WOMEN AND THE GREAT WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 42, 13 November 1918, Page 10

WOMEN AND THE GREAT WAR

A FORCE THAT MADE I'OR VICTORY

(By "Imogen.")

To an unthinking world cna of tho greatest amazements inStlus warol colua--8111 surprises has been the way in winch women '.iiivo come forward and have insisted upon bearing tlicu' share in the great conflict that iia,s been rending the n,«Uions i'o)' the pasl four and n half .vea'/s, Conventiono have-heon swept aside in evciv country like ninepins in their insistent desire .io serve, ' Governments which at first denied them their wiil were in the end forced to give in, and even in the midst of thtir struggle the nations taking part have been unable to withhold their admiration ol the way in which women have thrown then' whole weight into the winning of this war, which all hope will make for the betterment of civilisation. When it■ is remembered that something like five niillwns of British women have been labouruig with their hands in all sorts 01, to them, suitable and unsuitable tasks, huiuc idea may be gained ol what their services to Great Britain havs meant. It was fortunate for her that no country was s'o rich as she in the 'equipment, mental ami moral, of her educated wtmien, although, at the supreme crisis of her fate, it was onlv tentatively, and under the insistent pressure of her women, that her Government begun to introduce a hawlfui of them into national industry alter the German Government, bad hud an armv of women doing war work m t.i« shops and factories. Lcunlly reluctant was the Government to utilise the aid.of British medical women in miliary Hospitals, and it was only when.she was shown the way by Belgium and l ranee that Britain recalled her rejected women helpers to serve tiie land of tliesv birth. Tlio soldiers know whul women oa\G dona for them in (he hospitals at the front, find as far afield as Serbia, Kumania, Russia, Kgypj". Palestine. aim Mesopotamia, and equally well Known j.-. 11 wnin-ii'.s work 111 olticis, m tields and factories, and .oil hospital ship*! in all tlio sear. Tens nf thousands have jriven their strcniitn and thcu lica■ ill, ami not only Edith Qavill has givea her life. ' .. . The Hospitals. Because of its intimate relation to our fighting men the work of the women in the hospitals, whether as doctors or as nurses. is one that, stands apait lrc'iii ait others and is illumined villi a eideridour or so.lsacrifice and heroism I bat can never fade. On those shining pages the work of the Scottish Women 5 * ]J.ospilaJ limb, in tiie.v Mipeihuman iighv i.gainst disease, <hir»t, famine, cold, and a s.rain that was almost unbearable upon nmtd and bodv. will for ever hold-a dominant place. Of (he work which was accomplished for the unhappy Serbians somcfhiiicj was revealed in n lecture eiveii earlv in the year by Dr. Aenrs Lcnne.t,. who* was in charge of one of those units, and still more in what has been written of the 11 "it commanded by the late Dr. Elsie Ingiis, a woman whose liteand work were an honour to the country, to which she belonged. Munition Factories. Tji munition factories in Great Britain j women have been .doing the work of men in a way that shbwed nnt only their intelligence. bnt (heir physical endurance. Thev carried burdens, manipulated huge machines, find worked with > 0 powders under -conditions of terrhving .danger as successfully as men. Ibe immense numbers of wonisn womers who look the place of men in industry reliwsed liter.illv millions of men lor tevvicu a( Ihe front, and Iheir active co-opera-'(inn also enabled (he authorities to redistribute masculine labour and to-con-centrate the work of the eoniurv- upon essentials. 'IV .hat todav Britain finds herself all bul selfsupporting so far' as food Ms concerned, and able to turn nut a volume of trade considerably in excess of her pre-war output. Working- in' the Government factories the women, have iififl In live m all atmosphere of chemicals that in niany instances turned their sitins vellow, bleached-Iheir hair, and cruised their finger-nails lo drop ■ off. .They . refused to wear mask', saying tha-.tney in eifored with Iheir efficiency. ■ and tney would rather lope iheir complexions and t»eth than fail the men at- Ihe iront. Such was the spirit of the women or Britain, and possibly only, women cm. annreciale what iheir sacrifice meant. There is liavdlv mi occupation or an industry in England formerly followed l-y men 'which women have not taken up. and had Ihe world been told six or srven vears ago that Britain would have had her. women turning into engineers. mechanics, cpnduelors. ambulance driver*, farm workers,- working in shipbuilding and railway yards, and in the tliousand-and-one callings in which they e.re now employed it. would have hfler incredulous shoulders. Mid fmnkly disbelieved tlio teller. And all these things have coiV- to IP-s. Stiil hpiiblic men have admitted that without the help of the wome-> ; the war <-<;n d never have b-n won. Th« Prime Minister hir,is-1f has paid: "The .have rlr.pp noblv in this war. A. man who has been Munitions Master for b-el-« months must feel. n deb L of irr.-iti.ud" to the women for what, thev hnve do-'e. They have helped to win the war, aid without them we ouM not hnve .done if " Vet. another- Minister: "Tt is not tn'o much to *ov ■Cv*t our armies ha-' lwi saved and - : ">iy l<"wly assured l-r the women in th* JW-wm. Without them i l wenld V> iryv-v-i'Oe fr» nrn-rrpM to be "i*iK but with. Ibevj T bolievo that victory will be assurod." In Me.w 7.eal?nd. In New Zealand the work of women 'ins been larHy of <i supplementary "ature no 1 <mb*:ihitio*svjr,. as in , F.n«rland and Fro*'-. hut Oiot he* net been th«ir fault. The snifit of p*triol'ro. «f that, was possible, lired their enthitsiasm just u . if (ij.-i vomc' in the lands, but iinlneki'v. for th« v.itisfiict-oit of their desires th".v had an mtenseoujervatisn io (vrht a"^i*." t i.. h n la. the n'r't of eninlovers and of t'ee 'tnrrrnniFTit. -it'' »he'-r?=i;lt tin':'their offers of substitu'e service ..were «ecd thrown npe- h-ir-"" fil. or as of voices crying in the irilr'erne's. As for (heir '■npnVni'mfvy wo" 1 .:, that n f fo" -itlior h""'e in Now Zoalaiul or abroad on active sor--i,0,. '4; ii" ut-11. : t Ins bc'i no -"'y-t !•'. sacrifice, ha.s been too much for them. From the ni'ciS""!- Ihnt _it wsie Icni-wn iout New 7eat'i.nd r*ns tro' 11 '.' to henr her shnre if the hnrdei 'n the werhl con"V: that Ivi- .ep""'fed -o .-nary naiio'" 5 . the wov-ii of til's country in?; 1, the wolf-re of'our t-"on" their 1 ."■ire. e"d 111" re-" 1 !, has bee»'that t 1 " Vow y.»-ihiirl •.-"'diers. *"• '-aid to ho the bos'- rared for. in nl l - ('"it .-ium--dn"s "ifberiny of "rmie" in the T'-'st'—» ■"! the-trr- - ' e* war. ,-ft he c 1 'o H,p t! .-i— .5. and it has meant, very, very m'.K'li to the "■•eiieu. 't nil eesy mat'"!- 'o work v-ns fre=-h jind hon"-" cessation of 'hostilities, lint as the years .. • - -li hll:| T-f IM' f ("Pet •• •!,'■. ' 1 - self very searching, and the women hnve nnei-irivl triiwnji'ianlly. Of thp vor 1 -; of lb" ("'pr-ile-■■ of Tiyp"'ir,ol l-'und. inauaruratpfl l;v TTnr T'.yeel: lencV the Couu(e->- <if T/iv-'-'iinol soon as it kiv'wn that ypw flea'md Imoiw w'ni'd be Mitim*. and nf various other kindred bodies, (lie whole ''f the TVninion knows because nraclieallv towi' P...1 di.-riet . Th-o.mh the work of these nrginisalions ,th B iicrhling 'men have lx?er kept su.oplied w.it'i everything that could mitisate.the hardships of campaigning ip the way of supnlementary clothiii); and food, and,what lias been of even creater value,' they have been made to feel tl'at lliey were individually the care and iharec of every woman in this country. What the work of llip-e patriotic organisations has m»anl to the men who were undergoing such strain of .mind and body, only they can say. bul at least the women workers know by the thousands and (housnnds ot letters thev have received that the.ir work cheered aiid comforted the men and kept ever before their eyes Ihe honielalld to which they hoped to return sooner or lal n r.

Of t!i? \v«rk for th? K-<i Ooss wl'jcli lias dn;ic bv (ho women of N<vv who ciii snv enonsli .iv ■'>"

vnißi 1 ? V'lin. !>'>oa;i;e of :liom. it hie; been said by those capable of judging

that the hospifiil"and Jheir equipment for New Zealand soldifl'K s® l ' ol "' lo none. Day in, du.i'«ut/ 'W'" l 'J'! suuimer, women have thro«'Ji-w ieu ', . ® into this most merciful work, on by the knowledge that their'efforts ttf 1 ' 6 . bringing healing lo countless numbers oV men and relieving suffering for others. Ju addition to those Ino that have w on; eel direct'.v for the soldiers, there have been others'that have taken-a different field for (heir energies. Of these the \\ onion 6 National Reserve was one, its aims primarily having been lo provide women as substitutes' for men who. were called up for military service, As no official call was made foe thoir work in this direction, the reserve devoted jlself to filing i'or the wives and families of so !^ 1 ?l! s and sailors, placing members in suitable employment, training women for clerica work,' working i'or the .Red Cross and other patriotic causes, caring for therawes of so!dier3 and sailors who have died in this country, etc. Headquarters can tell of instances of women inanagnifi farms, acting as ploughnion, shepherds, drovers, etc., nnd, where men s help was • unavailable, of women fan'.ving out farm work under. their father s guidance, and in .very many instances doing work which they officially were told it was impossible for women to do. J hen thero have -been . organisations formed for the purpose of conducting clubs tor soldiers, such as the Sydney Street diers' Club, of which Mrs. W. I'. 'jlaasey was fomi(ler, and others that uoiked for-the sailors, such as the Jvavy League Ladies' Auxiliary (for the men-of the Navv). Splendid work has, also been douo for the men of the mercantile- marine by the Wellington Branch of the British and Foreign Sailors' Society. l<iew /<caland, too, has had her girls 111 (hitherto closed to them), m post offices (in work that bad till llw war been_< one bv men and boys, including that: of telegraph messen.sfW'fl), in public guldens, working as train cleaners, cooks on.coss'tal vessels, orchnrdists. and even as taxi drivers. With justice the women of New Zealand may consider that thev weie not found wanting m the t'.me.of tual, and if they were not able io achieve the. tasks that'they had set their hearts upon they yet did work that they have every reason to be proud of, and which meant touch in its relation to the work done.by the soldiers. The Womtn of France. In all' the long record of ■ women's work of women's endurance anil sfilt«acriiico for their country, tne ux Frank. Bland out absv* alt others because cltsy with thtt women ct and Serbia,' have drunk tHe cup of woe to the dregs, ft is only an invaded cuuutrv that knows the full, horror of war, and when that invader aas been such ;i foe as the Oiennan, there has been r.o infamy that has not'been fathomed. Justj as Franco has stucd as a flaming spint of patriotism, and invincible .vaieui before ins nations, so have her women stood before her men as a beacon l.ght! I'or ceassiess endeavour, \, omen wouh) 01 the heroic-sons, husbands, and fathers who have.fought with such supreme aciiNicrifice in the shambles of this - war. The pity of it is Urn: it has needed suon a war to show the world the mettle-thai, womenkind are made of. And across the tragic pagos of Jiussian. history, whose truth we haw yet learn, shines out with an cpic splendour tae k-torv ol the Women's battalion of DenA. It is a moving story, nnd an uiiiorge.tiible one,, of women, many of them gentle born, whf.se souW (isfitd the crippling limitations of their women's bodies and iheir'innate horror of wounds and bloodshed, and who went In, show the way to the' iniddened and betrayed ?'• d.ers .of the Tsar. T; was without thought oi self, as tiie least rellecting must rcwrmse, and it was one of the supremest fifvjri-lii-es of the wnr, made 'ill a country thai is known for the capacity for seli-sacr;-iiee nnd' martyrdom of ils women. It is a. long, long story, the story of women's pa'-t in'the war, and it_ is one in which they have played their pari, with' honour to themselves, and to the nations to which llicy. belonged,.