Jacqueline Cochran was an energetic female pilot who jumped at the opportunity when her country needed her during World War II. Jackie was orphaned at birth and before her flying career began she worked her way to the top of the cosmetics business eventually owning her own, Jacqueline Cochran Cosmetics, Inc. When World War II began she was definitely not a new comer to the skies. By 1941, Cochran held 17 national and four international aviation awards, including the prestigious Bendix Transcontinental Air Race Trophy, the most competitive air race in the nation, she won in 1938. Three years earlier she had been the first woman to enter the Bendix, ignoring the ban on women. In 1934, Cochran was a test pilot for the first turbo-supercharger installed in an aircraft engine. To add to her list of awards and accomplishments, for three consecutive years, 1937-1939, the International League of Aviation awarded Cochran the Clifford Burke Harmon trophy for most outstanding woman aviator in the world. She had also beat Howard Hughes’s speed record from New York to Miami in 1937. Cochran had only had her pilot’s license for five years at this time.
As the country moved towards war, Cochran believed that woman could hold a very important role in the war effort. She wrote her friend Eleanor Roosevelt and outlined the importance and the necessity of women pilots. She believed women should have the opportunity to ferry and test the planes so that men would be free to fly overseas. Mrs. Roosevelt loved the idea and even wrote about it in her weekly newspaper column, “My Day”. Next Cochran turned to General H.H. “Hap” Arnold in 1941. General Arnold did not believe that the time was right for her idea, knowing it would stir up things in the Army Air Force, but he did not discourage her plans. He suggested that she go to England and work on ferrying projects, moving the American-made bombers to Britain. He would keep in contact with her and tell her when he thought the time would be right to start her program in America. June 17,1941, Jackie Cochran accomplished another first for woman aviators. She was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean, but even with all the awards and recognition she had earned in the aviation world, she still had to hand the controls over to her male copilot during landings and takeoffs.
Cochran’s
hope was that her flying unit in Britain would show people at home, especially
the Army Air Force, that women were worthy of the opportunity to serve
even in the most critical situations. She led forty women to the British
Air Transport Auxiliary. These women helped Britain by ferrying under
combat conditions. In August, Cochran wanted to return to America
and try once again to establish her women’s program, but she was too late.
While still in London, Cochran learned of the Army Air Force’s plans to
begin a Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) lead by Nancy Harkness
Love. A compromise was reached to include Cochran in the plans.