My interview with a Woman Airforce Service Pilot, Adeline Wolak Ellison in class 6, 1943 at the standing-room-only event on September 19, 2009, was hysterically entertaining.
I found my previous interview with Betty Budde, Class 43-3 a hoot, but “Addie” really topped the cake with her funny true stories as a WASP and was candid and delightfully expressive.
Please enjoy Addie Wolak’s interview:
“It took a lot of work to be a WASP, but we did manage to have fun and had many crazy things happened to us. One of the funniest was when ten of us flew our brand-new BT 13’s from Texas and were scheduled to stop in Blithe, California overnight to have our instrument ratings checked and then fly off to deliver them to an army base.
We got there and went to dinner then went to bed to be ready for our flight.
In the morning, when we went to the flightline and much to our shocking surprise there were ladders at each of our planes with GI’s disassembling them by taking out the nuts and bolts.
We screamed at them, “What are you doing? We gotta fly our airplanes out of here to another army base for the men to fly them into combat.”
One GI answered, “Well, we thought if we disabled them you could come to a big dance we are having tonight, and we only have ugly nurses to dance with!”
“I said, oh sure we can call back to our base and tell them GIs disassembled our planes and have to stay one more night!”
Thank goodness that scared all the GIs to put them back together again!”
This outrageous story caused a burst of raucous laughter from the audience.
Addie continued, “Another time I was flying a plane alone to an Army base in Midland, Texas which I was looking forward to eating steak that I heard was wonderful there.
After I landed a GI asked me if I could bowl. I said sure but I only bowl a 135.That day at the bowling alley I surprised myself and bowled a 250!
This event caused all the locals to come over and watch me bowl again thinking I was a top bowler, but then I only bowled my usual 135! After the game the GI’s and I went out to steak dinner. There was a huge group of us and a big Texan at the table announced when the bill came, “Kids, the bills on me!”
The next day one of the GI’s asked if I wanted to fly in formation with a group of them.
I answered, “Sure but only if I could be the head pilot!”
We all flew up in our planes, and the GIs purposely went up 2 at a time as the tower started screaming, “One at a time, one at a time!”
They ignored the tower and hemmed me in the middle! After 15 minutes the “stinkers” peeled off wiggling their wings at me and flew away!
Another crazy event was when a bunch of us gals were flying in a bomber and one of the gals wore uncomfortable large of pants and decided to take them off and folded them up and put them in the back of the plane. We were about to land when she opened the hatch and her pants flew out!
She called to the tower, “Send a lady mechanic to bring me pants because mine flew out.”
By the time the plane landed there were a huge number of male mechanics “knee deep” waiting to see a girl pilot in her underwear!”
A female mechanic brought out a surplus male size 44 coveralls for her to wear. She came out of the plane wearing the coveralls that had the crouch down to her ankles and the GI’s burst out laughing!”
Addie continued, “I hate to brag but during basic training my instructor told me that I flew better than 95% of the male pilots that he did check flights on.
The WASPs were suddenly disbanded on December 20, 1944, 8 months before the war was over and the male pilots were returning and wanted their jobs back. The WASPs were so disappointed they offered to keep flying for $1.00 a year but were still rejected. Furthermore, they were sent home without being able to celebrate the glorious end of the war together.
I married an Airforce pilot and had two children and decided to join the Airforce Reserves as a 1st Lieutenant. I was the only woman in a class of 35 men. One day I was chit-chatting with a colonel after class and I happened to mention my children to him.
He asked me, “You have children”?
I answered, “Yes, I have two.”
The colonel asked, “Is that on your record?”
I answered, “No there was nothing on the forms.”
The colonel raised his voice, “I’m sorry but you can’t be in the Air Force reserves if you have a family unless you put them up for adoption!”
A wave of laughter rolled through the audience.
The colonel continued, “Since the class is half over, I will give you an honorable discharge.”
“He broke my heart, and I knew I surely would have become a colonel just like him if he had let me stay.”
Clapping broke out from the audience.”
As MC I said, “Addie’s daughter Andrea is in the audience and I’m sure she’s glad that she was not put up for adoption.”
The interview of the six WASPs concluded with Q & A from the audience.
Nancye Crout listed all the many planes she got to fly.
Florence Emig Wheeler attended all the yearly reunions that continue to happen. Last year’s reunion had 100 WASPs attending.
Florence Wheeler was a pilot instructor and flew until she was 72 and had taught her 56-year-old father to fly and get his pilot’s license.
I had heard on the radio that the WASPs were to receive the Gold Medal of Honor on March 10, 2010.
I called up Florence Wheeler and asked her if she was going to Washington for her Medal of Honor.
Florence answered, “I’m thinking about it.”
I asked, “Will they pay for your trip and hotel expenses?”
Florence answered, “No.”
I responded, “That’s terrible.”
Florence replied, “This is nothing new and has always been this way in the army.”
Adeline Ellison added, “It was one of the highlights of my life to travel to Washington, DC to receive the Gold Medal of Honor.”
In 2012, a Cessna 172 was named “ADELINE,” was unveiled by owner Ralph Sauceda in a special honor given to Addie at the Commemorative Air Force, Modesto, California Airport.
Adeline Wolak Ellison was born on September 26, 1919, in Chicago, Illinois. She Died on June 10, 2017, at the age of 97 1/2 years old. On her gravestone it reads, “Two Hot Pilots Together at Last.”
This concludes the last interview of six WASPs. An amazing DVD was filmed by the Cmedia Lab in Santa Rosa is available to buy from my web site: www.jeaneslone.com/shop.
