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Women and the M1943 shovel


ThompsonSavage
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ThompsonSavage

Was the M1943 folding shovel issued to female personnel in the field during WWII?

 

Any pictures of female personnel with a M1943 shovel?

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I can't speak for all female soldiers, but this one, 1st Lt. Evelyn P. Nace, was issued all of her field gear at Ft Benning in March, 1945 prior to the departure of her unit for Europe. It would appear they were not issued any entrenching tools or shelter halves. She was assigned to the 118th Evasc Hospital, which was part of First Army.

 

Below is a copy of her issue paperwork and her ID card.

 

MiscellaneousMilitaria~~element39.jpg

 

 

scan0001.jpg

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Nurses wouldn't have much use for an entrenching tool, but I would wonder if some WAACs or Women Marines got it depending on duty?

 

Let's not forget though, that Nurses were commisioned and officers seldom carried entrenching tools anyway.

 

RC

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ThompsonSavage

Thanks, that's the kind of info I am looking for :thumbsup:

 

I saw a picture once of nurses standing around a jeep between some tents. One of them was holding a shovel, but this could have been from a vehicle.

 

 

In case someone does have a picture of female personnel using shovels or having shovel pouches attached to their webbing, please post them

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I suspect that while they might not have been issued entrenching tools, nurses may have had a use for them, depending on the exact circumstances.

 

1st Lt Nace was assigned to a large evac hospital, well to the rear, and these hospitals were housed in large, semi-permanent complexes featuring tents, latrines, etc. Other nurses, such as the first groups landing in France after D-Day may very well have been issued e-tools & pup tents. Same goes in the Pacific theater. It just depends on the exact circumstances.

 

Even if not an issued item, soldiers (of all ranks & sexes) have a tendency to acquire what they feel they need, and I can certainly envision circumstances where a nurse might want a shovel to help dig a cathole to answer nature's call or a foxhole for protection. In most cases, the unit's enlisted personnel would be doing the digging for communal latrines & shelters, but in the early days or when on the move, they probably had to fend for themselves.

 

Just because they weren't on the TO&E or not an issue item doesn't mean that no one had them.

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Here is a photo showing female personnel disembarking in France during the summer of 1944.

 

Both the M1943 Folding Shovel and the M1910 Pick Mattock Can be seen.

 

This image comes from the well known archive of Normandy Signal Corps shots. I don't have any further details.

 

post-2980-1322614549.jpg

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craig_pickrall

You can also see several of them (enlisted I assume) with the bed roll on the Musette Bag. This is fairly rare to see as well. The two officers that are easy to ID do not have the bed roll.

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General Apathy

post-344-1322643998.jpg

 

 

Here is a photo showing female personnel disembarking in France during the summer of 1944.

 

Both the M1943 Folding Shovel and the M1910 Pick Mattock Can be seen.

 

This image comes from the well known archive of Normandy Signal Corps shots. I don't have any further details.

 

post-2980-1322614549.jpg

 

Whoopeeeeee !! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, :lol: :thumbsup:

 

Thanks ThompsonSavage, for starting this interesting topic on whether Nurses carried 43 shovels. :thumbsup:

 

And thank you Franklin for adding the photograph that you did to show Nurses using shovels and pick-mattocks. For me your photograph also identifies an item that I recovered from the sand dunes at Utah Beach in 2010, the armored shield from the .50 Cal guns seen either side of the Nurse about to jump. :lol:

 

Note in my photograph on the right hand side the shaped design of the steel plate and how it matches the ones in the Signal Corp photograph.

 

Cheers :thumbsup:

 

ken

 

 

;)

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  • 9 years later...
On 11/30/2011 at 1:09 AM, General Apathy said:

post-344-1322643998.jpg

 

 

 

Whoopeeeeee !! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, :lol: :thumbsup:

 

Thanks ThompsonSavage, for starting this interesting topic on whether Nurses carried 43 shovels. :thumbsup:

 

And thank you Franklin for adding the photograph that you did to show Nurses using shovels and pick-mattocks. For me your photograph also identifies an item that I recovered from the sand dunes at Utah Beach in 2010, the armored shield from the .50 Cal guns seen either side of the Nurse about to jump. :lol:

 

Note in my photograph on the right hand side the shaped design of the steel plate and how it matches the ones in the Signal Corp photograph.

 

Cheers :thumbsup:

 

ken

 

 

;)

I just found this old post from 10 years ago while digging up some research about shovels. Ken, what kind of shovel did you use to dig this out? Folding or t-handle? Fantastic discovery! 

 

Also, next time you chat with Sabrejet, tell him I liked the song he posted here. Ha! 

Mikie

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General Apathy
4 hours ago, mikie said:

I just found this old post from 10 years ago while digging up some research about shovels. Ken, what kind of shovel did you use to dig this out? Folding or t-handle? Fantastic discovery! 

 

Also, next time you chat with Sabrejet, tell him I liked the song he posted here. Ha! 

Mikie

.

Hi Mikie

 

Here's another .50 Cal shield, this one I found in a museum, so I had to leave it there.  The one I recovered years ago was on the surface in the sand dunes so no digging was involved.

 

.fullsizeoutput_9500.jpeg.ededce331602eebff72f34147dc2b961.jpeg

 

 

.fullsizeoutput_4f35.jpeg.d48418217bb48d8f04858e89276e632e.jpeg 

 

.IMG_2986.JPG.5edec9ef860a9b0033b1c9a42faa9370.JPG

 

 

cheers ken 

 

 

 

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