Pvt. Viola H Wollard (née Hansen)
(1906 - 1973)
Profile
Pvt. Viola H. Wollard enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1943. She was one of twenty-nine Danish born WACs during the Second World War.
Viola Vilhelmine Hansen was born on 9 February 1906 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Jens Peter Julius Hansen and Konkordia Methine Marie Hansen (née Lytjohan).[1]
Wollard emigrated to the United States in 1912, arriving in New York from Copenhagen on 29 March 1912. She was traveling with her mother and siblings.[2] Their final destination was to join her father, who had moved to the USA in April 1911 and had settled in Wisconsin. He was naturalised as a citizen of the United States on 15 November 1920.[3]
Wollard married Leonard Lewis Wollard in 1933.[4] The couple settled in Illinois and had a son in 1935. In 1940, she worked as a coil winder in Proviso, Illinois, and her husband as a painter.[5] Her husband served in the US Navy from 27 April to 17 December 1943.[6] The couple divorced at some point before 1948.[7]
Wollard enlisted as a Private (A-607811) in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) ion Chicago, Illinois, on 1 April 1943.[8] There is no information on the nature of her service. It is not known if she served as an Army Air Force WAC. She served only for a few months, and was discharged on 13 July 1943.[9]
Wollard moved to Fort Atkinson in 1958, where she died on 26 June 1973. Her son—Edward Wollard—was serving as a Master Sergeant in the US Air Force in Guam at the time.[10]
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Kaparnaum sogn.
[2] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
[3] Ancestry: U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project).
[4] Obituary, Mrs. Viola Wollard, Wisconsin State Journal, 27 Jun 1973, p. 3.
[5] Ancestry: 1940 United States Federal Census.
[6] Ancestry: U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010.
[7] Ancestry: 1950 United States Federal Census.
[8] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.
[9] Ancestry: U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010.
[10] Obituary, Mrs. Viola Wollard, Wisconsin State Journal, 27 Jun 1973, p. 3.