Mary Babnik Brown

[RJNorton]

Many thanks to Laurie for sending this link. Laurie writes:

"Different war, but interesting and little known history. It was important to me because my father was in the Army Air Corps and part of Air/Sea Rescue. Upon finding a downed plane, the crew's first duty was to retrieve the Norden bombsight before finding the bodies."

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/woman...otos-69967

[Gene C]

Wonderful story to start your day with.
Thanks Laurie

[Rsmyth]

Roger, did you read the comment by opoth66 below the article!

[RJNorton]

Roger, did you read the comment by opoth66 below the article!

Yes. I tried to find the story at Snopes, but drew a blank. Wikipedia, not necessarily a reliable source, seems to accept the story as told. In all honesty, I do not have any knowledge on this topic and cannot comment.

I do agree opoth66 sure seems to know his/her stuff.

[L Verge]

Roger, did you read the comment by opoth66 below the article!

Yes. I tried to find the story at Snopes, but drew a blank. Wikipedia, not necessarily a reliable source, seems to accept the story as told. In all honesty, I do not have any knowledge on this topic and cannot comment.

I do agree opoth66 sure seems to know his/her stuff.

I must admit that I did not read the comments below the article, and the one by opoth66 certainly seems legitimate. However, there are others that seem to disagree.

As for the one who says that he has dismantled several Norden bombsights from WWII and no blonde hair, I would ask how many bombsights would have been made from just that? By 1945, had scientists created something like blonde hair as substitutes?

Also, the comment about the use of the term "metereological" in the advertisement that Mary saw is a little strange. Surely that term would have been a cover for what the real purpose was to be. And like in one of the comments, I would question how Reagan, the Aviation Historical Association, and the newspapers were fooled also. Mary didn't even know what her hair had been used for. There is a letter online in which Thomas Ferebee - bombadier on the Enola Gay, August 6, 1945 - mentions Mrs. Brown's contribution.

P.S. I once read an article about the "funding" behind Snopes (let's just say by a person that I consider an enemy of the U.S.), and that turned me off to believing their assessments of things...

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I just realized that I gave the wrong maiden name for Mary Brown - it should be Babnic, not Babcock. My apologies.

[Steve]

According to the Georgia Museum of Aviation, the story is false:

https://www.museumofaviation.org/blog/th...bombsight/

The first version of the Norden bombsight was invented in 1927 and was acquired by the Army Air Corps in the 1930's. It was first used in bombing campaigns in 1941. Mary first saw the advertisement in 1943 and donated her hair in 1944. Also the manual given to bombardiers said “Crosshairs are etched on one of the lenses of the telescope.”

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According to this article the hair was collected used for meteorological instruments such as radiosonde hygrometers:

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stor...ar-effort/

The call for human hair was announced by the War Department in July 1941. As it explained, human hair – specifically blonde female hair – was actually a strategic material used in meteorological and other precision instruments. Scientists had discovered that blonde hair was particularly sensitive to changes in heat and cold and these changes could be measured with great accuracy. In addition to being blonde, two other conditions were required: that the hair had never been touched by curling irons or chemicals other than ordinary shampoo and that the hair be at least 12 inches long.

Previously, War Department stocks had been filled primarily by women in the Balkans, but as the war in Europe expanded that source of supply was cut off. When attempts to find substitutes, including synthetic fibers and the web silk of black widow spiders, proved unsatisfactory, the War Department issued its call, stating it would pay top dollar though not specifying what that price was.

[L Verge]

Even if Mary's hair went for some other use - or was thrown out - I think it's worthwhile to know that this woman thought enough of our country to sacrifice her hair (a distinctive trademark for her) for what she thought would aid the war effort. Evidently, it wasn't a hoax to her... I wonder how many Mary Babnik Browns we have in our society today.