Throughout history, the business of war has generally been solely for men. In the 20th century, however, a process of transformation began which would change the role of women in the armed forces forever. Women can now serve in an ever growing range of jobs, such as pilots and engineers.
But this hasn't always been the case. Society argued that women were physically and mentally weaker than men. It was thought that they lacked the upper body strength that was needed to wield a sword or load a shell for a sustained period in combat. It was also thought that women possessed more characteristics of caring and nurturing and less aggressive, which was thought would make them weaker than men and make it difficult to carry out the duties of combat.
Army generals stated that women lacked one of the most important qualities that was prized by the armies of all nations . . . to kill and sometimes to even sacrifice themselves for their country. They also thought that injuring or even killing a women is somehow worse than doing the same to a man, something that is still thought of today.
Despite this, both world wars meant that women could prove that, given the chance, through training, they could develop the physical and mental fighting qualities needed in the services equally as well as men.
Although up until the declararyion of war against Germany in 1914 the Union of Women's Suffrage Societies were against the idea of war, as soon as it was declared, they soon became patriotic and were used by Admiral Fitzgerald to hand a white feather to any young man who had not enlisted, as a sign of cowardice.
At the outbreak of war, there were just two uniformed services that women could join, The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Known as FANY for short, bet you won't forget that one in a hurry) which was used as a link between front-line fighting units and the field hospitals. The drove ambulances, ran field hospitals and set up soup kitchens, all of which often under highly dangerous conditions. The second was the Voluntary Aid Detachments known as VADs. These were trained nurses that provided medical assistance in times of war. Despite this, it was mostly only middle and upper classes that were recruited for these two services. (It was thought only these classes could talk and provide for a wide range of people as well as being the only ones that could afford to train as a nurse).
By 1916 there were heavy losses meaning that women were needed to replace men, doing uniformed administrative jobs in Britain and France, so that it releasing the men to fight at the front-line. The Royal Navy also recruited the first women at this time. The Women's Royal Naval Service (Known as the Wrens) took over roles such as cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists and code experts.
In 1917 the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (Known as the WAAC) was set up which offered jobs such as chauffeurs, clerks, telephonists, waitresses, cooks and instructors. Most of which would only have been offered to men previously.
By 1918, one of the only uniformed services to have not set up units for women was the Royal Air Force. They decided to set up the Women's Royal Air Force (Known as the WRAD). They worked as clerks, fitters, drivers, cooks and storekeepers.
When the first world war ended, it was assumed that everything would go back to how it was before the war. That women would spend their time looking after the home and family as well as entertaining guests at regular dinner parties (only for the wealthy of course). However a large amount of men were killed or injured from the trenches and the things they had experienced. This meant that many of the men returning were unable to sleep and do other essential everyday things, let alone hold down a job. Women who had worked during the war had found a sense of responsibility and independence. They also had found a new sense of freedom and found it a lot easier to stand up for themselves and fight for their rights. Due to the war affecting so many men, women found that in order to support their families, they needed to go out to work as many of the men were unable to do so.
However the opinions of what women should be doing hadn't changed and many women were pressured into staying at home and looking after the family. By the time the second world war was declared, many women were still housewives, with no other role in life. But as the men were called up for war, women needed to fill those roles once again, shwoing a new generation a different way of life, just as the previous war had done. The same independence and sense of purpose was found. After victory was declared once again it was thought that women would be able to go back to being just a housewife rather than working, which upset and angered a lot of women. Many women would go into work on a monday morning only to find that their jobs had been been filled with men, sometimes with less skills, with no mention to them.
The war had changed a lot of people's views. Younger people had experienced the war and realised that they needed to live for the moment, never knowing what would be around the corner because that's life. The freedom increased once the pill was introduced in the early 1960s. It meant that women could choose when they wanted to have children as well as how many they wanted, which meant a lot chose to put their career before having a family. From then on, women were able to make their own minds up about so much, it paved the way for today. Women are treated almost as equally as men and there are so many more opportunities for women these days that people take for granted.
To be continued. . .
