This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/sep/21/kate-adie-fighting-home-front

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
The 'plucky' heroines who won a war for British women How 'plucky' heroines of 1914-18 seized chance to advance women's freedoms
(about 5 hours later)
Kate Adie knows why war reporting is mainly concerned with armed conflict. It makes the dramatic headlines and the grim headcounts from which history is later distilled. But the pioneering former BBC war correspondent's new book about the first world war has another focus.Kate Adie knows why war reporting is mainly concerned with armed conflict. It makes the dramatic headlines and the grim headcounts from which history is later distilled. But the pioneering former BBC war correspondent's new book about the first world war has another focus.
Fighting on the Home Front is about how British women dealt with the social turbulence and personal challenges of the war years. "Young women today do not have a clue," Adie said this weekend. "The many changes to women's lives we have seen are all so recent really." Fighting on the Home Front is about how British women dealt with the social turbulence and personal challenges of the war years.
"Young women today do not have a clue," Adie said this weekend. "The many changes to women's lives we have seen are all so recent, really."
Adie believes this shift in attitude hinged on the outbreak of the war in 1914. At that point the rigid social order now prettily characterised in ITV's Downton Abbey was beginning to fall away. The sudden need for women to work while men fought abroad rapidly accelerated the process.Adie believes this shift in attitude hinged on the outbreak of the war in 1914. At that point the rigid social order now prettily characterised in ITV's Downton Abbey was beginning to fall away. The sudden need for women to work while men fought abroad rapidly accelerated the process.
"Whenever I reported on violence, say in Rwanda, I always felt you had to show the way the whole of society is affected. Everyone is dragged into a war, whether they were for it or against it.""Whenever I reported on violence, say in Rwanda, I always felt you had to show the way the whole of society is affected. Everyone is dragged into a war, whether they were for it or against it."
The idea that women and children can be protected is untrue, she said, whether you are talking about the British home front or Sarajevo during the siege. "I remember I went into a school in the middle of the city of Sarajevo and found some children freezing in a school building with no heating. There was no wall along one side of the classroom, but they were learning English. Because they had no paper they were writing between the lines on old sheets of work. This is how war affects everyone's lives." The idea that women and children can be protected is untrue, she said, whether you are talking about the British home front or Sarajevo during the siege.
"I remember I went into a school in the middle of the city of Sarajevo and found some children freezing in a school building with no heating.
"There was no wall along one side of the classroom, but they were learning English. Because they had no paper they were writing between the lines on old sheets of work. This is how war affects everyone's lives."
Adie was also driven to tackle the simplified myths about women's contribution to the war effort. She found her evidence by "trawling through local newspaper archives". It became clear that, while women were praised for taking on vital work, trade union members were worried that a new "docile flock" of workers would bring down their own wages.Adie was also driven to tackle the simplified myths about women's contribution to the war effort. She found her evidence by "trawling through local newspaper archives". It became clear that, while women were praised for taking on vital work, trade union members were worried that a new "docile flock" of workers would bring down their own wages.
"There was strong opposition because it wasn't contemplated that women might be paid the same for the same work," said Adie."There was strong opposition because it wasn't contemplated that women might be paid the same for the same work," said Adie.
Men handled the perceived problem through a system of "substitution" or "dilution": two sanctioned ways of introducing women to the workplace. Either they were trained by a man and then paid less, or were tasked with a small part of a man's job. Adie feels this information is relevant for young women now.Men handled the perceived problem through a system of "substitution" or "dilution": two sanctioned ways of introducing women to the workplace. Either they were trained by a man and then paid less, or were tasked with a small part of a man's job. Adie feels this information is relevant for young women now.
"There are still great arguments to be worked through, but we have to remember where we have come from," she said. "I feel a dinosaur a lot of the time when I am asked if I came across discrimination in my own work. I have to say, 'yes, but it wasn't just me'. All women my age had to put up with enormously entrenched, conventional views about women." "There are still great arguments to be worked through, but we have to remember where we have come from," she said. "I feel a dinosaur a lot of the time when I am asked if I came across discrimination in my own work. I have to say, yes, but it wasn't just me. All women my age had to put up with enormously entrenched, conventional views about women."
Seeds of change had already been sown by Mary Wollstonecraft and then by the suffrage movement, Adie acknowledges, while industrial change had also created opportunities. Yet the advent of war advanced the cause in unintended ways. Although a suffrage campaigner such as Emmeline Pankhurst stated that patriotic duty should come first, Adie suggests that the general poster appeal for support put out by the government was a landmark event in women's liberation. Seeds of change had already been sown by Mary Wollstonecraft and then by the suffrage movement, Adie acknowledges, while industrial change had also created opportunities.
"The government actually addressed them directly for the first time, asking them to send their sons and their husbands to war. This moved women's status up a notch. Then, once they had begun essential war work, they received pay packets from the government and that also helped. It meant they had to be acknowledged as more than dependants. Until then women had worked for private companies or family businesses and were not recognised. The accounts of a family firm would have just listed the men working there." Yet the advent of war advanced the cause in unintended ways. Although a suffrage campaigner such as Emmeline Pankhurst stated that patriotic duty should come first, Adie suggests that the general poster appeal for support put out by the government was a landmark event in women's liberation.
Munitions work was popular with women, but it was dangerous. The notorious Silvertown explosion in East London in January 1917 killed 69 workers and injured another 400, but the true figure may have been censored. "The government actually addressed them directly for the first time, asking them to send their sons and their husbands to war. This moved women's status up a notch. Then, once they had begun essential war work, they received pay packets from the government and that also helped.
"It meant they had to be acknowledged as more than dependants. Until then women had worked for private companies or family businesses and were not recognised. The accounts of a family firm would have just listed the men working there."
Munitions work was popular with women, but it was dangerous. The notorious Silvertown explosion in east London in January 1917 killed 69 workers and injured another 400, but the true figure may have been censored.
Trousers – the most radical form of the new "rational dress" – were adopted by these women workers and by their counterparts heaving coke and cleaning engines. Some women worked up to 100 hours a week. During Zeppelin air raids adequate shelters were rarely made available.Trousers – the most radical form of the new "rational dress" – were adopted by these women workers and by their counterparts heaving coke and cleaning engines. Some women worked up to 100 hours a week. During Zeppelin air raids adequate shelters were rarely made available.
For Adie, among the most compelling research for the book involved the stories of neglected heroines, such as Mabel St Clair Stobart, who founded the Women's National Service League, Elsie Inglis, the groundbreaking doctor, and Flora Sandes, an ambulance volunteer who became the only woman to officially fight in the war. Their careers, which might be described as having gone "missing in action", should have made them household names, she argues. For Adie, among the most compelling research for the book involved the stories of neglected heroines, such as Mabel St Clair Stobart, who founded the Women's National Service League, Elsie Inglis, the ground-breaking doctor, and Flora Sandes, an ambulance volunteer who became the only woman to officially fight in the war.
"I first heard about Sandes in Serbia in 1990 in the middle of a really terrible night of shelling," recalled Adie. "We were sheltering for about 12 hours while they were screaming over us. I had a Serbian interpreter with me who had lived in America for a time. While we were all yelling out in fear, the interpreter said to me: 'You must be like Flora Sandes, the bravest Englishwoman. We learn about her in school'." Their careers, which might be described as having gone "missing in action", should have made them household names, she argues.
"I first heard about Sandes in Serbia in the 1990s, in the middle of a really terrible night of shelling," recalled Adie. "We were sheltering for about 12 hours while they were screaming over us. I had a Serbian interpreter with me who had lived in America for a time. While we were all yelling out in fear, the interpreter said to me: 'You must be like Flora Sandes, the bravest Englishwoman. We learn about her in school'."
The Yorkshirewoman, Adie later discovered, was once famous in Britain too, and followed around by newspaper reporters. "But she has been forgotten, although she was a real character. She died in 1952 in Suffolk and I found people who remembered her," said Adie.The Yorkshirewoman, Adie later discovered, was once famous in Britain too, and followed around by newspaper reporters. "But she has been forgotten, although she was a real character. She died in 1952 in Suffolk and I found people who remembered her," said Adie.
Adie also unearthed details of a photograph of Inglis performing surgery in Paris. "I discovered that the picture was taken in the first weeks of the war in an operating theatre she had set up in the gentlemen's toilets at a hotel. The tiling on the walls gives it away."Adie also unearthed details of a photograph of Inglis performing surgery in Paris. "I discovered that the picture was taken in the first weeks of the war in an operating theatre she had set up in the gentlemen's toilets at a hotel. The tiling on the walls gives it away."
These women were impressively "intellectually sorted", said Adie. "They grabbed the opportunity of the war, as Stobart once said, not to talk about women's rights but to get down to it."These women were impressively "intellectually sorted", said Adie. "They grabbed the opportunity of the war, as Stobart once said, not to talk about women's rights but to get down to it."
The language used to describe these heroines is illuminating, Adie found. "Women were praised for being 'splendid' or 'plucky', not just brave." The words implied that it would not last." The language used to describe these heroines is illuminating, Adie found. "Women were praised for being 'splendid' or 'plucky', not just brave. The words implied that it would not last."
Starker still is an account from Inglis of having to leave a woman in a critical condition because her husband would not give permission for her to have an operation. "Women were property. This was not an attitude, it was legal fact and this was just 100 years ago," said Adie. Starker still is an account from Inglis of having to leave a woman in a critical condition because her husband would not give permission for her to have an operation. "Women were property. This was not an attitude, it was legal fact and this was just 100 years ago," said Adie. "We have made enormous strides since, although there is much more to do."
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.