CPL Maria Lewis Lamberton Oral History

title:

CPL Maria Lewis Lamberton Oral History

creator:

Lamberton, Maria Lewis (Barroll) (1923 April 12 - )

subject:

Women's Army Corps (WAC)

description:

Maria Lewis Lamberton (formerly Borrill) was born on April 12, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She and her four siblings grew up and went to school in Europe, and they all did a lot of volunteer work both in Europe and in the United States. After finishing school she worked at an importers’ shop, and it was while she was working here that she decided to join the military. She chose to join the Women’s Army Corps because she was too young to join other branches, enlisting in February 1944. She joined with her sister, and they went to basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia together. They spent the entirety of their service at the Air Force base in San Angelo, California, and she rotated through a variety of duties there as needed. This includes time in the Publications Department, time as a female investigator at the Provost Marshall’s Office to investigate claims of sexual assault made by WACs, and as a supply sergeant for their unit. She was discharged from Fort Des Moines, Iowa in December 1945 and returned to her job at the importers’ shop in Philadelphia. When the owner retired, she moved on to working at a dress shop. While working there, she was introduced o her husband by a mutual friend in 1948. He had gotten a job in San Francisco, California, so he proposed over the phone and drove to Philadelphia to get married. After their wedding, they lived in San Francisco briefly before moving to Hawaii and having four children there. After a few years, they moved to Connecticut and her husband commuted to work in New York. After moving a couple more times, they retired in Wilmington, North Carolina. When she left the service Lamberton had reached the rank of corporal, and for her service she was awarded an Army Good Conduct Medal, Women’s Army Corps Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Manchester, Margaret Peggy

date:

1994-10-06

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

51.032

source:

NSCD | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

NR

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1944-45

rights:

Unrestricted