Women who 'stayed at home' during WW1

Thursday, 25th July 2013

Please don't imagine that, because I am seeking out 'Inspirational Women' that in any way diminishes the high regard I have for those who 'stayed (or indeed stay) at home'.   I know that running a home is one of the hardest and most rewarding things a woman (or a man) can do - especially if there are others to care for - "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world".+

Those wonderful people at the Atlantic Canadian Poets Archive - Patrick O'Reilly and Lisa Banks - sent me a pdf of a magazine they have in their Archive so that I could find some more women poets and their poems from Newfoundland.  The magazine is called "The Distaff" and it was published in 1916 in aid of The Red Cross Branch of  The Women's Patriotic Association, Newfoundland which, at that time was a separate country from the rest of Canada. Check out the Atlantic Canadian Poets Archive -  http://w3.stu.ca/stu/sites/acpa/index.aspx

"The Distaff" is full of really inspirational women and is, I feel, a real tribute to all the women the world over who 'kept the home fires burning'** during the First World War.  It must also surely be a microcosm of what was happening elsewhere at that time.

For instance, just look at the sheer volume of items knitted (imagine the amount of wool needed, knitting needles, etc. not to mention the hours of dedicated work actually knitting the garments) from 1914 - 1916:

"Socks (pairs) ... 62,685, Shirts ... 8,984, Cuffs (pairs) ... 6,080, Mufflers ..... 2,422".

A similar report appears for bandages and other medical items.  A truly wonderful achievement.

Also mentioned are women who went to nurse in England - and I am sure there were women who also went from Newfoundland to nurse overseas;  and women who went to help out in other ways by visiting the wounded men and reminding them of home.

There must surely have been a need for the men and women fighting at the Front to know that things back home were all right:

"Stands the church clock at ten to three
And is there honey still for tea."*

I was surprised to see an advertisement on the back page of the magazine under the heading 'Special Electric Gifts!' - electric grills, electric toasters, electric percolators, kettles and egg boilers.  I wonder how many families in Britain had such household items in 1916?

Absolutely wonderful - educative and inspirational - thank you so much Patrick and Lisa.

+ William Ross Wallace, 1865

* Rupert Brooke, "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester", 1912
** Apologies if you all know this - Lena Guilbert Brown Ford wrote the lyrics to that song in London during WW1.  I have added Lena to my list of Female Poets - Edith Piaff believed that all songs were poems. . .

The Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service and Hospital Ships during WW1

Following on from my report about discovering a 1914 copy of an RN Sick Berth Attendant Manual last week in the recycle shop at our local recycling centre, I searched the Internet for ' HMHS China' which was written in ink on the front cover and found some photos on the QARNNS website.  I then made some enquiries with the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service and received the following wonderful reply from Jean Bancroft, who is a volunteer with the Service.   

"The photos (of HMHS China) can be seen on the QARNNS Association website www.qarnns.co.uk/qarnns-association.asp  You will see a list of headings on the right – look for ‘Archive’ – click on that and then look for the heading WW1.  You will then see some of the hospital ships in which QARNNS Sisters served (unfortunately we don’t have photos of them all) including photographs of Sisters in HMHS Garth Castle and HMHS Plassy as well as HMHS China.  

The Sisters in hospital ships certainly faced danger; three were in HMHS Rohilla when she broke up and sank, with loss of life, in heavy seas near Whitby in October 1914.  The Sisters were congratulated by the Admiralty for their ‘admirable conduct’ and were awarded the Royal Red Cross. Also, four Sisters were in HMHS REWA when she was torpedoed and sunk in 1917.

 

If you would like to see an early film clip of King George V meeting QARNNS Sisters on HMHS Plassy in the North Sea in June 1917, the website to find it is  www.criticalpast.com   In the search box enter HMHS Plassig (Plassig being an original error on the clip, as is calling the ship ’Plassey’ instead of ‘Plassy’).  The clip lasts for 1 minute 51 seconds and is entitled ‘King George V inspects nurses, staff and officers on the hospital ship Plassey’.  

 

Jean also checked their Archives to look for the name B. Bracewell which is written on the book I found, but could find no trace.  She thinks he would have been a Sick Berth Attendant.   Jean very kindly scanned and attached a photo of RN Sick Berth Attendants on another Hospital Ship - HMHS Garth Castle - which I though I would share with you.  I know they aren't 'inspirational women' ...

Thank you very much indeed Jean.

Pivotal Conflict - The Franco-Prussian War 1870 - 1871

I had to find out more about the 1870 - 1871 conflict mentioned in yesterday's post.  This was in fact the Franco-Prussian War.   In the UK we were not taught about this pivotal conflict which means that we would never fully understand why the First and therefore the Second World Wars took place.

In his book "The Battle of the Frontiers Ardennes 1914", Terence Zuber tells us that, prior to 1914 both France and Germany had spent 40 years arming and training their armies.   The reason for that must surely be the failure of the Franco-Prussian War to provide an outcome to keep both sides happy.

So we need to brush up on our history in order to understand what happened and if truth be known to heal the wounds and make sure it does not happen again.   Who was it who said "if we do not learn from the lessons of history, we are condemned to relive them"?

Surely a most Inspirational Woman

On the Internet site www.derniersveterans.free.fr during my background research for the forthcoming exhibitions, I noticed the name of Baronne Henri Cottu, who was born Marie-Louise Sophie-Elise DAUPRAT.  She married Baron Henri Cottu in Paris in 1876.

On the website it stated that she had nursed during the 1870 - 1871 War and also during the 1914 - 1918 War and that she had received Palmes d'Or medals from the French Service de Sante Militaire.

I should love to find out more about this amazing woman but I am finding it difficult.   If anyone has any information, please get in touch.

Amazing find!

Yesterday, (16th July), I found a small book in, of all places, the little shop at our local re-cycling tip.  

The book is dated 1914 and is a "Manual of Instruction for The Royal Naval Sick Berth Staff".  Inside the front cover is written in ink 'HMHS China' and on the side is B. BRACEWELL.   

I searched for the Hospital Ship "HMHS China" on the Internet and found a wonderful photograph on the QARNNS website.   Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Services has the most fascinating history, having been founded long before the First World War.

I have applied for permission to use the photograph and have also sent off e-mails to try and find out more about the Hospital Ship and the person who owned the Manual in the first place.

I will let you know how I get on.

In the meantime, I am busy reading Terence Zuber's wonderful book "The Battle of the Frontiers Ardennes 1914".   A former US Army Major who studied in America, France and Germany, Zuber has walked the battleground and searched through original documents and eye-witness accounts.   The book is amazing and definitely a must for all interested in the history of the First World War. 

Women who fought during WW1

The contribution of women aside from 'keeping the home fires burning' (the lyrics for which, incidentally were written by an American woman who was living in London during WW1 - Lena Gilbert Brown Ford - which means I have included her in my list of poets), is truly amazing.

There are some excellent books written in America which deal with the subject of the contibution of women in depth.  Apparently, more than 45,000 women travelled from America to help out in some way.  During the First World War, several female American journalists went to interview some of the Russian women who enlisted to fight in the Russian Army.

There is a report published on 13th January 1916 in the American newspaper "Reading Eagle" which details the exploits of one or two of the hundreds of Russian women fighters - www.google.com/newspapers

It seems that, unlike their Russian sisters, Italian women were not allowed to fight.  The newspaper report tells of a young school teacher called Luiga Clapppi from Florence, who purchased a uniform, obtained a rifle and enlisted in a volunteer force.  The whiteness of her hands apparently gave the game away.

Two Frenchwomen - Helene Dutrieu and Marie Marvingt - were aviators who flew reconnaissance missions for the Allies during WW1.

And of course there were those who worked as spies, as well as ambulance drivers, nurses, entertainers, etc. behind the lines but nevertheless 'in the line of fire'.

I have plenty to keep me busy trying to find all these amazing women.

Elsie and Mairi go to War

Apologies!  I have neglected this section because I have been working very hard on trying to locate poets.  That does not mean I have forgotten those Inspirational Women - far from it.

Reading a book today about male soldier poets of WW1, I read a paragraph that mentioned that women did not fight during the First World War.

If you look at the excellent Facebook Page WW1 Buffs, you will see that there were quite a few women who did in fact fight.  Women like Flora Sandes, a clergyman's daughter from Suffolk in England, and Dorothy Lawrence.  

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.222213017840753.58272.162842593777796&type=3

Then there were the women who travelled to the various theatres of war in order to nurse the sick and wounded.  Women like Elsie Knocker an Mairi Chisholm who remained in Belgium for the duration of the War and whose adventures there are hair-raising.

I am currently reading "A Great Task of Happiness  The Life of Kathleen Scott" by Louisa Young (Macmillan, London, 1995).  Louisa Young is Kathleen Scott's Granddaughter and the book is enthralling.   I shall definitely include Kathleen Scott in my Inspirational Women of World War One Section.