tigerfan Posted September 14, 2009 Share #1 Posted September 14, 2009 Here is a Navy Nurse officers uniform I recently aquired. This once belonged to Laura Mae Cobb. She was the chief navy nurse in the Philippines when the Japanese took over. She was a POW from that time until early 1945. After her return to the states she was awarded a bronze star from the army and a gold star in place of a second bronze star from the navy. She is mentioned and written about in several books including: "We Band of Angels" "All This Hell" "They Called Them Angels". I could go on and on but will give those interested in reading about her a link to Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_M._Cobb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerfan Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share #2 Posted September 14, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted September 14, 2009 Share #3 Posted September 14, 2009 WOW... from one who collects POW groups himself. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted September 14, 2009 Share #4 Posted September 14, 2009 Amazing! I recently read the book "We Band of Angels". Excellent book. Great find! I was curious where you got this if you don't mind me asking.....Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wailuna Posted September 14, 2009 Share #5 Posted September 14, 2009 ...WOW... from one who collects POW groups himself... I second Kurt's "WOW"! And, how about that double award of the Army Distinguished Unit Citation? Surely that must have been a rare occurrence, Kurt. Were all Navy and Marine Corps units captured or surrendered at the fall of the Philippines similarly recognized? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azadd Posted September 15, 2009 Share #6 Posted September 15, 2009 Yes it's amazing! It is a great stuff in a remarquable state! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 15, 2009 Share #7 Posted September 15, 2009 WOW - that's simply amazing. If it ever needs a new home........... Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAST Posted September 15, 2009 Share #8 Posted September 15, 2009 A fantastic group. Thank you for sharing this! Wish I had better words to show how much I like this group, but Kurt's "WOW!" will have to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teufelhunde.ret Posted September 15, 2009 Share #9 Posted September 15, 2009 What a find! And the preserved condition is remarkable on its own right. Buy a lotto ticket tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortworthgal Posted September 15, 2009 Share #10 Posted September 15, 2009 Another WOW! NNC stuff is rare as hen's teeth by itself... and one of the Corregidor Nurses to boot! That is a very cool, museum-worthy grouping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainbowtrout Posted September 24, 2009 Share #11 Posted September 24, 2009 OMG - LOVE it. I wish I knew what became of my mom's uniforms, she was one of the Angels of Bata'an and Corregidor. A few years ago a collector of footlockers picked one up at a garage sale. He decided to search on-line using the serial number. He found my web page for Mom, called, and gave me the footlocker. It holds my small collection. www.cnac.org/emilscott/lewey01.htm Tom Moore hosts the Santo Tomas site where her page is. I noticed a comment about Laura Cobb being on Bata'an or Corregidor. She was not there. I think she was one of the Navy nurses the US Army seems to have forgotten about -abandoned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37thguy Posted September 24, 2009 Share #12 Posted September 24, 2009 HOLY SCHMOKES! That's a nice one! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zouave114 Posted November 5, 2009 Share #13 Posted November 5, 2009 Quite an impressive find! My RN girlfriend is interested in finding out more reference on nurses in the Navy WW2. Herself and I have both started to look for uniform reference. I'm a little confused on a few things. What is the difference between the WAVES and the Navy Nursing Corp? Did all nurses automatically have the rank of Lt.? Did the all uniforms have two rows of buttons like yours? I saw a uniform on Ebay that I'm curious about- Jeff http://cgi.ebay.com/WW2-US-Navy-NURSE-enli...=item3ca70d8027 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortworthgal Posted November 5, 2009 Share #14 Posted November 5, 2009 Jeff - Navy Nurses and WAVES were 2 separate services until 1947 or 48 (can't remember) when they rolled all the USN female services into the "Woman's Naval Reserve." When that happened, they switched everyone to the WAVES-style uniforms, except the labels will read "Women's Naval Reserve" and the buttons are gold instead of blue plastic. Anytime you see that label, or an enlisted tunic with gold buttons, it is a sure giveaway that it is postwar. The uniform you posted on ebay is a post-48 uniform. The style is the same as WWII and it appears that someone has switched the postwar gold buttons to blue plastic, so it would be usable if someone were trying to do a WWII Navy WAVES reenactor impression. The rating is Pharmacist's Mate 3rd Class. It is a nice uniform, as the skirts are somewhat difficult to come by. WAVES could be officers or enlisted, and were essentially the Navy version of the WAC. They performed clerical duties, air traffic control, aircraft repair, parachute riggers, and worked in hospitals. Navy Nurses were given "relative rank" of officers until mid or late 1944, when they received full commissioned rank. Yes, all Navy Nurses were considered officers. The WWII Navy Nurse Corps uniforms are very hard to find. The black NNC uniforms had the double rows of buttons. There was a white summer uniform that had a single row of 3 buttons, it is very distinctive looking with black shoulderboards. The NNC also had a grey dress with matching cap, and a white hospital dress with the navy blue cape. The NNC had a very distinctive cape with a stand-up velvet collar and frog closures. WWII Army & Navy Nurse Corps capes & hats are difficult to find and probably 95% of them being sold on ebay are just civilian hospital capes and not military. Here is some more extensive information on the NNC uniforms that may help you: http://www.blitzkriegbaby.de/nnc/nnc.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zouave114 Posted November 5, 2009 Share #15 Posted November 5, 2009 Thank you so, so much for that great information! I can't wait to relate to my girlfriend when she gets home from her 12 hour shift! I had the same feeling about those buttons. I am essentially a Civil War Reenactor, just put together a WW2 Navy Blue dress uniform like the one my dad wore as a Machinist Mate. Regards, Jeff Rodriguez Pearl River, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortworthgal Posted November 5, 2009 Share #16 Posted November 5, 2009 Jeff, if she is trying to put together a WWII Navy WAVES uniform, that one would work. The WAVES uniforms style and fabric remained the same up through the early 1970s, aside from the buttons, which have already been changed out on that particular uniform. http://www.blitzkriegbaby.de/waves/waves.htm There is another lady on this forum, Kathryne, who has done extensive research into the NNC. She is a wealth of information and perhaps she will see this thread. I know she would be thrilled to see tigerfan's incredible uniform! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zouave114 Posted November 5, 2009 Share #17 Posted November 5, 2009 I wonder what she would do for a hat though? jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortworthgal Posted November 5, 2009 Share #18 Posted November 5, 2009 WAVES hats are not tough to come by. They had a "daisy mae" style hat with a soft brim & interchangeable covers, and a garrison cap. I own both styles and I've seen both on ebay quite often. You can pick up the garrison caps for around $20-$30, the daisy maes tend to go higher depending on what covers are with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted December 20, 2009 Share #19 Posted December 20, 2009 Amazing group! Hang on to that one, it's pretty rare! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
market garden Posted December 20, 2009 Share #20 Posted December 20, 2009 That is a super grouping. It would be very,very hard to find something even close to that. Thank you for shareing it. Market garden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M35A2runner Posted February 6, 2010 Share #21 Posted February 6, 2010 Great find !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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