Mollie S War

The 150,000 women who served in the Women's Army Corps are now seen as the undersung heroes of the Second World War. This memoir describes the life of a WAC enlistee who would serve in England when it came under attack, France immediately after the Allied invasion, and Germany after VE Day. From her experience in basic training in Daytona Beach to the climactic moment when she saw the Statue of Liberty as her ship approached American shores upon her return home, this work provides a glimpse into the life of a woman in uniform during this crucial time in American history.

The 150,000 women who served in the Women's Army Corps are now seen as the undersung heroes of the Second World War. This memoir describes the life of a WAC enlistee who would serve in England when it came under attack, France immediately after the Allied invasion, and Germany after VE Day. From her experience in basic training in Daytona Beach to the climactic moment when she saw the Statue of Liberty as her ship approached American shores upon her return home, this work provides a glimpse into the life of a woman in uniform during this crucial time in American history.

A. J. Liebling?s coverage of the Second World War for the New Yorker gives us a fresh and unexpected view of the war?stories told in the words of the soldiers, sailors,øand airmen who fought it, the civilians who endured it, and the correspondents who covered it. The hero of the title story is a private in the Ninth Army division known as Mollie, short for Molotov, so called by his fellow G.I.s because of his radical views and Russian origins. Mollie was famous for his outlandish dress (long blonde hair, riding boots, feathered beret, field glasses, and red cape), his disregard for army discipline, his knack for acquiring prized souvenirs, his tales of being a Broadway big shot, and his absolute fearlessness in battle. Killed in combat on Good Friday, 1943, Mollie (real name: Karl Warner) was awarded the Silver Star posthumously. Intrigued by the legend and fascinated by the man behind it, Liebling searched out Mollie?s old New York haunts and associates and found behind the layers of myth a cocky former busboy from Hell?s Kitchen who loved the good life. Other stories take Liebling through air battles in Tunisia, across the channel with the D-Day invasion fleet, and through a liberated Paris celebrating de Gaulle and freedom. Liebling?s war was a vast human-interest story, told with a heart for the feelings of the people involved and the deepest respect for those who played their parts with heroism, however small or ordinary the stage.

A gripping saga from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Coal Miner's Daughter War, tragedy and a shameful secret... When Molly Mason's father dies in a pit accident, she is left penniless and alone. She finds work in a local factory, and cheap lodgings. However, when Molly rejects her new landlord's advances, his revenge is swift: she finds herself accused of theft and thrown in prison. As the prospect of war grows ever close, Molly finds herself fighting a more personal battle, trying to find anyone willing to overlook her scandalous past...

Originally published in The New Yorker, Mollie Panter-Downes was the voice of England during the Second World War.

Mollie is a vivid, high-spirited, and intensely feminine account of city people homesteading in the raw, new land west of the Missouri. More particularly, it is the story of Mollie herself ?øjust turned eighteen when the Dorseys left Indianapolis for Nebraska Territory ? of her reaction to the transplantation and to her new life which included rattlesnakes, blizzards, Indians, and the hardships of pioneer life. ø Mollie describes her nearly three-year engagement to Byron Sanford, during which time she worked as a seamstress, teacher, and cook. Following her wedding Mollie?s life took a new turn. Catching ?Pike?s Peak Fever,? the Sanfords crossed the plains to Colorado to join others digging for gold. In mining camps and later, after the outbreak of the Civil War, in forts and army posts, Mollie?s strength and endurance were tried to the uttermost, but she reports her trials and tribulations with the same gaiety, courage, and common sense that she displayed in living through them. Lillian Schlissel?s introduction discusses the Sanfords? courtship, marriage, and their steadfast loyalty to each other.