Battleship reception highlights women who served in World War II

Below decks at the Battleship Massachusetts are other voices from World War II.

The bayonet was a mans weapon in those days. But 70 years ago, at the urging of then-first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Congress instituted the Womens Auxiliary Army Corps. Other armed services followed suit, forming their own female branches, and thousands of women took to factory work welding, running lathes and doing the kind of production work only men did before the war.

During a Thursday reception on the battleship to mark the 70-year anniversary, people were reintroduced to the women of World War II as the battleships permanent exhibit of women's uniforms and artifacts was spotlighted.

We really have quite a variety of uniforms from the various branches of the service, said Elizabeth Isherwood, president of Moore and Isherwood Communications, a public relations firm working with the battleship. We have some Rosie the Riveter items, too.

What both Isherwood and Battleship Cove Executive Director Brad King said is the exhibits centerpiece is the lining of an Army field coat once worn by U.S. Army Nurse Capt. Margaret Christ, who wore it during her time at the 155th General Hospital in Great Malvern, England.

The coats, King explained, came with a detachable lining that could be worn as a bathrobe. Regulations forbade the ornamentation of the coat itself, but the lining was fair game.

Soldiers recovering from injuries gave embroidered patches to nurses as gifts of appreciation and remembrance, King said.

Christ was from Fall River, and the lining of her coat is covered with the unit badges of soldiers, some no more than boys, who were in her care.

It is the key piece of the exhibit, Isherwood said.

With the 70-year anniversary, its a great time to promote this exhibit," King said. Its a good time to remind ourselves of the contributions of women, then and now.

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Battleship reception highlights women who served in World War II