Elizabeth Chambers (pilot)

Elizabeth Maxine Chambers (August 25, 1920 − May 11, 1961) was one of the first female pilots in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program in which women took on non-combat flying duties so more male pilots were available for combat. She was in WASP Class of 44-W-3 as part of the

318th Army Air Forces Flying Training Detachment. She became a pilot shortly after her husband lost his life while flying, despite the fact that she had a new baby, and was the only recent widow and mother to have served as a WASP.

Early life

Chambers was born in Los Angeles, California, to Samuel Cramsey and Gertrude Cramsey (née Hulse). She grew up in Hollywood, California.

Career

Prior to World War II Chambers worked for the Walt Disney Company and Universal Pictures, where she did post-production work that involved inking outlines for cartoon celluloid cells in preparation for painting during the picture process stage of film production.

Chambers was married to Robert William Chambers, a United States Army pilot who had previously worked at Lockheed in the engineering department. Later, during her service as a WASP, Chambers would be sent on a mission to tour a Lockheed plant.

In 1942 during the war, Robert was killed in an aircraft crash. After his death, Chambers and her baby moved in with her parents and she got a job as a telephone operator at Southern California Telephone Company.

Chambers applied to be a WASP. She said: "Just the day before [my husband's] accident Bob had heard about the WASPs and he wanted me to fly ...