World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAnn G. Baumgartner was born in the United States Army Hospital in Augusta, Georgia, United States; her father was an engineer and patent attorney. After her father's return from France after WW1, her family moved to Plainfield, New Jersey, United States. She became interested in aviation after learning about Amelia Earhart in school. Her father would at times take her to Newark Airport to watch landing aircraft. She graduated from Walnut Hill High School in Natick, Massachusetts, United States. She received a pre-med degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1940. She returned to New Jersey upon graduation and worked for Eastern Airlines in the public relations department. Meanwhile, she learned to fly at Somerset Hills Airport in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

ww2dbaseBaumgartner joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) Class of 43-W-3 at Houston, Texas, United States in Jan 1943; measles delayed her graduation until 3 Jul 1943, with class 43-W-5. She was assigned to Camp Davis in North Carolina, United States, where she flew A-25, B-34, UC-78, and L-5 models of aircraft. In Feb 1944, she was transferred to Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio, United States to test flight medical equipment. In Mar 1944, she became an assistant operations officer in the fighter test section at Wright Field. In addition to her usual work that was usually done behind a desk, she was permitted to fly, gaining pilot and co-pilot experience in B-17, B-24, and B-29 bombers as well as the British Mosquito aircraft. She also had some experience flying a captured German Ju 88 aircraft. On 14 Oct 1944, she test flew the YP-59A jet fighter, becoming the first American woman to fly a jet.

ww2dbaseOn 2 May 1945, she married Major William Carl, an engineer on the P-82 Twin Mustang aircraft design team, with whom she would have two children. Taking her husband's name, Ann Carl continued working in the aviation industry after the war, becoming a flight instructor. She later became a journalist who specialized in science. After losing her husband on 19 Feb 2008, she passed away in a nursing home in Kilmarnock, Virginia, United States about one month later.

Ann Baumgartner Timeline

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