Martha Rogers, who grew up on Alabama Street in New Albany, was among the first Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps officers sent to the North African theater during World War II, the Union County Heritage Museum said.
On Nov. 13, 1942, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower requested five WAAC officers to serve as executive secretaries for Allied forces in Algiers, according to the museum. The ship carrying Rogers and the other officers from Great Britain was torpedoed and caught fire.
Two officers were rescued from the burning ship by a British destroyer. Rogers and the others escaped in a lifeboat, helped rescue seamen from the water and were later taken to safety in Algiers, the museum said.
Though they arrived without uniforms or personal supplies, Rogers and the officers served on Eisenhower’s staff during the North African, Mediterranean and European campaigns. Their duties included handling secret communications and intelligence reports, managing office work and assisting other soldiers. Rogers’ World War II uniform is on exhibit at the museum.
