Barbara McLaren

“ Not only in the fruits of her own labour, but by the force of her example, as one of the pioneers along a new road for women, Miss Matheson is performing as fine a war service as any Englishwoman to-day.
Just as the educated women have made an inspiring response to the call of the country in taking up agricultural work, so also have the women of the villages. In many country districts they have always been accustomed to work on the land, but to-day thousands who never worked before have come forward to give the most concrete proof of their patriotism. ”

“ Many girls who have hunted, or had their own horses, might think that they could easily do remount work; but it is not merely a case of being able to ride well, the riding is only the lightest part of the duties: it is a matter of settling down to a life of real hard work, requiring strength, courage, infinite patience and firmness. That Miss Bather has been able to organise a depôt successfully, and carry on the work entirely with the help of girl workers for over two years, is a tribute to any woman which can only be realised if the exact scope of the work is understood. ”

“ The noble host of Army nurses contains few names which are known to the general public; but for those who scan the Gazette with care there stand out women whose deeds swell the ever-lengthening list of heroines, not only by shining acts of gallantry but by month after month of patient, devoted work. ”

“ Through all these long months up to the present day they have been living the lives of the soldiers themselves—their quarters for the most part a tiny cellar, again and again under shell fire, sometimes suffering fierce bombardments, not taking off their clothes literally for weeks on end, eating anything they could get, and enduring the trials of cold, dirt, exhaustion, and danger with a gaiety and a courage which have been at once an inspiration and a source of astonishment to those who have been privileged to see them at Pervyse. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Nothing can be more touching than the appreciation of the concerts in hospital. Here again the spell of the music seems to relax the strain on the men’s nerves, and the badly wounded and even dying soldiers beg to hear it, and find comfort in the midst of their suffering. ”

“ It is unnecessary to state the reasons which bring an educated woman voluntarily to take up such a hard and exacting life, not merely for a few weeks of summer, but month after month. Only a deeply-rooted motive can be the impelling force, and there can be no finer form of patriotism than the unsensational performance of these strenuous tasks, far from the glamour and excitement of direct contact with the war. ”

“ Elsie Inglis has that magnetic personality which can command efficiency, even with inadequate equipment and in hopeless environment. The inspiring work of this great woman doctor makes her indeed a worthy leader for those wonderful Scottish women, who are putting their whole soul into the work they have undertaken, without any thought of recompense, without vainglory, and without any other motive than the desire to help and heal. ”

“ But their reward lies in the moments of cheer and brightness which they have been able to bring to so many thousands of suffering men, in that never-ending procession of pain ebbing away from the battlefields. Their kind ministrations have changed a dreary wait in a cold, dull station into an episode that soldiers who have passed through will remember with thankfulness—a moment of respite, bringing new courage, warmth, and comfort when all were sorely needed. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The great value of women’s employment in motor work lies in the fact that the men whom they are releasing are precisely the most valuable class of workers—namely, trained mechanics, of whom there is an all too limited supply, which can only be augmented by the slow process of training others. Much of the work which the women drivers are undertaking is work upon which highly skilled men were wasted; driving cars, for instance, for staff officers involves many empty hours simply spent in waiting. The women’s reception by the men whose work they are taking over has been generous in the extreme. ”

“ It was in February, 1915, that Miss Ashwell was asked by the Ladies’ Auxiliary Committee of the Y.M.C.A. to send a concert party to France, and with the goodwill and co-operation of that Committee the work was launched on its successful course. The first party was an experiment in every way, but its reception left no doubt as to the feelings of the soldier audiences. The love of music is enhanced by the alternating monotony and danger of life at the front, and is as fundamental in human beings as the craving for beauty. ”

“ In a letter to a friend she writes: “The opportunities this bit of one’s work gives are inestimable, and the example of [113] the patient, faithful work the sisters do is the greatest help and comfort. Everything, I think, pales before their glory—second only to that of the soldiers in courage, sacrifice and devotion. As to the men themselves, I can’t write of what they almost all are—how self-forgetful, modest and unselfish down to the very gates of death.” ”

“ Another of Miss Holden’s multifarious duties is the responsibility of catering for the officer patients and the women’s staff. The management of this branch of the work demands brains as well as imagination. While the soldiers must receive the dainty diet which sick men need, food supplies must be closely watched, wastage avoided, and expenditure controlled. The happy and human atmosphere of the hospital speaks volumes for the personality of those in authority. Every aspect gives evidence of deep thought, sympathy, and understanding for the welfare of the sick soldiers. ”

“ It is an unparalleled achievement that these two young women should have been living actually up in the firing line ever since the beginning of the war, tending and caring for the Belgian soldiers, dressing and nursing the wounded, and helping the men in the trenches by taking food and hot drinks to them day by day even at the very outposts. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Furse’s great foresight into future needs during the earlier stages of the war, the untiring energy and patience with which she prepared for the time when these needs should be recognised, and, above all, her immense personal influence, have proved her to be one of the real leaders whom the war has brought to light. It is largely through her fine personal example of the spirit in which all work should be done that the V.A.Ds. have won for themselves such a good name for keenness and discipline. ”

“ It is safe to say that no small group of women, such as Mrs. Gaskell and her helpers, can have done more throughout the war to cheer the lonely and depressed, to amuse and interest the weary, and to turn the minds of men in pain to fresh channels which help them to forget their suffering. ”

“ The supply of literature to our soldiers has been an undertaking of gigantic proportions. It was a woman who in the first few days of war had the insight and imagination to realise the part that books would play in the soldiers’ lives, and the organisations for their supply which have grown up to keep pace with the ever-increasing demand have been carried on almost entirely by women workers. ”

“ The German prisoner of war in hospital in England comes on the whole as a pleasant surprise, though a nurse gets an unpleasant shock when she is detailed for duty amongst the prisoners. For several months I have been in charge of a large number of wounded Germans, and I find them on the whole quite good patients. At first their cleanliness and habits are not all that can be desired, neither do they bear pain well. ”

“ I do not pretend that work on the land is attractive to many women. It is hard work—fatiguing, backaching, monotonous, dirty work in all sorts of weather. It is poorly paid, the accommodation is rough, and those who undertake it have to face physical discomforts. In all respects it is comparable to the work your men-folk are doing in the trenches at the front. ”

“ It is admitted on all sides that the output of munitions achieved by Great Britain since the spring of 1915 has been little less than miraculous, and this result is all the more astonishing when it is recalled that at least 25 per cent. of the men who were engaged in the chemical and engineering trades at the outbreak of hostilities have joined the Army. It was thus essential not only to fill the gaps, but also to augment the supply of available labour, in answer to the increased demand. The women of the Empire at once responded to the appeal for their help. ”

“ Colonel Bruce Porter paid his women workers a well-earned compliment when he reported recently: “Since the early days of the war the standard of nursing and care of the wards has been maintained by means of the loyalty of the reduced staff to their chiefs, and the whole of the women here have been and are magnificent. To keep this big crowd of women workers at their best could only be done by a woman of exceptional ability, and I am fortunate in having that type of woman as my matron.” ”

“ The women munition workers of to-day have come from all ranks of society, from every corner of the Empire, many of them entirely unaccustomed to industrial life or manual work, and many unacquainted even with life in England. An incident in one munitions works may be recalled as typical of the rest. Working side by side recently on the machines in a certain factory were a soldier’s wife from a city tenement, a vigorous daughter of the Empire from a lonely Rhodesian farm, a graduate from Girton, and a scion of one of the old aristocratic families of England. ”

“ When it is realised that the cooking for 1000 men has to be done by a staff of only thirteen or fourteen women, including, besides actual cooks, kitchen helpers and waitresses, it will be readily admitted that their work is of an arduous nature. ”

“ Stobart said: “Continued cold, exhaustion from forced marches, and increasing lack of food made the track a shambles ... men by the hundred lay dead, dead from cold and hunger, by the roadside, and no one could stop to bury them. But worse still, men lay dying by the roadside, dying from cold and hunger, and no one could stay to tend them. ”

“ In many ways rest-station duty is very trying, for the work is necessarily so unevenly divided. Times of rush come after the heavy fighting, when there is no respite by day or night. But workers like Miss Greg and her companions never spare themselves [121] fatigue or effort. The only thing that matters is that no ambulance train should find them unprepared, no wound should suffer for want of fresh dressing, no cold, tired soldier should be disappointed of his hot drink. ”

“ The nurses on the hospital trains have a fine record of service. Though less monotonous than the life in a stationary hospital, it is a curious existence to be living permanently in a train, continually travelling to and fro on one stretch of line, nursing in cramped quarters and under particularly tiring conditions. ”