Elizabeth W. Shipley Oral History

title:

Elizabeth W. Shipley Oral History

creator:

Shipley, Elizabeth "Betty" (Williamson) (1916 October 4 - 2007 October 15)

subject:

Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP)

description:

Elizabeth “Betty” Shipley (formerly Williamson) was born on October 4, 1916 in San Guaina, Philippines Islands. Her family lived there until she was seven, when they moved to Hollywood, California so she could go to school. They also went to North Carolina before settling in Fontana, California. She and her brother would watch pilots flying under the nearby Riverside bridge, which made them both want to become pilots. He did so through the Navy while she attended college. Right after graduating, she learned about the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) program. Her father contacted Ethel Sheehy since the family already knew her, and she helped her get into the program with fewer pre-training tests and flight hours. She taught for a year in Burbank, California then spent the summer getting her required flight hours before joining the WASPs in October 1943. She got to Sweetwater, Texas for training that same month and was put in group 44-4 with 58 other women. Each class learned somewhat different content, and what was unique about her class was that they moved on from flying Stearman to an AT-6, which was even larger. She almost washed out from the program while training on the AT-6s, with her first instructor putting her up for an elimination ride. When another officer flew with her, however, he said there was nothing wrong with her flying and moved her to another instructor. After completing training, she and another WASP were sent to Independence, Kansas where they assisted with training new pilots. The Army, however, decided they didn’t need the WASPs there, so the two of them were then assigned to Perrin Field in Sherman, Texas. They did many different things on base, including checking planes that came out of maintenance, flying planes from closed bases to Kelly Air Force Base for storage, and flying nonrated people to different bases. They were again transferred, this time to Foster Field and Victoria, Texas where they had AT-6s. WASPs at this station would often tow targets for pilots to practice shooting at. She worked with the 1st Mexican Fighter Squadron a this base. She was there for 3 months before returning to Perrin Field to be with her fiancé, doing the same sort of flying as she had the first time she was stationed at Perrin. She married and left the program two weeks before it was shut down in December 1945. Because the WASPs weren’t considered military until 1977, Shipley did not have a rank when she left the service. She was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, American Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. A partial transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Weigand, Cindy

date:

2002-06-24

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

842; 2003.842

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

083034

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945)

rights:

Unrestricted