THE HIDDEN ARMY

[Music] [Applause] [Music] open up sergeant [Music] my experts had considered all the possibilities methodically and i thought accurately over and over we discussed the strength actual and potential of our probable enemies france confused and helpless in the hands of fascist leaders [Music] england weak frightened citizen of appeasement the united states no army navy or air force my expert in that country gave me most satisfactory reports [Music] i think it is a mistake to underestimate america avalyn do you question my statistics all i know is that the united states is the industrial phenomenon of the world i'll stick to my figures to win wars you need manpower we know how many men the united states can put into the field this number is limited by the number of men necessary for production of the materiel with which to fight the ratio of workers to soldiers is fixed hey everline have you ever considered the possibility of woman labor american woman come the most decadent women on the face of the earth let me quote you some statistics about the women of america last year 1938 they spent more for cosmetics than the united states navy did for ships more for silk stockings than the united states air force spent for planes flirts cocktail drinkers pleasure lovers loafers a race of playgirls pampered and spoiled by their sentimental american men how different from the women of germany who trained like soldiers who bred babies to wage this war and are now producing the goods for our grown soldiers and the fighting fronts and all this such loss without lipstick american women this i accepted i was to make many mistakes before my downfall but none however spectacular was more grave than my contempt that day for american women the moment was right i invaded poland my war was begun meanwhile in the united states there was a restless stirring land lease began to operate factories appeared overnight how was it possible for america to achieve such production and at the same time build an army and the amazing reports came in from my agents in the united states [Music] the answer was that 20 percent of american industrial manpower was woman power legions of american women were amassing to stop my advance across the world forsaking the round of revelry for the grim tasks of war it was the first time i had heard of the hidden army it may have been the first time hair hitler but it was not to be the last time the hidden army was going to haunt you till your dying day tomorrow isn't it or the day after tomorrow pearl harbor came and we were in the war 100 the axis believed it was ready for us access statistics careful and accurate and forecast this army this air force this navy but in the production estimate the axis was wrong because the forecast had miscalculated the potential strength of the hidden army the women of american industry across the atlantic to berlin across the pacific to tokyo went news of the upheaval in american life millions and millions of women who had never lifted the finger outside their own homes now suddenly resolved to set the world house in order these were the uniforms of the hidden army these their weapons and these the results they helped to achieve it must have called for some pretty fancy explaining by the statistical expert her eberline these women are the unemployed the publicity seekers the seekers of the novelty the cranks play girls with new toys it's just a vogue nothing more it will pass but it did not pass not yet invasion came to north africa working side by side with men women have helped weld the landing craft that discouraged equipment and american fighting men women that helped rivet the planes that reigned hell through the days and nights women had manufactured the radio tubes that flashed the news that the first major allied invasion was accomplished triumphantly and in doing all this they had earned the respect of the men beside them there were some jobs that a woman could do even better than men jobs for instance that required a delicate touch and sensitive fingers yes the american woman to every man surprise had won her industrial spurs and this in addition to about 100 000 women in the army navy and marines and the brave nurses risking their very lives on the battlefront by the end of 1943 the hidden army had grown to be nearly 30 percent of war production labor but by that time all over the globe american arms had passed from defense to offense this meant greatly increased demands for materiel and greatly increased demands for men casualties had to be replaced invasion forces had to be built and as our armed forces grew so did their demands for equipment supplies food material of all kinds the need for women grew desperate and thousands of women answered the call but then a strange thing happened one month the hidden army which had mushroomed suddenly stopped growing the following month was even more disturbing the papers reported a slight falling off in production some were too tired in the morning to face the assembly line or the workbench [Music] some found that defense work interfered with their shopping a few members of the hidden army it seemed had earned enough for the fur coat they coveted and returned to their pre-war existence perhaps the war news looked swell the compulsion to work was dissipated in the confident talk of victory just around the corner others quit for sounder reasons transportation was a problem it was distressingly difficult to be both a housekeeper and a patriot the kids needed looking after and the house somehow refused to run itself when eight hours a day were spent at the plant but by far the most common reason was that women were not accustomed to the long hours of hard work shortages appeared american planes found themselves lacking bearing assemblies delicate parts for electronic equipment were low and american wounded became american dead of a sudden the war was right in the american home the government regrets to inform no no [Music] for every american cross driven into the foreign earth a gold star hung in some american home our women learned learned in bitter tears and heartache that in war there can be no such thing as a slight falling off in production because there's no such thing as a slight death by early 1944 the draft voters were falling behind the demands for young men for the new invasion forces were imperative these young men had to come largely from the deferred the fathers those doing essential industrial work reclassification was called for this at a time when stories drifted in from the cold italian mountains the malaria-ridden pacific jungles the watery graves women the country over began to recognize war for what it was a grim tough unromantic battle to the death in which every man woman and child had a stake if the american home is to be preserved if the tragedies of other families in tortured lands are not to be duplicated here the axis must be brought to its knees the hidden army drew fresh recruits its ranks grew to nearly 18 million many of these women came from walks of life not previously considered the mothers the young the agent when they were asked why they have joined the ranks of the hidden army these women gave a variety of reasons i have a daughter in the waves and i had a son on the arizona that's a good enough reason for anyone i'm an old maid and i didn't have anyone until i took this defense job now i have a family of 10 million to look after i send them cases of these every week to help them to get home soon i go to college but i arrange my classes so that i can help out in the war effort this way i'll get my diploma and bourbon i was too heavy for the wax so i joined up in defense work yesterday was the big day of my life the farmer told me i was worth my weight and gold my husband's a prisoner of the japs in the philippines if he'd had a few more of these shells out in batan maybe he'd still be fighting whenever i get a bit tired i i think of him on that death march the special needs of women workers were more widely recognized in many vital defense areas for mothers child care nurseries for housekeepers stores and markets were persuaded to stay open evenings hairdressers movies sports where more and more made available at the unaccustomed hours required by the hidden army indeed in some plants much of the routine of contemporary living was made easier for the woman war worker than for her stay-at-home sister because it was concentrated under the one roof there was no longer the necessity to traipse all over town for her dental appointment her driver's license the ration coupons they were all within a few yards of the assembly line more and more the special needs of women workers were realized and met oh yes there was another girl we canvassed for her reason for entering war work [Music] why did i take a defense job that's a funny question i never thought of that before do you have to have a reason we're in a jam aren't we i'm sorry but you'll have to excuse me i'm too busy to answer damn school questions like that somehow that answer pleased us no sudden emotional urge sent this young woman into war work no loss of a loved one no temporary economic embarrassment no mere yearning for excitement or novelty democracy is in a jam there are millions like her there will have to be 18 million women aren't enough as more men are called for military service their places must be taken by women we are forced to face casualties at the front but never again as during 1943 can one woman quit for every two who are hired there's no time to be spent in the constant training of new replacements without the help of additional thousands of women we cannot build the mountains of material consumed in global invasion we cannot make good the millions of man-hours and woman hours that are lost in a fleeting second smoke and flame as long as the nazi cancer exists anywhere in the world this is also a woman's war to be waged so that no woman shall ever again clutch a starved baby to her breast so that no woman anywhere she'll ever be the slave of a fascist state that makes her no more than a brood mayor that is why the women of america like the men at their side must flock to war jobs and stick to their jobs until that day when an end has come to the devastation of the earth when men again may safely go down to the sea in ships that day when peace has come once more to all lands and especially to the land that whose gate stands the finest warrior the greatest woman of them all [Music] [Applause] you