TENTH MOUNTAIN DIVISION

LIVING HISTORY DISPLAY GROUP, INC.

FEMALE UNIFORM OPTIONS

Women in the military were somewhat unusual in WWII. Some of the groups you may be familiar with – others may be new to you. There were 5 main groups of women who served at Camp Hale: Nurses, WACs, WAC Officers, Red Cross and civilians. We encourage you to select an impression (or impressions) that you will most enjoy. You are not limited to these, but we would ask that you find some tie to the 10^th Mountain Division in whatever you chose to do.

RANK: If you select Nurses (Army Nurses Corps), your rank will automatically be that of an officer – 2^nd Lt. Yep, you will out-rank all of the guys! If you decide to represent one of the WACs who served (one of about 150,000 during the war years overall), we ask that you follow our enlisted rank structure for the male members, and start as a Private.

shoulder sleeve insignia, 7th Corps Area Service Command INSIGNIA: In WWII, women were not assigned to the “combat arms”, so a woman soldier was not a member of the 10^th Mountain Division in WWII. The military women at Camp Hale served under the command of the Camp Commandant, and the camp was run under the control of the U.S. Army’s 7^th Service Command. Your unit sleeve patch will be that patch if you represent a Stateside WAC or Nurse. Overseas, you will need to do some research to determine what insignia to wear, but most likely it will be the 5^th Army. Civilian and Red Cross workers did not wear military insignia, although there are special insignia for War Correspondents and select other civilians in the field.

Originally this page was planned to be a comprehensive list of all uniform options available to women historians, but we have located a web site that appears to be most complete on this topic. So rather than duplicating this effort, we heartily endorse this site. This site is created and maintained in Belgium by one of the top female re-enactors and historians in Europe. We commend her for her efforts, and hope she continues for years to come.

We will add some specific links below to assist our female members in researching their impression, and learning all they can about women in service in WWII. There is a small lending library in Colorado on the topic – contact Terri Little if you would like to borrow materials.

WWII Quartermaster Catalog – a copy of the 1943 women’s uniform catalog pages.

Women at Camp Hale – this outstanding and well researched site tells the story of Camp Hale and the women who served there. This is a great place to start learning about what a woman’s life was like in service.

Women’s Army Corps – a report from the Center for Military History that tells about the creation of the WAC and it’s contribution in WWII.

Army Nurses in WWII – a report from the Center for Military History about ANC in WWII. Another is this one…

WWII Home Front – a list of resources for teachers (and others) to learn and use to explore what happened Stateside in WWII. Lots of interesting links!

Women in WWII – a site to explore the contributions of women to the War Effort.

Hardscrabble Farms – this site explores all aspects of WWII Living History, incliding some excellent resources for women. Articles include the proper layout of a WAC footlocker, layout of equipment for inspection, getting started (a women’s perspective) , placing insignia on a WAC uniform, WAC clothing issue, etc. There is more there, but these are some of the basics you might want to know. Check out the whole site – it’s got some great stuff!

Women Nurses throughout History - this site offers some excellent information about women’s service from the Revolutionary War through the 1970s, with a great section on WWII. Thanks to a suggestion from LibraryUnion.com for the link. Good Job!

Suppliers of Women’s reproduction uniforms

WARHORSE REPRODUCTIONS – While located in Europe, this is one of the largest lines of reproduction uniforms out there. Page 2 has WAC and Nurse uniforms

WWII IMPRESSIONS – one of the highest quality makers of reproduction uniforms out there. Prices are not cheap, but quality is just like WWII originals.

WHAT PRICE GLORY – a great supplier and very helpful. Jerry at WPG will make every effort to help if he can. He offers some great items not found elsewhere.

There is a new supplier of women’s uniform items – Spearhead Militaria. We have no exposure to these items, so cannot endorse or comment on them. Search their site for “womens” and you’ll find several items of interest.

This list is just getting started, so if you find a valuable link that we haven’t included, please let us know.