AMM1 Audrey C. Gilmour Oral History Tape 1, Side A

title:

AMM1 Audrey C. Gilmour Oral History Tape 1, Side A

creator:

Gilmour, Audrey Walker (Campbell) (1923 - )

subject:

Navy WAVES

description:

Tape 1 of 2, side 1 of 2. This is the original, unedited interview audio. Audrey W. Gilmour (formerly Campbell) was born on August 13, 1923 near Glasgow, Scotland. At three and a half, she emigrated to the United States with her mother and sister, reuniting with her father who had come earlier to establish the household. She grew up in Irving, New Jersey and went to local schools, graduating from high school in the area and going to a year of secretarial school. She then began working for a bank and a machine tool company, but she didn’t enjoy secretarial work. One day while working at the machine tool company, she saw an article describing the Navy WAVES and enlistment process. She and a friend applied at the same time, and she was sworn in December 1942. After taking all of the Navy aptitude tests, they tried to make her a secretary since she had already worked in the field, despite her perfect score on the mechanical aptitude test. She told them she did not want to be a secretary, and instead she joined the first class of women to be trained as aviation machinist mates. This training was at the Naval Air Technical Training Center in Memphis, Tennessee and took six months to complete. After a slight delay from being hospitalized with athlete’s foot, she finished training in Norman, Oklahoma and was stationed at Whiting Field in Pensacola, Florida. Her duties as a “plane captain” was largely distributing oil that had to be done each morning by rotating the propeller, which she could hardly reach at 5 foot 2 inches. She would prepare and start the plane for combat pilots being trained there and guide it out using hand signals. When the plane returned, she would guide it into the chocks, then climb on the wing to refill the gas tank. The aviation machinist mates were required to fly 6 hours a month, which she loved so much she’d do it for herself and friends who didn’t enjoy flying. After V-E Day, WAVES were able to go to Hawaii and she worked in salvage and repair on Ford Island. She became a propeller specialist after her chief saw the civilian she was paired with ruining a crankshaft and asked if she could do his job instead. She was discharged in 1945, and although she didn’t plan on using the GI Bill, after trying to get a mechanic job at the Newark Airport and getting laughed out, she reconsidered. She took a year’s worth of high school courses to get all her credits, then attended Drew University in Madison, New Jersey and the University of Vermont for two years each. She then got a Fulbright fellowship to the University of Edinburgh. After finishing there, she had trouble getting a job for awhile until working at Bell Labs. She met her husband there and married in 1957. When she left the service, Gilmour had reached the rank of aviation machinist mate 1st class, and for her service she was awarded and American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal. No transcript of this interview s currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Binker, Mary Jo

date:

2003-03-19

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

342.01; 2002.342

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

495738

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1942-45

rights:

Unrestricted