Training for War Work

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22805, 2 September 1939, Page 2

Training for War Work

tßy ANNE PAGE.!

If war breaks out in Europe, there is every indication that women will take an active part in it. Since Florence Nightingale took her nurses to the Crimea, the sphere of women's war work has gradually widened. In the last wat their great achievement was the success with which they took men’s places at home. In industry, in business, and on the. land, they showed ability and strength quite undreamt of by most. people, including the women themselves.

Nursing, A.8.P., and the Land Army

The part that women are required to play in a future war is outlined in the National Service Handbook. The greatest demand is for nurses “tn view; of- the probable casualties . . ; among civilians as well as in the_ armed forces.” Every woman with nursing experience is asked to reserve herselffor nursing in war time, and thousands of others are training with the Red Cross, the St. John Ambulance Brigade, and St. Andrew’s Ambulance Corps. ■ , . „ In the event of war London is to be divided Into sectors, each with its base hospital in the outskirts and its casualty clearing stations in the centre of the city. The patients from the big public hospitals are to be ‘‘evacuated’’ and these used as clearing stations. The handbook also calls for volunteers f6r a land army “of women, who are ready to undertake all kinds of farm work in any part of the country.” The members are to wear uniforms and their conditions of work, under individual farmers, are to, be officially supervised. Already something like 14,000 women have enrolled, and these are going to the country in groups for a month’s training in farm work and the handling of implements. A new type of war work is that connected with air raid precautions. England has been divided into small districts and for each district air raid wardens, both men and women, have been appointed. The work of the wardens, according to the handbook, is “to have a thorough knowledge of their sector, its Inhabitants, of the location of .gas mains, electric cables, telephones, shelters, and trenches. They . . . would usually be the first on the scene when air raid damage had occurred and would be responsible for summoning the proper form of help after an air raid and for doing what they could themselves until its arrival.” In connexion with the A.R.P., women are also enlisted as ambulance drivers and for work at first-aid posts and communication centres. The Auxiliary Territorial Service The A.T.S, is the present-day version of the women’s auxiliary aid corps organised during the last war. The handbook asks for women from 18-50, either m&rried or single, the majority to be ready to- serve overseas if necessary. Units of A.T.S. women are attached to each of the district commands. of the territorial army. Their work is to cook for the army, to drive vans, do secretarial work, and organise the commissariat. Their training is being carried out as seriously as that of the territorials' themselves. At Malvern last month, for instance, more than 400 women from the A.T.S. units of the western, command went into camp for two weeks. They were mainly office and shop workers between 20 and 30' years old, with older women in command.

English Women in Camp

Their first task was to to Uve together and to get used_ tO ] Irfe un£er canvas. The second was to ■ learn army discipline. This necessitated vigorous drilling in which the women Avere instructed by drill sergeants from the regular army. Finally they had their special Jobs to learn, cooking with camp dixies, qr working as orderlies, clerks, or storemen. .' - For the officers commanding the various units of the A.T.S, a special training course was held in the. Ltieisea barracks. The main part .of the course consisted of lectures; but even the older women underwent some brisk drilling. . -.. Although the women are enthusiastic about their soldiering, there has been some criticism of the military drill, which is not the best form of exercise for women, and of their dress, which is a rather clumsy adaptation of a soldier’s uniform. The high shirt collar, heavy coat, and shapeless much more stuffy than women’s ordinary clothes. However the A.T.S. is far from fueling like the nurse who told Miss Nightingale that she would never have volunteered'for the Crimea if she had known she would have to wear such caps!

, War Work for Housewives Even the. housewives _ and mothers who have no time for these national services' have their war-time dl "ies. In the first place if they live outside the main centres of population they have to be prepared to take in people, especially children, evacuated from thedanger zones; Every house has been visited and assessed for . its quota ox refugees. The. Government is to pay board for thesepeople; but the housewives have a strenuous time ahead ox them, .nevertheless, - =.• „ Another job for the housewife is the preparation of an "A.R.P. Every household has been asked to lay in a-week’s supply of non-perishable foods in case air raids should disorganise distribution and cut off' supplies. A pamphlet issued by the British Medical Association gives advice on the matter of providing a balanced diet out of tinned and non-perishable food. On the assumption, for instance, tnax yeast cannot be. stored and that tne delivery of bread might be interrupted, the recipe for soda bread made wim cream of tartar and baking soda is given. The value of onions is stressed at a time when fresh , vegetables may not be obtainable, and it is pointed out that "cellophane” packets of onions are available in Corned beef, tongue, salmon, and sardines are to be bought in tins rather than glass containers," as glass be . easily broken in an air raid. And there is to be plenty of milk powder, flour, and sugar. _ , . 1 Future Developments Whether women would take part in the actual fighting in: another- war re-, mains to be seen. Should Russia come into it they possibly would,, since in Russia women have been trained as sailors, soldiers, air pilots, mechanics, and machine-gunners. And if one combatant used its women to advantage others might well follow suit. . Whether Madame Chiang Kai-shek would have v her counterparts in the west seems more doubtful. It is hard to imagine European women .being given command of a defence arm. Mr Lloyd George is said to have announced in the last war that he would give a great deal to have Christabel Pankhurst (the suffragette leader) as a general in the British Army; but she never got nearer to it than conducting recruiting campaigns." ■