prior to that date, a shortage of qualified postal officers has existed within the European theater” The Postal Division sought additional officers by requisition. Although there were personal stationed in Birmingham, England the system was in chaos.
The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was created by President Franklin D Roosevelt in July 1943. There had been a Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps formed in 1942, but they did not have official military status.
As an official unit, new recruits underwent basic training including physical train and 4 to 12 weeks of specialized training. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights leader, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune (featured in a post on Amazing Black History) advocated for the admittance of Black women as enlisted personal. They were successful. Segregation was the practice, but after White women were sent to Europe, Black organizations pushed for the opportunity of Black women to serve. Again successful.
The United States practiced strict segregation with a strange twist. Black units were all Black, but other races had a choice of joining a White or Black unit. The 6888th as a result had one Hispanic woman.
In November 1944 a battalion of over 800 enlisted personnel and 31 officers, all Black women from the WAC, the Army Service Forces and the Army Air Force was created and designated as the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, they are often referred to as the “Six Triple Eight.”
Their training in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia included crawling under logs wearing gas masks and jumping over trenches. They learned to identify enemy aircraft, ships and weapons. They had to climb ropes to board and evacuate ships and do long marches with rucksacks.
Upon arriving in Birmingham, England they were faced with warehouses stacked to the ceiling with letters and packages. The buildings were unheated and due to the windows being blacked out to prevent showing in nighttime raids they were dimly lit. There was spoiled food which attracted rats. With no heating, they were forced to wear long johns, extra layers of clothes under their coats.
They were divided into units so they could work 8 hour shifts around the clock 7 days per week. This was before the days of computers and they kept track of mail recipients with about 7 million information cards. These cards had to include service numbers to avoid conflicts with members of the same name
Their duties including investigation of undeliverable items for clues to deliver it to the correct person and the sad duty of returning mail to servicemen who were deceased.
The Black women were subject to interest and great curiosity. Local citizens came to watch them, as well as British and American officials. Over time, they made friends with many local families who were actually polite and friendly. The women were welcome in pubic places and invited into many homes.
As you watch the accompanying videos, you will see that these brave women were treated with more civility than at home in America, the same as Black men who fought for America.
Their living quarters were as cold and uninviting as the work environment. All living quarters, the mess hall and recreational facilities were segregated by race and gender. With little thought or concern for them, they subjected to harsh conditions both on and off duty.
A local club for enlisted American military was operated by the American Red Cross, however, no facilities for established for Black women. Their leader, Major Charity Adams later Early led a boycott of the alternative segregated facilities. The women of the 6888th ran their own mess hall, hair salon, refreshment bar and other recreational facilities as a result of the treatment and lack of consideration by the Americans. They suffered food rationing and received a daily portion of Spam (a canned smoked pork product produced by Hormel and still available today).
The unit was noted for its exceptionally fine Special Services Program, the observance of military courtesies, grooming and appearance. Personal prejudices may have also been shown for example, the leader of the unit Major Charity Adams was reprimanded by a colonel for “race-mixing” after accepting an invitation to a White Officers Club. On another occasion Major Adams prevented a General from viewing the women’s private rooms while some were sleeping (remember they were working around the clock 7 days per week), the general threatened to send a White First Lieutenant to show her how to run a command. Major Adams’ famously replied, “Over my dead body, Sir”. This nearly earned her a court martial. The general later praised her and noted that she had stood up to him and that was the right thing to do.
They also discovered that their character was being impugned by soldiers who resented the fact that Black women were allowed to enter the Army.
The women of the 6888 developed a new tracking system and processed an average of 65,000 pices of mail every shift. Their motto was “No mail, low morale”.
Having solved the huge backlog in Birmingham, England, they were sent to France in June of 1945. They were invited to patriciate in a victory parade and were cheered and respected by the French. The unit’s WAC Military Police were denied firearms and instead trained in jujitsu and they demonstrated their proficiency in keeping away unwanted visitors.
In France, the women of the 6888th worked with male and female French civilians. They encountered a huge backlog of undelivered mail dating back 3 years. Which they handled.
In France they were able to participate in recreational actives including tennis, ping pong, softball and basketball. They were even able to compete against White WACs. They were traveling to Stuttgart, Germany and were denied seats on the segregated train. Lieutenant General John C H Lee delayed the trains departure to attach a special First-Class car for members of the 6888th.
While in France, 3 members were killed in a jeep accident, Sergeant Dolores M Browne, PFC Mary H Bankston and PFC Mary J Barlow. The War Department did not provide burial funds and the women of the 6888th had to pool their money to honor their deceased members. Major Adams had to write the families to inform them. They were buried with honors in the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. Only 4 women total are buried there.
February 1946, they returned to the United States and were disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey. No ceremony, no parade, no public appreciation, no official recognition to their accomplishments. They remained in obscurity until the efforts of Retired Commander Carlton Philpot to erect the monument in their honor and people became aware of their sacrifices for their country.
Commander Philpot has done yeoman’s work in the area of recognition of the Black military and has worked on several other monuments, including the Buffalo Soldiers. More on these later.
Sometimes we realize the power of one person having a mission and the guts to get it done and this is one case. Also, thanks to Tennille Bryant for her suggestions!
Keep in mind that America has failed miserably in recognizing Blacks in the military, treating them worse here than the foreign countries they served in. It should also be remembered that Prisoners of War who fought against the United States were afforded better treatment in America than the Black military fighting for the country.
update – Thee United States House of Representatives has just voted to award the 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian awards. However there are only 6 of the 855 members of the battalion still alive. Guess it is better late than never but it would have been so much sweeter if done in a timely manner.
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American Valor 2019: 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, as told by Tom Brokaw & Terry Crews
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Bitter Fruit: African American Women in World War II
Despite the participation of African American women in all aspects of home-front activity during World War II, advertisements, recruitment posters, and newsreels portrayed largely white women as army nurses, defense plant workers, concerned mothers, and steadfast wives. This sea of white faces left for posterity images such as Rosie the Riveter, obscuring the contributions that African American women made to the war effort. In Bitter Fruit, Maureen Honey corrects this distorted picture of women’s roles in World War II by collecting photos, essays, fiction, and poetry by and about black women from the four leading African American periodicals of the war period: Negro Digest, The Crisis, Opportunity, and Negro Story.
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Car Seat
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Elizabeth Bernice Barker Johnson, 6888th Central Postal Battalion (Full Interview)
Elizabeth Bernice Barker is a World War II veteran of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion of the Women’s Army Corps. Ms. Barker and her sisters in arms were members of an all-African American female unit responsible for sorting the backlog of mail to maintain the morale of Americans stationed in Europe.
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Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II (Women of Action)
2014 Amelia Bloomer Top Ten List
Double Victory tells the stories of African American women who did extraordinary things to help their country during World War II. In these pages young readers meet a range of remarkable women: war workers, political activists, military women, volunteers, and entertainers. Some, such as Mary McLeod Bethune and Lena Horne, were celebrated in their lifetimes and are well known today. But many others fought discrimination at home and abroad in order to contribute to the war effort yet were overlooked during those years and forgotten by later generations. Double Victory recovers the stories of these courageous women, such as Hazel Dixon Payne, the only woman to serve on the remote Alaska-Canadian Highway; Deverne Calloway, a Red Cross worker who led a protest at an army base in India; and Betty Murphy Phillips, the only black female overseas war correspondent.
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Women’s Pants
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Charity Adams, Oral History, 1990
Charity Adams was one of the first African American WAC Officers, graduating from the First WAAC Officer Candidate School in 1942. In 1945, she became commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which was the first and only black WAC unit to be stationed overseas during World War II.
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One Woman’s Army: A Black Officer Remembers the WAC (Texas A & M University Military History Series, #12) (Volume 12)
When America entered World War II, the surge of patriotism was not confined to men. Congress authorized the organization of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (later renamed Women’s Army Corps) in 1942, and hundreds of women were able to join in the war effort. Charity Edna Adams became the first black woman commissioned as an officer.
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PFC Deloris Ruddock, The Six Triple Eight (Full Interview)
PFC Deloris Ruddock enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in October 1943 in Washington, DC. She would be assigned to the history-making 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the first and only all-female African American unit deployed overseas during WWII. They were sent to Birmingham, England and Rouen, France to sort through the two year logjam of mail to send to American troops overseas.
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Tablet
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Fighting in the Jim Crow Army: Black Men and Women Remember World War II
Fighting in the Jim Crow Army is filled with first-hand accounts of everyday life in 1940s America. The soldiers of the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions speak of segregation in the military and racial attitudes in army facilities stateside and abroad. The individual battles of black soldiers reveal a compelling tale of discrimination, triumph, resistance, and camaraderie. What emerges from the multitude of voices is a complex and powerful story of individuals who served their country and subsequently made demands to be recognized as full-fledged citizens.
ABH – Fighting in the Jim Crow Army
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World War II- Major Charity Adams- 6888 Postal Battalion
The eight hundred WACs of the Army’s Central Postal Directory Battalion, the ‘Six Triple Eight,’ were stationed overseas and in charge of redirecting all ‘V-Mail’ for Europe. Major Charity Adams was the battalion’s commanding officer.
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Fatigues For Women
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Glory in Their Spirit: How Four Black Women Took On the Army during World War II (Women, Gender, and Sexuality in American History)
Before Rosa Parks and the March on Washington, four African American women risked their careers and freedom to defy the United States Army over segregation. Women Army Corps (WAC) privates Mary Green, Anna Morrison, Johnnie Murphy, and Alice Young enlisted to serve their country, improve their lives, and claim the privileges of citizenship long denied them. Promised a chance at training and skilled positions, they saw white WACs assigned to those better jobs and found themselves relegated to work as orderlies. In 1945, their strike alongside fifty other WACs captured the nation’s attention and ignited passionate debates on racism, women in the military, and patriotism.
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The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (Day 2)
*PFC Maybelle Rutland Tanner Campbell, PFC Elizabeth Bernice Barker Johnson, CPL Lena Derriecott Bell King, PVT Anna Mae Wilson Robertson, PFC Deloris Ruddock, Major Fannie Griffin McClendon, and Ms. Indiana Hunt Martin. Moderated by MAJ Patricia Locke.
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Vitamins For Women
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When the Nation was in Need: Blacks in the Women’s Army Corps During World War II
Now in Paperback. Some 6,500 black women volunteered to serve in the segregrated U.S. military during World War II. Data to tell the story of these women came from many sources, including archival records, manuscripts, documents, contemporary newspaper accounts and interviews, statements, and the personal files of those who served. With photographs, illustrations, tables, and a bibliography.
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Again Thanks for the outstanding work of Carlton Philpot.
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