The War Birds Club: Lady Birds
ALTHOUGH you’d think a pulp magazine publishing stories about the exploits of aviators in the Great War was tailor made to capture the imagination of boys everywhere, it also garnered female readers. Some so ardent they wanted to become commissioned officers in the War Birds Club. Allowing girls to join the War Birds club was even brought up by the C.O. (Feb 34).
Feb 34. But we have to salute the ladies. There is one of them in our midst. Delores Bosanko, of 3286 Stuart Street, Denver, Colorado, has applied for membership; has voted in favor of admitting the Germans and is anxious to do a little writing to members. What do you think of this? Can the ladies belong, or shall we be a stag organization? There was a women’s auxiliary to the Royal Air Force during the war, you know, and many women’s organizations backing up the lads in ’18 right here in the U.S.A. Up at H.Q., we don’t know. What do you say?
But there never seemed to be quite the debate over it like there was for allowing German readers to form their own club (Feb 34). After all, there were “many women’s organizations backing up the lads in ’18 right here in the U.S.A. Up at H.Q.” But it did take a couple months before they agreed to let them in.
April 34. DELORES BOSANKO really started WORDS A-WING with her suggestion, so we can hardly leave her out, can we? But we’re puzzled about Delores. It seems that the opinion of the membership is “No Lady War Birds.” Well, she gets her listing here anyway, by special dispensation. She wants mail.
May 34. MARY A. GRAEF, 1728 North 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa.—A very interesting suggestion that, in the event that girls are barred from the WAR BIRDS, some provision be made for a girls’ squadron or a girls’ auxiliary so that air minded girls can have some rallying point. Miss Graef has Written to Miss Bosanko, of Denver, who started a debate in our organization some months back, and Miss Bosanko agrees with her enthusiastically. (Now there’s a proposition put squarely up to you WAR BIRDS. Do the girls come in and belong to the squadrons we already have—or shall we create a special squadron and give it to them—or shall we bar them entirely? There have been a number of letters written in, but not nearly as many as on the subject of admitting German members. So far, the voting is very close with maybe a slight edge in favor of refusing membership to girls and making the organization stag. Miss Graef has made a fair proposition. What say?)
The matter was resolved by the June issue.
You have been a little careful in your voting on the admission of the ladies. Most of you have evaded the issue entirely and the rest of you are about evenly divided; the slight shade being in favor of admitting the girls in a special squadron if they can qualify. So be it. Girls will be Lady Birds and their squadron numeral—no matter where they live—is “80.” (The Adjutant says that he will take a limited number of lady non-coms, too, and try them out. But he isn’t promising anything unless they behave themselves.) Well, that’s settled.
It was also in the June issue that Dorothy L. Kohn was listed in the WORDS A-WING column.
DOROTHY L. KOHN, 1546 W. 12th St., Davenport, lA., wants to hear from other Lady Birds and says, “Happy landings to the whole outfit. We’ll show those ‘peelots.’ Suppose there were another Anne Lindbergh or Amelia Earheart among us! Would your faces be red?”
Dorothy would go on to be quite active in the club pages. In December 34 she was awarded both a citation for her letter in perfect military form containing six suggestions and a proposed new membership card; and a promotion to 1st Lieutenant (effective October 1st 1934). She garnered additional citation the following year. In January for a very interesting report on the first Mississippi commercial seaplane; February for submitting suggestions and reports in military fashion and, particularly, for an excellent report on her local airport; and in the final month, June, for exceptional service. Dorothy was listed as being a member of Iowa’s 39 Squadron in all her citations rather than the Lady Bird’s 80 Squadron.
Dorothy was go getter outside the club as well and was frequently mentioned in the local Quad City Times. Born July 24th, 1916, she graduated from Davenport High School in 1933 from what was called the “Commercial Course.” She worked as a stenographer her entire career and was employed by the City of Davenport Public Works Department from 1941-1960; secretary to Mayer John H. Jebsen from 1966-1971; administrative assistant to general managers Ken Blackman and Harry Pells at John O’Donnell Stadium during baseball seasons from 1962-1964 and 1976-1978.
She was member of CASI, Putnam Museum, Plus 60, and lifetime member of Newcomb Presbyterian Church and Crown and Anchor Society.
Somehow she found time to indulge in her many hobbies that include traveling, cruising, compiling scrapbooks, correspondence with numerous pen pals, and above all, a lifetime interest in local baseball—where she attended virtually every game at Municipal Stadium, now John O’Donnell Stadium, since it’s opening in 1931 when she was 15 until her death in 2008.
In 1945, the Quad City Times ran an article about Dorothy’s passion for collecting service man’s patches.
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Dorothy received shoulder patches from friends in many foreign countries and continues to add to her colorful collection of emblems of fighting units which took part in engagements in the Pacific area as well as in Europe. At the time of the article, Dorothy hoped to add a number of English army medallions to her collection form a young Englishman she had been corresponding with since 1934! At present he was doing guard duty in Germany at a camp where Nazi SS units were being held prisoners.
Somehow during all her secretarial work, collecting, traveling, corresponding, scrapbooking and baseball games are found time to get married in 1954 to Frank Wulf who had served with the Navy in WWII. Frank shared many of Dorothy’s passions including traveling and going on cruises. They would often bring back mementos and souvenirs, which if not put in a scrapbook would find their way on to their Christmas “travel tree” as ornaments.
In March 1970, the Quad City Times featured an interview with Dorothy in the second of a series of article on secretaries who have worked for the mayor. In the article she describes her general daily routine and duties working for the mayor. She also talked about her other love—travel. She said she’d been everywhere in the United States and Hawaii twice, even bought an acre there dreaming of living there one day. But it was their upcoming trip that was to be the fulfillment of their travel dreams.
The Wulfs were planing trip to London that summer during which time Dorothy would finally meet a pen pal she had been corresponding with since 1934—and still exchanged letters with about four times a year!
“He’s a postal worker there, and we wrote to each other all through the war. We sent him packages when things were bad over there. I can’t believe that maybe now we’ll be able to meet for the first time.”
He was also a War Bird!
Pair of Pen Pals Are Now Pals In Person
by Elsie Ryan • Quad City Times, November 14 1971)
FOR 37 YEARS Ernest Benns has had “another woman” in his life. Recently, he finally introduced her to his wife.
But his wife, Rosina, very attractive, blonde and vivacious, wasn’t the least bit jealous. For the “other woman” was an American pen pal, and Rosma’s husband had never met her either except through thousands of letters.
Benns, of Boundary-road, East Ham, England, began to write to Miss Dorothy L. Kohn of Davenport, after he saw a notice back in 1935 in one of those 10-cent magazines, called “War Birds,” asking for English pen pals. Both were interested in aviation at the time.
AS THE YEARS passed, each got married, but they continued to write. “Everything I ever mailed or sent to him arrived safely.” said Mrs Frank (Dorothy) Wulf, secretary to Mayor John Jebens. “I didn’t realize how bad things were there during the blitz years. I would send items such as a pudding mix, and Ernie later told me they couldn’t use it because it called for their entire ration of eggs (one each per family member) for the week Then. I sent mixes that called for water only.”
The Davenport couple left Davenport last Aug. 18—exactly 37 years after the postmark date of the first letter from Benns—but flew first to Germany to Kaiserslautern, Davenport’s sister city in the people-to-people program.
There, they met the Oberburgemeister (mayor) Dr. Hans Jung. “Mayor Jebens had been there five years ago when they were just starting their new city hall, said Mrs Wulf. “Their city hall is 21 stories high and really modern! As modern as anything in Chicago.
“We also visited Switzerland, then on to England. We landed at Heathrow Airport and I knew my pen pal right off the bat. I just knew it was Ernie!”
English newspapers did a story on the two pen pals, and interviewed Mrs Wulf during her visit there.
BENNS TOLD the British press. “When we started writing, Mrs Wulf and I shared the same sort of hobbies, but since then we have written about every topic under the sun. Even during the war we still managed to write. Dorothy would send her letters to Rosina who would forward them to me, in the service.”
Mrs Wulf is almost part of the family, for she is godmother, by proxy, to the English couple’s son, Roger, now 25-years-old. “I don’t know what kind of difficulties I expected.” Mrs Wulf told friends after her trip, “but we didn’t have any. No trouble at all. We left two days after Nixon floated the dollar, but no one refused our money.”
What did they enjoy most. “All kinds of things,” Mrs. Wulf enthused “We saw Winchester Cathedral, the Kew gardens which are fantastic So many roses! Every kind. And dahlias everywhere. Even the smallest yard has flowers All the colors are so intense.
“Possibly it’s due to the moisture, or the temperature. They think they’re having a heat wave at 75 degrees. We enjoyed the countryside, it’s so totally different. At Newforest, which is like a game preserve, purple heather covers the hills.”
“ANOTHER highlight was seeing the crown jewels! Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls . . . everything They’re on display because they’re part of the English people’s heritage. And you should see and hear the orators on soap boxes in Hyde Park! They talk on everything . . . religion, politics, Communists, and the end of the world . . . to anyone who will listen.”
“They have very few appliances in England, not even toasters. Toast is still made in the oven. The food in both Europe and England is delicious. The bread? Well, there’s nothing like it here. It’s a good thing we walked so much or we’d sure have put on weight!”
“We stopped in Suffolk for tea at a littie place and they served creamed tea and big scones hot out of the oven. Scones are richer than baking powder bisquits, lighter, and you spread them with a whipped cream so thick it is like butler, then cover with home made strawberry jam.”
“When you get up in the morning the hot tea is wailing. They did buy some coffee just for us, though. Breakfast is cheese and lunchmeat, soft boiled eggs, tea rusk and crusty bread.”
In the beginning Mrs Wulf and Benns corresponded about every two weeks, then whenever they got a letter, and now average one or two letters a month.
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Dorothy retired in 1978. Frank and Dorothy continued to travel and collect things and scrapbook and continue the work she did with the Newcomb Presbyterian Church and, of course, root on the home team at her beloved John O’Donnell Stadium every summer.
Dorothy passed away in 2008 (obit).
- Download “Pair of Pen Pals Are Now Pals In Person” (November 14 1971, Quad City Times)
WAR BIRDS hit the stands with Belarski’s Eagles of the Black Cross cover and a wealth of stories within lead off by William E. Barrett’s factual article that goes with the cover. There were also stories by 
WITH the March Issue, WAR BIRDS changes it’s name to TERENCE X. O’LEARY’S WAR BIRDS and it’s focus. The lead story will now feature the exploits of Arthur Guy Empey’s Terence X. O’Leary, but the stories are more science-fictiony that O’Leary’s previous exploits in the magazine which were set in WWI. THE COCKPIT column continues with all it’s previous sections. And the coupon to join is still included. The Booklets can still be obtained for 5¢ and the wings are a bargain at 15¢.