6888 Postal Battalion: Hidden Secrets Netflix Left Out

We’ll be uncovering the untold stories of the extraordinary women from the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II. Here are some hidden secrets Netflix left out:

1. Known simply as the 6888, it was the only all-black, all-female unit deployed overseas during WWII

During WWII, a significant number of soldiers managed the postal service for the US Army overseas. Many letters and packages had only the recipient’s first name or a nickname. By 1945, the US Army faced a massive backlog of undelivered mail.

As a result, army officials decided that this undelivered mail was hurting morale. To deal with the problem, the 6888 Central Directory Battalion was formed, comprising 855 African-American women from the Women’s Army Corps, also known as WACs.

2. The Women’s Army Corps (WACs) job was to sort and deliver the mail to millions of soldiers scattered across Europe

Although it was believed that the 6888th sorted 7 million pieces of mail, it was actually more than that. The total number of letters and parcels that were sorted was in fact closer to 17.5 million in just over a three-month period, while in England.

3. During WWII, the 6888th was the only all-black woman unit deployed overseas

The women arrived in England on the evening of February 12, 1945, and were deployed there until March 1946. Black female nurses were also deployed in Liberia; however, they were not a WAC unit.

4. The Women’s Army Corps (WACs) encountered terrible working conditions

They worked in cold, unheated warehouses, stacked floor to ceiling with undelivered mail. During the Battle of the Bulge, there was an enormous backlog of mail in warehouses all over England and France. Thus, the WACs had to sort through mailbags, many of which were rat-infested. People sent food, pies, and cakes to their loved ones.

The women had three shifts, seven days a week. They also mostly ate cold C-rations. However, this didn’t stop them from being self-sufficient. The women did everything to survive- they had their own supplies, their own military police, had their own transportation, they even opened up their own beauty parlor!

5. They developed its own unique mail-sorting system

Working shifts around the clock, they came up with an innovative tracking system that processes approximately 65,000 pieces of mail per shift. This included creating and maintaining a card index, which contained 7 million cards of servicemen with the same or similar names. The WACs used their military serial numbers to distinguish them.

There were many people of the same name, and the only way that they could find out where to send the mail was by the difference in their serial numbers.