The Real History of the Six Triple Eight
The 6888th's Central Directory Postal Battalion was the only unit of mostly-Black American women to be sent overseas during the Second World War. Led by Major Charity Adams, the 'Six Triple Eight' deployed to Birmingham in early 1945, where they undertook the mammoth task of sorting millions of letters for delivery to U.S. soldiers in the European Theatre. In this article we delve into the real history behind Netflix's Six Triple Eight.
Fighting for the Right to Serve
In the summer of 1944, Major Charity Adams was tasked with preparing a Women's Army Corps (WAC) battalion of Black American personnel for deployment overseas. Although their mission had not yet been decided, the women threw themselves into a training programme that included obstacle courses, gas mask drills, and lectures on aircraft recognition. As the women prepared for their future assignment, African American political and civil rights leaders were lobbying the government for the opportunity for Black American women to serve overseas. In December 1944, the War Department relented and the decision was made to form a postal directory battalion to be deployed to the European Theatre. A major factor in the decision was the pressing need for more postal handlers to tackle the huge backlog of mail that had built up in Europe since the D-Day invasion. The 6888th Central Postal Directory came into being, under the leadership of Major Charity Adams.
Charity Adams
Charity Adams was the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (nicknamed the Six Triple Eight). In August 1942, she became the first African American woman to serve as an officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). In 1943, she was assigned as the training supervisor at base headquarters at Fort Des Moines, later becoming the training center's control officer. She was the highest-ranking Black woman in the U.S. military by the end of the war, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
< Lt Charity Adams leads recruits on the drill ground at Fort Des Moines, 1943
The Six Triple Eight's personnel were drawn from across the Women’s Army Corps ranks, with a prerequisite for selection being a willingness to be posted overseas. There was no shortage of volunteers. Many of the battalion’s sergeants were trained medical technicians, having worked in hospitals before their selection for the Six Triple Eight. Despite the discrepancies between their specialisms and eventual assignment, many servicewomen jumped at the opportunity to be deployed to a combat theatre. One of the many obstacles facing African-American WACs was a reluctance within the U.S. Army to assign the women to specialised roles. Instead, they often worked as generalists, carrying out menial tasks such as cleaning and laundry, despite most of the WACs being highly educated. Evelyn Johnson was a certified Orthopaedic Medical Clerk, but soon got to grips with her new trade. As part of their training, the WACs of the Six Triple Eight Central Postal Battalion received instruction on the US postal system from mail clerks.
Arriving in Britain
The Six Triple Eight boarded the liner Île de France on 3rd February 1945, encountering several German U-boats on the transatlantic crossing. It wasn’t until the ship was mid-way across the Atlantic that the women were told they were being posted to Britain. On 11th February, Île de France docked at Glasgow and the battalion was boarded onto a train bound for Birmingham in the midlands of England. As the women travelled to their billets, they were taken aback by the bomb damage that had been inflicted on the city.
The reception they received from the local population was warm and curious. While some locals held racist views, others were quick to extend invitations to the new arrivals. African Americans had been posted to Britain since 1942 but were mainly concentrated in the South-West and East of England. During their time in Birmingham, the Six Triple Eight were billeted at King’s Edward School in Edgbaston, a requisitioned boy’s boarding school that was ill-equipped to accommodate women, according to new arrival, Evelyn Johnson.
No Mail, Low Morale
The Six Triple Eight would be working across six draughty warehouses piled high with unsorted mail and overrun with rats, who feasted on the rotting packages of homemade cake and fried chicken sent to servicemen by good-intentioned loved ones in the United States. The delay in processing the mail had been caused, in part, by the transience of the invading forces, with personnel advancing across Europe. Another stumbling block was the incomplete or superseded addresses written on the envelopes; the re-routing of which was made even more difficult by the sheer number of personnel with the same name (7,500 Robert Smiths were serving in the ETO). The Six Triple Eight were given six months to process this enormous backlog.
The War Department had cause for urgency. Mail had long been understood as an important morale-booster. Writing in 1942, the United States Postmaster General argued that “frequent and rapid communication with parents, associates, and other loved ones strengthens fortitude, enlivens patriotism, makes loneliness endurable, and inspires to even greater devotion the men and women who are carrying on our fight far from home and from friends.” In the words of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion's motto, "No mail, low Morale".
Under the steady leadership of Major Charity Adams, the battalion was sorted into three shifts, working 24/7 to tackle the backlog of mail. The battalion developed and implemented a system for reuniting orphaned mail with its intended recipient. A locator clerk updated boxes of cards that tracked the locations of U.S overseas units. Meanwhile, postal clerks were given an alphabetical list of names and associated units, which they used for processing incoming mail. At the peak of its strength, the Six Triple Eight numbered 855 women, separated into a headquarters company, and four postal companies.
Despite their proven efficiency, the unit was still the target of discrimination. When a general appeared for a surprise inspection, he chastised Major Adams for her battalion’s poor attendance on parade. Adams was quick to point out that a third of her complement were sleeping and another third were working, due to the around-the-clock nature of their work. Undeterred, the general threatened to send in a white lieutenant to run the unit. Charity Adams stood firm: “Over my dead body, sir”, she replied. The women of the Six Triple Eight let results speak for themselves. Given six months to clear the backlog, the battalion had sorted through all 17 million pieces of mail in just three.
Off Duty
Not every member of the battalion was a mail clerk. The Six Triple Eight also included administrative personnel, cooks, and Special Service staff, who managed the unit’s recreational programme. Corporal Dorothy Smith Daily headed up the unit’s variety act show, “Wacacts”. The show was performed for the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and later toured British hospitals and G.I. bases as part of an Anglo-American troupe.
During their allocated leave, the WACs visited towns and cities across Britain with London being the most popular destination. On one occasion, the entire unit was sent to London to parade before Mary the Queen Mother. Despite the cheerful welcome from the majority of British people, the women of the Six Triple Eight found hostility and discrimination within the U.S. military. A policy of segregation meant that Black Americans were often prevented from sharing facilities reserved for white servicemembers. This extended to American Red Cross clubs, which operated white and Black service clubs, despite publicly denying that their services were segregated. In London, the American Red Cross offered to provide personnel of the Six Triple Eight with their own hotel. Charity Adams knew that this was so that her troops wouldn’t have to use the accommodation set up for white servicewomen. “I promised them that as long as I’m commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, not one member of my unit will stay at the other hotel. And to my knowledge they never did.”
A New Challenge in France
On completion of their work in Birmingham in May 1945, the battalion received orders to do the same in Rouen, France. Once again, the Six Triple Eight were able to process the backlog in less time than they were allocated. Tragedy struck the battalion on 8 July 1945 when three WACs were killed in a vehicle accident while in the line of duty. Pvt Mary J Barlow and Sgt Dolores Mercedes Brown, both of Connecticut, and Pfc Mary Hortensa Bankston, New York, were laid to rest in the American Cemetery, Omaha Beach, Normandy.
From Rouen, the battalion moved to Paris, where personnel were slowly rotated home from the summer of 1945 until February 1946, when the unit returned to the United States. At the end of their assignments, some women remained in the military, but most returned to their civilian lives, often sharing little of their wartime experiences. Evelyn Johnson went to college under the GI Bill and became a dental hygienist. She was interviewed by Imperial War Museums at her home in Tampa, Florida in 2014, passing away the following year.
A lasting legacy
The women of the Six Triple Eight were among around 150,000 Black Americans to serve in Britain during the Second World War (approximately 8 per cent of the total number of forces that made up the ‘Friendly Invasion’). Serving in support and supply roles, these troops performed work that was vital to Allied success in the Second World War, from the construction of bomber bases to the processing of morale-boosting mail. Black American women had been serving in Britain as early as 1942 with the American Red Cross, working in service clubs set up for African American personnel.
However, the Six Triple Eight held the distinction of being the first, and only, female Black American military unit to serve overseas. The perseverance of its personnel, and the resilience and skill of its leaders, were pivotal to the battalion’s success. Despite their achievements, the Six Triple Eight were overlooked for unit awards. This changed in 2022 when President Biden awarded the battalion the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian award.
< Six Triple Eight veteran Romay Davis prior to being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, July 2022.
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