"GIRLS UP TO FORTY."

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 25 May 1915, Page 2

"GIRLS UP TO FORTY."

FEMININE ARMY TO HELP OUR

SOLDIERS

The girl scout is already known, and now a movement has been begun in England to enrol "girls" between 18 and 40.

' The Women's Auxiliary Force is drilling in certain districts in Essex, and proposes to hold a camp, when the girls will sleep in bungalows and observe military discipline. The force will have its own bugler, who will blow reveille.

The aim of the force is, in the words of the hon. secretary,- to be' useful in any suitable . sphere. Simple drilling and some marching are compulsory, and. members are encouraged to learn the use of the-rifle and the revolver. They are also taught signalling, and scouting and map-drawing are hkelt- to be taught too. Classes or drills are held two evenings weekly, and the subscription is Is on enterin"and Id at each drill or class. Every member is expected to perfect herself m one branch of the work/ Besides first aid, instruction is o-iven in cook ng and foreign languages The members are prepared to do sewing and mending at "the ordinary rates of pay for large bodies of troops, to collect comforts for airy regiment or iund, and to keep order if required

NAVY BLUE UNIFORM

nu v . l"11 1 form 1 1S navy blue—a good old British color-faced with fawn, and strong boots and puttees are worn also a sensible and becoming hat of the nature of a . s hako. fe lhe force, it is claimed, is " a bie women's club," in the same way that men s volunteer movements act as a Wtinr,r c men vn Tllere are no class distirictions. All are most anxious for oi-hcial recognition in due time The fn'o-rt 1" 6 already ,a? sisti»g in recruit»ig (m a reasonable manner, by exampJe and among their friends), comforts have been collected, and it is K*° «tart coffee stalls' and buffeS toi men on the march or trench-dig-ging immediate]v. b j

tnity is the formation of a circle of relatives of British civilians interned in Germany, for mutual heln lhe discussion of political "questions in the force is forbidden, and religious controversy is also "barred" on pain of dismissal. Every member obej the law and maintain order