Part 1

Chapter 13,957 wordsPublic domain

Transcriber’s Note Illustration of 'Miss Lena Ashwell' moved from p89 to p79 to correct position. Illustration of 'The days last load of timber' moved from page 31 to 30

WOMEN OF THE WAR

BARBARA McLAREN

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

THE RIGHT HON. H. H. ASQUITH, M.P.

NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

INTRODUCTION

I have read this volume with an interest which I feel confident will be widely shared by the English-speaking public. Its simple and unexaggerated account of the varied fields of work which have enlisted, during the last three years, the energies and efforts of women of our race, forms a unique chapter in the annals of war.

Looked at as a whole, these narratives are as good evidence as could be found of the depth and universality of the appeal which the war has made to our women, not only for sympathy but for service. For the first time it has taught us as a nation to realise how large and how decisive is the part that can be played in a world-wide contest by those who are prevented from taking a place in the actual fighting line. There is no question here of any form of compulsion. The services and sacrifices which are described in these pages were given and suffered spontaneously by volunteers. That they should have been on such a scale, covering such wide and diverse activities, and shared in by women of every class and of so many types of special or general capacity, is a speaking tribute, not only to the quickened sense of national duty, but to the commanding and irresistible authority of a great cause.

Hardly less remarkable is the testimony which this book affords to the versatility, one might say the inventiveness, displayed in the share which women have contributed to the general stock of patriotic effort. They have done and are doing things which, before the war, most of us would have said were both foreign to their nature and beyond their physical capacity. It would be invidious to discriminate, but anyone turning over these pages will find abundant illustrations. Nor can it be doubted that these experiences and achievements will, when the war is over, have a permanent effect upon both the statesman’s and the economist’s conception of the powers and functions of women in the reconstructed world.

But I must leave the book to speak for itself and teach its own lessons. It does not profess to be an exhaustive account of women’s work in the war. It is content with the more modest task of selecting and describing some typical cases. I know the scrupulous care with which it has been prepared, and I heartily commend it, not only as a trustworthy and uncoloured delineation of actual fact, but as a message of stimulus and inspiration to us all.

H. H. ASQUITH.

PREFACE

These accounts of the work of some British women during the war have been collected, not with any attempt at even outlining the scope of women’s achievement, but simply as pictures, showing the influence which women in varied spheres have exercised in the course of the war. Some of those whose records follow are women who, by force of character and personality, would always have stood apart, even in the limited opportunities of peace time. Others are taken rather as types of workers, representing many hundreds who are serving the country in similar ways. The selection has seemed at times invidious; but it is easy to realise that when the numbers of workers are so immense in each of the fields of activity mentioned in the book, no complete record of individual effort can be attempted.

The object in writing of the experiences of particular workers is to present a more vivid story than a merely general description could convey. True understanding of our women’s war work can come only from personal experience or through the power of a keen imagination. Those who have no other opportunities can appreciate that work by visualising the measure of endurance, patience, determination, and unflinching courage demanded for the successful performance of the tasks which women have undertaken. If any of these chapters succeed in creating a living atmosphere in which readers picture themselves working under similar conditions in similar fields of labour, the primary object of the book will have been fulfilled. Much will be written hereafter on every form of women’s service touched on in these little accounts. They claim only to be windows through which may be seen that wide vista which has for its foreground the fulfilment of the great tasks of the war, and for its background a limitless horizon of potential effort.

B. McL.

CONTENTS

I. DR. GARRETT ANDERSON, C.B.E., AND DR. FLORA MURRAY, C.B.E. PAGE The first women doctors to manage a Military Hospital under the War Office. This hospital is entirely staffed by women 13

II. LADY PAGET, G.B.E.

Lady Paget took a hospital unit to Serbia when the typhus epidemic was raging there. She remained at Uskub with her staff after the invasion of Serbia, continuing her work during enemy occupation 17

III. MISS LILIAN BARKER, C.B.E., AND MISS MABEL COTTERELL

Two outstanding Welfare Workers under the Ministry of Munitions. Miss Barker is Lady Superintendent at Woolwich, and Miss Cotterell at Gretna 21

IV. MISS C. E. MATHESON AND THE VILLAGE LAND WORKERS

Miss Matheson has been working on the land for over two years, and has specialised in work with live stock 26

V. DR. ELSIE INGLIS

The founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. Dr. Inglis has worked in Serbia, where she was taken prisoner. She is now serving in Rumania 31

VI. MISS SPROT, THE MISSES PLAYFAIR, AND LADY BADEN-POWELL

Outstanding workers in the Y.M.C.A. Canteens in France. Lady Baden-Powell has started Boy Scout and Girl Guide Canteens 36

VII. MISS AGNES BORTHWICK

Miss Borthwick is Works Manager in a big filling factory under the Ministry of Munitions. She is the first woman to hold this position in a Government factory 41

VIII. MRS. ST. CLAIR STOBART

Mrs. Stobart was with hospital units in Brussels, Antwerp, Cherbourg, and finally in Serbia, where, attached to the Serbian army with a field ambulance column, she accompanied the army in its heroic retreat 44

IX. MISS E. G. BATHER AND MISS DOROTHY RAVENSCROFT

Two workers in charge of Remount Depôts for the War Office 49

X. MISS EDITH STONEY AND DR. FLORENCE STONEY

Two X-ray specialists. Miss Stoney is working X-rays in a hospital in Salonika; Dr. Stoney is in a military hospital in London 53

XI. THE BARONESS DE T’SERCLAES AND MISS MAIRI CHISHOLM

These ladies have worked in Belgium since the beginning of the war, and are the only women allowed by the Belgian military authorities to be in the firing line 59

XII. LADY MARY HAMILTON AND MISS DRUMMOND

Typical workers engaged on skilled processes in munition factories. 62

XIII. MRS. FURSE, G.B.E., R.R.C., AND LADY PERROTT, R.R.C.

Mrs. Furse’s successful administration of the Women’s Voluntary Aid Detachments has been an important factor in the organisation of their invaluable work. Lady Perrott’s work, both before and during the war, has added greatly to the numbers and the efficiency of the Voluntary Aid Detachments 67

XIV. COMMANDANT DAMER DAWSON AND MRS. CARDEN

Commandant Damer Dawson has organised the Women Police. Mrs. Carden has helped to organise Women Patrols 74

XV. MISS LENA ASHWELL, O.B.E.

Miss Ashwell originated the Concert Parties at the front which have had such a stimulating influence. For over two years she has organised, developed, and financed the scheme on an ever-increasing scale 79

XVI. MISS VIOLETTA THURSTAN

Since August, 1914, Miss Thurstan has been nursing in Belgium and in Russia, where she was wounded in the trenches. She is now Matron at a great Belgian hospital 85

XVII. H.R.H. PRINCESS BEATRICE, THE HON. LADY LAWLEY, G.B.E., AND THE COUNTESS OF GOSFORD

Workers in the various organisations of hospital supplies and comforts 90

XVIII. MISS EDITH HOLDEN, R.R.C.

The Matron of a great base hospital 98

XIX. MRS. GASKELL, C.B.E., AND THE HON. MRS. ANSTRUTHER

The organisers of the War Library and the Camps Library, which supply books to the Army and to the sick and wounded 103

XX. MISS LILIAN RUSSELL AND MISS ALICE BROWN

Workers for the Y.M.C.A. in France, who are managing hostels for the relations of the wounded 110

XXI. MISS DOROTHY MATHEWS AND MISS URSULA WINSER

Miss Mathews is a typical agricultural worker, engaged in ploughing and heavy land work. Miss Winser drives an agricultural tractor 114

XXII. MISS EVELYN LYNE AND MISS MADGE GREG

Two representative Voluntary Aid Detachment workers who have done canteen and rest-station work in France 118

XXIII. MRS. LEACH

The head of the organisation of Army women-cooks 122

XXIV. MRS. GRAHAM JONES

A representative V.A.D. worker who has specialised in motor work. She went to France in charge of the first Women’s Motor Ambulance Unit under the British Red Cross Society 125

XXV. MISS GERTRUDE SHAW

Miss Shaw has specialised in the housing and canteen organisation for the Ministry of Munitions, and is now Chief Inspectress of Hostels and Canteens 129

XXVI. MRS. HARLEY

Mrs. Harley worked for the Scottish Women’s Hospitals from the outbreak of war, and was killed by a shell at Monastir in March, 1917, while tending Serbian refugees 132

XXVII. MISS ETHEL ROLFE AND THE WOMEN ACETYLENE WELDERS

Women engaged on a skilled process largely used in aeroplane construction 136

XXVIII. LADY LUGARD

Lady Lugard helped to organise the War Refugees Committee for the reception and allocation of Belgian refugees 141

XXIX. MISS CHRISTOBEL ELLIS

The head of the branch of the Women’s Legion which organises women motor-drivers for the Army 148

XXX. MADAME BRUNOT AND MISS MARION MOLE

These ladies lived in Cambrai under German rule for over two years, and did splendid work for wounded and prisoners 151

XXXI. SOME ARMY NURSES

Typical examples of nurses in various forms of hospital service 155

WOMEN OF THE WAR

DR. GARRETT ANDERSON, C.B.E., AND DR. FLORA MURRAY, C.B.E.

Dr. Garrett Anderson and Dr. Flora Murray have contributed one of the finest pages to the annals of women’s work during the war, and by their success have greatly advanced the position of women in the medical world.

Dr. Garrett Anderson was already a well-known surgeon, and Dr. Flora Murray equally well known as a physician, in pre-war days, the former having qualified in 1897, and the latter in 1903. Dr. Garrett Anderson is a daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, M.D., the first British medical woman.

During the month after the war broke out, Dr. Garrett Anderson and Dr. Flora Murray together organised a Voluntary Women’s Hospital Unit, staffed by medical women, and offered their services to the French Red Cross. They established a hospital of 100 beds in Paris, at Claridge’s Hotel, Champs Elysées, and it is notable that this was the first of the voluntary hospitals in Paris to start work in September, 1914. Both British and French wounded were received and treated.

It was not long before the excellent work of these two doctors attracted very special attention, with the result that they were approached by the War Office, and asked to organise a hospital at Wimereux near Boulogne, attached to the Royal Army Medical Corps. This invitation was a considerable triumph, for it was the first time that medical women were officially singled out by the British Government and given equal responsibility with medical men.

The Army medical authorities were quick to realise how wisely their trust had been bestowed, and, in February, 1915, Dr. Garrett Anderson and Dr. Flora Murray were asked to take up work on a larger scale, and to undertake the entire management of the Endell Street Hospital, a large military hospital in London.

During its two years of work for the sick and wounded, no military hospital has succeeded in establishing a finer record. To see it is a wonderful experience. The hospital consists of 17 wards, with 578 beds, and is entirely staffed by women--surgeons, doctors, pathologists, oculists, dental surgeons, anæsthetists, dispensers, nurses, orderlies. The only men are the patients.

Sir Alfred Keogh, the Director-General of the Army Medical Service, said, when speaking of it: “The hospital is in every respect a military hospital, differing in no way from any other military hospital in the country. Major operations comparable to those in any other institution are performed, and there is no limitation whatever, either medical or surgical, to the functions which the staff of the hospital undertakes. Particularly excellent work has been done in the pathological departments. A special feature of the surgery of the hospital has been the adoption there of a new method of treating wounds, introduced by Professor Rutherford Morison.”

This treatment consists of the use of a bismuth-iodoform-paraffin paste for cases of septic wounds and fractures. Writing of the treatment, Dr. Garrett Anderson says: “In every case fœtor has disappeared, sepsis has subsided, and union of bone has taken place with astonishing rapidity, while the condition of the patient has benefited greatly from being spared painful daily dressings.”

Set in the very centre of London, and surrounded by tall buildings, with the buzz and whirl of London traffic all about it, a visitor would be inclined at first to think the hospital a sad and gloomy place. But that impression soon passes, for in the wards, bright with colour, in the recreation room and library, but most of all in the faces of the soldier patients, happiness and contentment are the prevailing elements. An atmosphere is as hard to describe as it is easy to recognise, but the atmosphere of the Women’s Hospital breathes rest and quiet, and the mutual confidence between patients and doctors which is so invaluable an asset in successful treatment.

Here, then, for the first time, it has been proved beyond all dispute, both to the medical profession and to the world outside, that women doctors and surgeons can equal the success of men in all branches of their calling, and not only with the ailments of women and children. The work that these women have proved themselves able to accomplish and to continue without sign of strain during three years of war ought at last to secure the recognition that it deserves. Dr. Garrett Anderson and Dr. Flora Murray will feel that they have worked successfully, not only for their patients, but for medical women in general, if, as a result of their demonstration, the doors of the medical schools are thrown open to women. That the majority of medical women working for their country to-day have been forced to gain their knowledge and skill in the schools of the enemy is surely one of the conditions which the war will sweep away for ever.

LADY PAGET, G.B.E.

As a monument to human endurance and courage there can be no more wonderful record than that of Lady Paget’s Hospital Unit in Serbia. The whole unit, several members of which were Americans, worked with a devotion and a loyalty unsurpassed during the war, but in Lady Paget they had a born leader, and a woman of indomitable heroism. At all the crucial moments, of which there were many, Lady Paget’s wisdom, tact, foresight, and rapidity of decision saved the situation and enabled her hospital to render inestimable work to stricken Serbia.

Lady Paget, as wife of a former British Minister to Serbia, already possessed a wide experience of Balkan hospital work, having worked through the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913.

In November, 1914, Lady Paget’s Hospital Unit reached Uskub. This was one of the most critical phases for Serbia in the whole war. The Austrian invasion was at its height, and the Serbian armies, their ammunition exhausted, were being driven helplessly through the country before the enemy guns. Uskub was one of the main hospital bases, though the conditions there were of the roughest as regards sanitation and hospital equipment. As soon as Lady Paget’s hospital could be hurriedly installed it was filled to overflowing with wounded Serbian soldiers, and for three months the work was incessant. When the surgical work began to slacken, the great typhus epidemic swept over the country. The Serbians had no means of meeting it, and Lady Paget, with two doctors and two nurses, by super-human labours prepared a great Typhus Colony at Uskub, Lady Paget herself undertaking the hardest menial work of scrubbing and cooking, and sparing herself no risk in washing and caring for the infected patients. By the labours of this gallant staff of five, and some Austrian prisoners working under them as orderlies, huge barracks were converted into hospital buildings and filled with hundreds of typhus-stricken soldiers within little over a week. Then Lady Paget herself caught the deadly fever, and for many days her life was despaired of. She was so much beloved throughout Serbia that her danger was felt as a national disaster, and the children of peasants in far-away places, where she was known only by name, were taught to pray for her daily, while in the synagogues a special day was set apart for prayers for her recovery.

In the spring, before Lady Paget was fully restored to health, she returned to England to prepare for further work, and in July, 1915, she again went to Serbia. She returned to her previous headquarters at Uskub and reorganised her staff, and during August and September the hospital was continuously full.

About the middle of October the storm of invasion again broke over the unhappy little country, and, while the German and Austrian armies swept down from the north, the Bulgarians poured in from the east. It was at this point that Lady Paget had one of her most momentous decisions to make. The Serbian population was flying before the oncoming tide of the enemy armies--“one of the greatest tragedies in history,” Lady Paget wrote; “a nation was shattered, crushed, and driven forth into the wilderness to die of cold and hunger.” But, refusing to desert her Serbian patients, and in the hope of being able to save her large hospital stores for the help of the refugees, Lady Paget, with her staff, gallantly decided, in spite of strong opposition, to remain at Uskub and face the enemy. Describing this critical decision, a friend wrote of her: “Lady Paget’s will was the only fixed point that night in the universal land-slide around her. By setting her single will against the stampede, she turned back the flood of panic that was hurrying the wretched inhabitants of the town away to certain destruction; for the next day in Uskub, when it became known that the British Mission was staying to look after the wounded, it went far to reassure the people, and hundreds who would otherwise have gone to their death in the icy mountains of Albania remained in the shelter of their homes.”

With the coming of the Bulgarians on October 22nd began a long and difficult period. Until the middle of February, 1916, the Hospital Unit remained at Uskub, prisoners in the enemy’s hands. But, owing to Lady Paget’s tact and resource, they were able to carry on work of inestimable value, not only in nursing many hundred wounded, both Serbian, Bulgarian, and Austrian, but also in feeding and clothing thousands of Serbian refugees. Through the worst weeks of winter, between three and four thousand were fed and clothed daily, and from first to last over 70,000 were relieved entirely from Lady Paget’s stores. It is a remarkable tribute to her personality that the enemy, though not too plentifully equipped themselves, should yet have allowed her to retain possession of this large quantity of stores, trusting as they did to her scrupulous sense of fairness and straight-dealing.

By February, 1916, Lady Paget and her workers had done all in their power for Serbia. By this time the refugees had been either interned or sent to their homes, the hospital had been evacuated of patients, the staff was worn out with hard work, and the stores were exhausted. After difficult negotiations Lady Paget obtained permission to leave and was able to return with her unit to England.

This is the third war in which she has given herself unsparingly to help the Serbians, and she has become an object of worship to this desolate people. To mark the national gratitude, King Peter has bestowed upon her the first class of the Order of St. Sava, an honour that had never before been given to an uncrowned woman.

III

MISS LILIAN BARKER, C.B.E., AND MISS MABEL COTTERELL

The first element in the great development of munition work during the war, which has drawn women in tens of thousands into the service of their country, has certainly been the all-powerful motive of patriotism. But second to this, the practical success of the work has been made possible largely through the recognition and development of welfare work. What we understand nowadays by “welfare” does not consist merely in the provision of canteens and other amenities for workers. It means the study of human nature, the introduction of the humanising element into work. Experience has proved that there is nothing in the world so calculated to get the best out of human nature as the human touch. Welfare work, undertaken sporadically in this country since the beginning of the nineteenth century, has been gradually introduced in our factories by the more enlightened employers, but the advent of women in such great numbers to munition works has set the seal of official approval on the system.

The result of this work cannot be better illustrated than by the example of what has been accomplished by two of the most successful welfare workers.

Miss Lilian Barker, the Lady Superintendent at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, supervises the women operators employed there with the good humour and sagacity of an ideal statesman. When Miss Barker took up her work at Woolwich in December, 1915, there were 400 women and girls employed at the Arsenal. To-day there are over 25,000, every one of whom has been personally engaged by this “superwoman” of Woolwich.

Round Miss Barker’s office there gathers a constant throng of workers, and it is one of her tasks, with the assistants whom she has trained, to straighten out their difficulties, to inquire into their grievances, and to act if need be as mediator with their superior officers. She advises all who come to her for help as to their health, their meals, their recreation, and the hundred and one details which the domestic guardian of a huge works can set to rights by understanding, patience, and tact. It is hard to give an adequate impression of the wonderful atmosphere which Miss Barker has created at Woolwich, but a visitor privileged to go round the shops in her company cannot fail to be deeply struck, not only by her influence with the workers, but by the general sense of contentment and health. As one approaches a shop, one hears the girls singing at their work--a sure sign of happiness. When Miss Barker enters, their faces light up, gay greetings pass, and one feels instinctively the confidence and mutual trust with which she has inspired her great family.