The roles of women in the war

Introduction

Even today, women's participation in the Australian Defence Force is restricted to non-combatant roles, such as in the logistics and medical corps. In 1914, women were prevented from holding any military position, except as nurses who saw active duty on the front. Still wanting to make a contribution to the war effort, women turned their efforts to fundraising, and in the process, established the foundations of some vital Australian charities which still exist today.

The emotional burden

The arduous conditions which the troops were faced with on the battlefields during World War I are well documented, however the emotional hardships of the women left behind are not as widely known. For the women who had farewelled a husband, son, brother, friend or father, their lives were spent in anxious anticipation of their return. News travelled slowly at the beginning of the 20th century. Without today's communication technology the primary method of contact was the letter. Many months could pass by before a letter could even reach its intended recipient. Even then, it was highly likely that it would get lost in the post and never be received. Furthermore, with the government censoring the newspapers and letters from the war, family members were often oblivious to many of the realities faced by their loved ones. For many, the first and only time they would receive any news of their loved ones was when a clergyman appeared at the door with a telegram bringing news of their death.

Women's place in society

Although it is not always realised, equality for women has come a long way in only a short period of time. At the time of World War I, Australia, New Zealand and a few other Scandinavian countries were the only nations who gave women the right to vote. Yet in Australia, women still received a wage 54 percent lower than that of their male counterparts. Their role was still seen to be in the home, performing domestic duties and raising the children.

From the outset, women were keen to be as actively involved in the war effort as men. Women applied to work in what were considered traditional women's role, such as cooks and clerk, so that the men could be free to go and fight. However, the government still discouraged any attempts by women to serve in the armed forces. The only women who were allowed to engage in any form of active involvement were the nurses who served overseas.

To add insult to the Australian women, in Britain, women were permitted to be employed in munitions factories and the transport industry. See image 1

While the government did not want women to leave the home for fear it would upset the balance of society, a number of women took up roles left vacant by men who had enlisted. The number of women filling positions such as typists and bookkeepers rose and women also began to enter sectors which were previously closed to them, such as insurance and banking.

Charity and fundraising activities

There were more women applying for work than positions available for them. The result was that a percentage of the female population became dissatisfied. In response, these women turned their attention to charity work. They relied on various methods of fundraising, including door-knock appeals and fetes to assist the men fighting overseas. See animation

In 1914, the Australian branch of the British Red Cross was founded at Government House in Melbourne. It grew quickly to have branches in every state as women from all over the country made their contribution to the war. The Red Cross was predominantly staffed by middle-class women whose main task was to compile packages for the men who were serving overseas. These packages usually contained luxury items such as soap and toiletries as well food and games. Within weeks of starting, they also began supplying clothing and medical supplies to the soldiers. They established homes for the wounded soldiers to recover in and raised money to assist soldiers' families.

In 1916, the Australian Comforts Fund was established. The fund raised money to provide 'comfort boxes' for the soldiers. These boxes contained items such as knitted socks, cigarettes, preserved foods and even pyjamas. It is sometimes said that the inclusion of such an inappropriate 'comfort' as pyjamas, was an indication of the naivety of society at the time. Despite this, the women's devotion to the task, particularly recognised through the fact that they knitted nearly 1.5 million pairs of socks in the war, made frivolous gestures seem like kind ones.

Also in 1916, the Australian Women's Service Corps was formed in an attempt to make the government aware of women who wanted to do more towards the War. The Corps' objective involved training women to be able to work in jobs that they had never done before which would make the men available to enlist. While this idea was good in theory, it was ignored by the male-dominated government.

There were over 200 women's voluntary groups formed around the time of World War I. They all relied on various methods of fundraising, including door-knock appeals and fetes to assist the men fighting overseas.

Children's roles

Children were also keen to be involved in the war effort. Their enthusiasm was fostered by schools which introduced various activities to assist the men at war. Lessons were substituted with patriotic holidays that raised money which could be spent on activities such as welcoming returned soldiers home and celebrating victories. Children also raised funds from doing odd jobs such as digging gardens and cleaning chimneys. Of particular merit is the £422 470 that was raised by Victorian state schools during the war.

From the start of the war, boys and girls began to be socialised differently from each other. They were taught to imitate the roles of their parents. Boys were taught to take on the strong and disciplined attributes of the ideal stereotype of a patriotic father, becoming junior cadets at the age of twelve. Girls, on the other hand, were encouraged to behave like the popular stereotype of a mother. They were taught how to sew, knit and keep the home front intact.

The working class

It did not take long for conflict to arise on the home front. Middle-class women were the main ones to establish and run the charities and fundraising events. As a result, many middle-class patriots who felt strongly about the nation's role in the war believed that the working class was not participating enough in the nation's fundraising and volunteer efforts. This was interpreted as disloyalty towards Australia, the war and the Empire. In reality, working-class women did not enjoy the financial freedom of their middle-class contemporaries. Without their husbands at home to assume their role as head of the family, working women had to put in long hours just to support the family. This meant that often they did not have the time, or the disposable income, to give to charity groups.

The problem was that middle-class women did not realise that the only reason that they were able to participate in the charity work was because they had the financial support of their husbands. Many of the husbands of the middle-class women had chosen not to enlist, and instead, had decided to continue to run their companies or businesses, bringing in a reliable income to support the family.

Women and propaganda

Women also had another important role- to influence and to encourage men to enlist. Women were both active and passive in this objective. Many women shamed men who had not enlisted by presenting them with a white feather to symbolise cowardice. Otherwise they simply shunned the men by turning away from them or crossing the street.

Images of women were used in recruitment propaganda campaigns. Recruiters played on the perceived vulnerability of women by depicting them in recruitment posters as in need of the Australian soldiers to protect them from the evil Germans. Conscription propaganda posters which featured women were also common. See image 2