Kathryn J. Atwood - Women Heroes of World War II: 32 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue

N oor Inayat Khan was the first female radio operator sent into occupied France and transferred crucial messages to the Resistance. Johtje Vos, a Dutch housewife, hid Jews in her home and repeatedly outsmarted the Gestapo. Law student Hannie Schaft became involved in the most dangerous resistance worksabotage, weapons transference, and assassinations. Soviet pilot Anna Yegorova flew missions against the Germans on the Eastern Front in an all-male regiment, eventually becoming a squadron leader. In these pages, young readers will meet these and many other similarly courageous women and girls who risked their lives to help defeat the Nazis.

Thirty-two engaging and suspense-filled stories unfold from across Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain, the United States and, in this expanded edition, the Soviet Union, providing an inspiring reminder of women and girls refusal to sit on the sidelines around the world and throughout history.

An overview of World War II and summaries of each countrys entrance and involvement in the war provide a framework for better understanding each womans unique circumstances, and resources for further learning follow each profile. Women Heroes of World War II is an invaluable addition to any students or history buffs bookshelf.

OTHER BOOKS IN THE WOMEN OF ACTION SERIES

Bold Women of Medicine by Susan M. Latta

Code Name Pauline by Pearl Witherington Cornioley, edited by Kathryn J. Atwood

Courageous Women of the Civil War by M. R. Cordell

Courageous Women of the Vietnam War by Kathryn J. Atwood

Double Victory by Cheryl Mullenbach

The Many Faces of Josephine Baker by Peggy Caravantes

Marooned in the Arctic by Peggy Caravantes

Reporting Under Fire by Kerrie L. Hollihan

Seized by the Sun by James W. Ure

She Takes a Stand by Michael Elsohn Ross

This Noble Woman by Michael Greenburg

Women Aviators by Karen Bush Gibson

Women Heroes of the American Revolution by Susan Casey

Women Heroes of the US Army by Ann McCallum Staats

Women Heroes of World War I by Kathryn J. Atwood

Women Heroes of World War IIthe Pacific Theater by Kathryn J. Atwood

Women in Blue by Cheryl Mullenbach

Women in Space by Karen Bush Gibson

Women of Colonial America by Brandon Marie Miller

Women of Steel and Stone by Anna M. Lewis

Women of the Frontier by Brandon Marie Miller

A World of Her Own by Michael Elsohn Ross

Copyright 2019 by Kathryn J. Atwood

Foreword copyright 2019 by Muriel Phillips Engelman

All rights reserved

Second edition

Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-64160-006-4

The Library of Congress has cataloged the first edition as follows:

Atwood, Kathryn J.

Women heroes of World War II : 26 stories of espionage, sabotage, resistance, and rescue / Kathryn J. Atwood. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-55652-961-0 (hardcover)

1. World War, 19391945WomenBiographyJuvenile literature. 2. World War, 19391945Participation, FemaleJuvenile literature. 3. World War, 19391945Underground movementsJuvenile literature. I. Title.

D810.W7A85 2011

940.54850922dc22

2010041830

Interior design: Sarah Olson

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

To my cheering section,

John, Muriel, Helen, Gary, and Carol

And my inspirations,

Aaron, Jeremy, Hannah, and Abby

I dont consider I did anything extraordinary. I did it because I wanted to, because it was useful, because it had to be done.

PEARL WITHERINGTON

The righteous are as bold as a lion.

PROVERBS 28:1

IN HER WOMEN HEROES titles, Kathryn Atwood has performed a commendable service by bringing to light the heroic exploits of many women during the wars of the past century. Often, once a war is over and the initial euphoria of loved ones returning home has passed, people strive to simply get on with their lives, and the memories remain bottled up. The personal sacrifices and dangers veterans encountered are all in the pastuntil someone interested enough in war history, such as Kathryn, delves in and uncovers heretofore unknown or unpublicized acts of bravery.

As a World War II army nurse returnee, I spent my first three weeks at home closeted in my bedroom, mounting hundreds of black-and-white photos of my war into an album and adding captions to each one. I didnt want to forget, nor have I, the bombed-out homes bordering our tent hospital or our partially destroyed tents hit by buzz bombs or the ambulances unloading wounded soldiers. There were photos of good times, too, and I didnt want to forget those either. I just hoped that someday when I had a family of my own, they would be interested in my album of memories. And yet when that day arrived, Elvis and the Beatles were much more interesting to my kids than a walk through Moms past.

I and my fellow nursing classmates were in our third and final year of nurses training in 1941 when we heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. I was reaching into the crib of one of my young patients on Pediatrics when an upper classmate rushed by, calling out, Pearl Harbor was bombed! Pearl Harbor? We didnt even know where or what it was.

We learned soon enough, huddled around the radio the following day in the Doctors Room on Pediatrics, as we solemnly listened to President Roosevelts famous Date of Infamy speech, spelling out how the Japanese had bombed the U.S. Navy base in Hawaii. That speech appealed to the sense of unity and patriotism that immediately swept the country. Men rushed to enlist in some branch of the military. Most of my classmates and I determined that as soon as we graduated we would also enlist, for surely nurses would be needed. And they were.

This second edition of Women Heroes of World War II contains six new profiles of women who were all in some way connected to the military. In the United States alone, nearly 350,000 women served in the military during World War II, at home and abroad. Some of us in the Army Nurse Corps went overseas. My own story, contained in this book, brought me and my fellow army nurses to Belgium, where we worked in a tent hospital nursing the wounded of the Battle of the Bulge and other battles.

Some American women, like fly girl Hazel Ying Lee, whose story is included in this new edition, trained as Women Airforce Service Pilots and flew military aircraft across the country. Others volunteered for the Womens Army Corps, the Navy Womens Reserve, the Coast Guard, the Army Nurse Corps, and the Navy Nurse Corps. Women drove trucks, repaired airplanes, worked as laboratory technicians, rigged parachutes, and served as radio operators.