Betty Chambers
photo of Elizabeth Chambers from official file
Born
Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey

(1920-08-25)August 25, 1920
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedMay 11, 1961(1961-05-11) (aged 40)
Los Angeles, California U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesElizabeth Black
OccupationWomen Airforce Service Pilots
Telegram to Chambers from Jacqueline Cochran instructing her to report for duty

Elizabeth Maxine Chambers (August 25, 1920 − May 11, 1961)[1] was one of the first female pilots in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program in which women took on non-combat flying duties so more male pilots were available for combat.[2][3] She was in WASP Class of 44-W-3 as part of the 318th Army Air Forces Flying Training Detachment.[4][5] She became a pilot shortly after her husband lost his life while flying, despite the fact that she had a new baby,[2] and was the only recent widow and mother to have served as a WASP.

Early life

Chambers was born in Los Angeles, California, to Samuel Cramsey and Gertrude Cramsey (née Hulse).[6] She grew up in Hollywood, California.[7][8][9]

Career

Prior to World War II Chambers worked for the Walt Disney Company and Universal Pictures, where she did post-production work that involved inking outlines for cartoon celluloid cells in preparation for painting during the picture process stage of film production.[3][7][10]

Chambers was married to Robert William Chambers, a United States Army pilot who had previously worked at Lockheed in the engineering department.[11] Later, during her service as a WASP, Chambers would be sent on a mission to tour a Lockheed plant.[12]

In 1942 during the war, Robert was killed in an aircraft crash.[13] After his death, Chambers and her baby moved in with her parents and she got a job as a telephone operator at Southern California Telephone Company.[3]

Chambers applied to be a WASP. She said: "Just the day before [my husband's] accident Bob had heard about the WASPs and he wanted me to fly ... in fact, he wanted to teach me, but it didn't work out that way. I love flying as he did, and I hope to be able to replace a man to do the job that Bob wanted to do."[10] She entered training on October 4, 1943, and graduated on April 15, 1944.[14]

Chambers trained at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, and then was sent to Turner Field in Albany, Georgia. She then attended the Army Air Force Tactical School in Orlando, Florida.[2][3] Chambers was stationed at Greenwood Army Air Field in Greenwood, Mississippi.[15] At Greenwood, Chambers accrued over 420 hours of flight time up until December 20, 1944.[16]

As a pilot she flew North American AT-6 advanced trainers, PT-17 biplane primary trainers, Beechcraft AT-10 twin-engineer trainers, and the BT-25.[17]

Chambers' service ended when the WASP program was disbanded at the end of 1944.[2]

After the war, Chambers worked at American Airlines at LaGuardia Airport in New York City until 1946. She eventually lost touch with the WASP community, a close-knit group who often held reunions and get-togethers.[18]

Honors

On November 2, 1977, President Jimmy Carter passed Public Law 95-202, which gave those that served in the WASP program military veteran status. They were previously considered civilians.[2] In July 2009, President Barack Obama signed a bill that gave the WASPs the Congressional Gold Medal.[19][20]

Personal life

In 1941, Chambers married Robert William Chambers, a United States Army pilot.[11] Their son, Robert Michael "Mike" Chambers, who was born in 1942, was in the 1943 movie Heaven Can Wait, playing Don Ameche's character as a baby.[10][21][22]

In 1947, she married Robert Edward Black, a lumberman.[6] She died in 1961.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Elizabet M Cramsey - California Birth Index". FamilySearch. 25 August 1920.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Today marks the 70th anniversary of the deactivation of the WASP program". National Archives and Records Administration. 20 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Mattingly, Ashley (20 December 2014). "A WASP's Story". Prologue: Pieces of History. National Archives.
  4. ↑ "World War II WASP Graduates: WASP Class 44-3, 57 Graduates, 4/15/44". World War II Women Pilots - Women Airforce Service Pilots. 15 April 1944.
  5. ↑ "WASP Class 44-W-3". TWU Libraries. Texas Woman's University. 1944. Archived from the original on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  6. 1 2 "Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey mentioned in the record of Robert Edward Black and Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey". FamilySearch. 29 December 1947.
  7. 1 2 "Betty M Cramsey - United States Census, 1940". FamilySearch. 1940.
  8. ↑ "'Don Ameche' Eats Crackers Frm WASP Table; Suffers Himself To Be Pawed By Trainees" (PDF). The Avenger: News from the "Mother-H ive" of the Army WASP's. Vol. 1, no. 11. Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas: Texas Woman's University. 21 January 1944. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  9. ↑ WASP Class Books 1944 (PDF). Texas Woman's University. pp. 22, 31, 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  10. 1 2 3 Darr, Ann (19 November 1943). "Betty Chamber's Son Played Don Ameche At Age Of One For Fox Films" (PDF). The Avenger: News from the "Mother-Hive" of the Army WASP's. Vol. 1, no. 7. Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016 – via Texas Woman's University.
  11. 1 2 "Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey mentioned in the record of Robert W Chambers and Elizabeth Maxine Cramsey". FamilySearch. 2 February 1941.
  12. ↑ "Betty Chambers, W-3 Tours Lockheed Plant" (PDF). The Avenger: News from the "Mother-Hive" of the Army WASP's. Vol. 1, no. 19. Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas. 19 May 1944. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016 – via Women Air Service Pilots Digital Archive at Texas Woman's University.
  13. ↑ "Robert William Chambers California Death Index". FamilySearch. 10 September 1942.
  14. ↑ "44 W 3 Graduation Program" (PDF), Women Air Service Pilots Digital Archive, Texas Woman's University, p. 25, 2013, archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-20, retrieved 2016-11-03
  15. ↑ "Greenwood AAF, Greenwood, Mississippi (250.42.1)". Texas Woman's University.
  16. ↑ "GAAF WASP History: Greenwood, Mississippi" (PDF). Texas Woman's University. 1944. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-20. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  17. ↑ "Women Airforce Service Pilots: Elizabeth M. Chambers" (PDF). Women Air Service Pilots Digital Archive. Texas Woman's University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  18. ↑ "Dan Cupid's Log Book: 1944 Classes" (PDF). WASP Newsletter: February 1946. Vol. 3, no. 1. Order of Fifinella. February 1946. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2016-11-02 – via Women Air Service Pilots Digital Archive at Texas Woman's University.
  19. ↑ "WWII Female Pilots Honored With Gold Medal". All Things Considered. NPR. 10 March 2010.
  20. ↑ 123 Stat. 1958 Public Law 111-40: Women Airforce Service Pilots Congressional Gold Medal (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O. 1 July 2009. OCLC 437033643.
  21. ↑ "Robert Michael Chambers California Birth Index". FamilySearch. 11 June 1942.
  22. ↑ "Notes: Heaven Can Wait (1943)". Turner Classic Movies. 1943.
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