Washing At War

I LOVED YOUR “POSTFIX” column about “windwashers” (by Arthur G. Sharp, Fall 2002). I am an 87-year-old former Seabee who was put ashore on Eniwetok Island in April 1944. I was promoted to stevedore, and our small group unloaded shiploads of supplies onto the island. Our work was quite dirty, the temperature sometimes reached 120 degrees, and fresh water was at a premium. We didn’t relish washing with saltwater.

I had heard of windpowered washers, and while wandering around the small island, I began gathering up junk. I found discarded dunnage with which to make an A-frame. I made an axle by mounting a piece of pipe in discarded truck wheel bearings and used a discarded funnel for a plunger. I constructed a windmill of four three-foot boards attached to a hub fastened to one end of the pipe, and at the other end of the pipe I had a homemade crank that pushed the funnel up and down about five inches.

It was a crude-looking apparatus, but it worked for the 11 months I was there, quickly washing clothing in a bucket with soapy water. I was able to get fresh water to use with it because the evaporator operator lived in my tent.