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Female Tommies: The Frontline Women of the First World War
The First World War saw one of the biggest ever changes in the demographics of warfare, as thousands of women donned uniforms and took an active part in conflict for the first time in history. Female Tommies looks at the military role of women worldwide during the Great War and reveals the extraordinary women who served on the frontline.Through their diaries, letters and memoirs, meet the women who defied convention and followed their convictions to defend the less fortunate and fight for their country. Follow British Flora Sandes as she joins the Serbian Army and takes up a place in the rearguard of the Iron Regiment as they retreat from the Bulgarian advance. Stow away with Dorothy Lawrence as she smuggles herself to Paris, steals a uniform and heads to the front. Enlist in Russia’s all-female ‘Battalion of Death’ alongside peasant women and princesses alike.The personal accounts of these women, who were members of organisations such as the US Army Signal Corps, the Canadian Army Medical Corps, the FANY, WRAF, WRNS, WAAC and many others, provide a valuable insight into what life was like for women in a male-dominated environment.
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 11, 2017
3.5 stars
This book is a refreshing look at women's contribution to the Allied efforts in WWI. (For whatever reason the author did not explore female contributions on the Central Powers side, except for Mata Hari.) An amazing number of different groups, founded by and largely composed of women, sprang up, in Great Britain, including many I'd never heard of. I've read about a number of women who served as VADs in WWI, but learned alot about the difficulties the organizers ran into trying to get it set up. Also, it was very interesting to learn a great deal about women's efforts in Serbia, not an Ally one hears or reads much about in the U.S., but Americans sent a lot of support to Serbia during WWI.
The reason I give this book 3.5 stars is that it was sometimes confusing to keep track of the different organizations, and sometimes the chapters read as if they were standalone articles rather than a cohesive narrative.
This book is a refreshing look at women's contribution to the Allied efforts in WWI. (For whatever reason the author did not explore female contributions on the Central Powers side, except for Mata Hari.) An amazing number of different groups, founded by and largely composed of women, sprang up, in Great Britain, including many I'd never heard of. I've read about a number of women who served as VADs in WWI, but learned alot about the difficulties the organizers ran into trying to get it set up. Also, it was very interesting to learn a great deal about women's efforts in Serbia, not an Ally one hears or reads much about in the U.S., but Americans sent a lot of support to Serbia during WWI.
The reason I give this book 3.5 stars is that it was sometimes confusing to keep track of the different organizations, and sometimes the chapters read as if they were standalone articles rather than a cohesive narrative.
September 1, 2017
Un libro excelente que nos acerca al papel de las mujeres durante la Primera Guerra Mundial. Muy completo, muy bien documentado y escrito de manera muy amena, intercalando historias concretas de mujeres con nombre y apellidos.
Indispensable para los amantes de la historia en femenino.
Indispensable para los amantes de la historia en femenino.
July 9, 2018
Fascinating stories of women who fought in WWI as spies, soldiers, ambulance drivers for France, Russia, England and the US!
October 31, 2023
Scrapes a 4. Interesting but neede a bit more organisation. Would have been better if not trying to cover so much.
July 12, 2015
Besides the well-known area of nursing, describes the many roles filled by women during the great war: doctors (more than I realized), phone operators, drivers, members of aid organization like the Salvation Army, the newly formed women's military units like the WAACs and WRNS, journalists, pilots, spies, and even formal combat (specifically in post-Revolution Russia). A little dry, but very interesting, and covered some new ground for me.
For example,it did not surprise me that women had to struggle for the right to serve, or that in the UK they were paid less than the men; what I did not know was that the US equivalents, in many cases, were given equal rank, pay, and veteran status with male soldiers. A surprise in pre-suffrage days!
For example,it did not surprise me that women had to struggle for the right to serve, or that in the UK they were paid less than the men; what I did not know was that the US equivalents, in many cases, were given equal rank, pay, and veteran status with male soldiers. A surprise in pre-suffrage days!
September 28, 2014
The title is misleading. There were no female "Tommies", no women in combat roles except for a few in Russia, and the women's branches of the armed forces in Britain form only a small part of this book. Shipton details the roles that women did play, in nursing and other medical services, in espionage and reporting, in the various arenas in which WW1 was fought.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews