ON FINAL APPROACH; The Women Airforce Service Pilots of W.W.II

Scottsdale, AZ 1991 first edition. Falconer. Hardcover. Large octavo. 481p. plus about 100 more pages of appendices and photographs. Fine in Near Fine dj. no owner marks. ISBN 09626267-0-8.

Shortage of trained pilots forced the U.S. Army Air Corps to recruit 1,074 women in the WASPS (Woman's Airforce Service Pilots) in World War II. These young women flew 60 million miles; ferried planes around the world; worked as instructors and test pilots; and flew every type of military plane from basic trainer to B-29s. Although they received the same training as their male colleagues and were subject to military discipline, they were never commissioned as officers in the U.S. Army and were paid less than their male counterparts. After a long struggle, the WASPS were finally granted veterans' status in 1977. This is a story worth telling. However, Granger's book is overlong and difficult to read. A former WASP and a retired college professor, she has included every item of information available and recounts the events of 1942-45 in detail on a daily basis. Libraries should wait for Marianne Verges's forthcoming On Silver Wing: Women Air Force Ser vice Pilots of World War II (Ballantine, November).
- Stanley Itkin, Hillside P.L., New Hyde Park, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.