Doughboys and Doughnut Girls – How the Salvation Army’s World War I Women Volunteers Made History, One Tasty Treat at a Time

By George Yagi, Jr.
via the Military History Now web site

In the summer of 1917, the first U.S. troops landed in France. Accompanying them was a contingent of volunteers from another, much smaller army – the Salvation Army.

All told, 250 young women joined the charity to travel with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) to Europe. The organization’s 52-year-old firebrand matron, Evangeline Booth, tenaciously lobbied a reluctant U.S. General John Pershing to allow her volunteers to provide aid and support to the soldiers at the front. Eventually, he agreed.

Salvation Army “Lassies” at the frontlines in WW1 fried up doughnuts by the thousands for American soldiers. The tireless efforts of these “Doughnut Girls” not only provided a morale-boosting treat for troops in the trenches, they helped popularize the now-ubiquitous snack food. Each member of Booth’s brigade carried a helmet, a gas mask and a .45 caliber revolver. The women soon found themselves in the trenches where they would serve as nurses, relief workers, and, most famously, as “Doughnut Girls.”

Amazingly, this celebrated nickname came about by pure happenstance, thanks to a pair of Booth’s volunteers — Ensigns Helen Purviance and Margaret Sheldon.

The two were stationed with U.S troops at Montiers-sur-Saulx in October of 1917. The soldiers manning the lines there had endured 36 days of constant rain. As morale plummeted, Purviance and Sheldon figured that some tasty baked goods would lift everyone’s spirits. After looking over the meager supplies available, the young women decided to try to make a batch of doughnuts. At the time, the now-ubiquitous fried-dough snack was available in some stateside cities, but it was still largely unknown to most Americans.

With a blanket concealing their kitchen from prying eyes, the two ensigns went to work. Equipped with only a very small pot-bellied stove, Purviance later recalled, “I was literally on my knees when those first doughnuts were fried, seven at a time, in a small frypan.”

Continuing their work into the early morning hours, the pair eventually whipped up 150 doughnuts. They were an instant hit. The first soldier to receive one of the sweet treats was Private Braxton Zuber.

“Oh, boy!” he reportedly exclaimed. “If this is war, let it continue.”

The following day, Purviance and Sheldon, made a fresh batch of doughnuts – 300 this time. All were devoured by grateful infantrymen. Word quickly spread and soldiers up and down the line were clamoring for more of the fried treats. Eventually, Purviance would find herself making as many as 8,000 doughnuts a day.

Read the entire article on the Military History Now web site here:

External Web Site Notice: This page contains information directly presented from an external source. The terms and conditions of this page may not be the same as those of this website. Click here to read the full disclaimer notice for external web sites. Thank you.