ZEPPELIN WOMEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11578, 23 December 1915, Page 4

ZEPPELIN WOMEN.

WAR'S NEWEST FEMALE HELPERS

(By WYNIFRED M. WILLIS-SWAN, Colonel and President of the Women's Reserve Ambulance.) Every night in a draughty garage forty members of the Women s Reserve Ambulance are on duty waiting for the Zeppelins. Nor is one of them terrified by "the terror that flies by night.'*'' Before t-liey get to bed scores of lives may havo been lost. They may have to face sights horrible to see. Yet they remain at their posts like good soldiers with an. absolute absence of fear. Zeppelin duty begins at d'usk and ends at two in the morning. The forty women are divided up into shifts of twenty each, or ton women to each of our two ambulances. At the time of tho September raid the first ambulance on tho spot was ono of these. They ministered to the dying. They bound up the wounds of those who were still alive. During the late raid both ambulances proceeded eastward's and, when our women had done what they could, ono of their lieutenants coolly stood up and' held a recruiting meeting! Tliay worked magnificently, and I was very proud of them. "Even the ranks of Tuscany," indeed, "could scarce forbear a cheer." Our ambulance had gone off to the mortuary with headless bodies. One of our officers remained behind with a private, waiting for the ambulance to return. Both of them had' been in one of the craters opened, by a bursting bomb, and there they had grubbed about amid indescribable surroundings. The consequence was that their uniforms were not only covered with blood, but doused with stray water from the firemen's hose. So these two women thought that, until the ambulance came back they might have a quiet cigarette. Sudden death had not killed Mrs Grundy. "Huh!" jeered a blowsy lady from a hack street. "Look at 'em!", Her companion looked —and dutifully jeered as requested. A Tommy stepped forward. "Look you ; cre," (laid lie, "if you 'ad' done as much as these 'ere lidies you'd '"are earned a lag, too." Ho said much more .which it would

not be profitable "to repeat. It had a good effect. When the two girls eventually left in their ambulance, tho women who had scoffed at them actually stood by and cheered! 01!? TO BE USEFUL. I mention this Zeppelin work to enlighten the handful of foolish people who say unpleasant tilings to us in the streets. Many folk -are opposed to women's movements and suffragettism, but I am sure that there is nothing in the Women's Reserve Ambulance to which they can take exception. I myself am a strong opponent of the suffrage movement, and the corps is absolutely non-party .and non-political. Loyalty to myself and my officers and to our splendid work leaves no time for the airing of personal views. People may object to us wearing khaki. They may protest that women ought not to drill like men. But I should like to know what policeman would let us through a crowd to succour men and women if we did not wear a uniform? We choose a khaki dress because khaki is cheap and our incomes aro not unlimited. As for the drill, it must be quite clear that w-e have to learn ambulance drill before we can do stretcher work. Moreover, drilling in khaki dress makes for discipline; without discipline we should not be a great deal of use. And should anyone bo of tho opinion that a khaki dress is not becoming. I would reply that we are not out to bo becoming; we aro out to bo useful. ALWAYS WASHING TIP. I It seems one of our fates in life al- ' ways to be washing up. In the whole round of the twenty-four hours there are practically none when we are not •at work. Ours is quite a yo,ung corps. It has only been in existence about four months, and one of its first jobs was to clean down a large military hospital m the north-east of London. The military officer estimated that the -work would take six weeks to do. We did it, and, lie agreed, did it well, in thirteen days. W' hen we had finished cleaning this hospital wo had two days' furlough. On our return the sergeantmajor met us in the hall. " Thank goodness jou are back, 51 ho exclaimed, ' It has been hell without you I"