New Britain herald., 1917-09-06
WOMEN VALUABLE
BEHIND THE lines
Thousands Now Employed As
AuXiiarieS to Soldiers

! the Associated Press) .-When it was
decided to comply women with the
British Army in France the main
difficulty that arose lay in the ques-
ton of housing. Accommodation in
| France had been prepared solely in
| accordance with the requirements of
! male troops, and notifications and
adaptations for the use of women re-
quired careful consideration.
The camps and hotels for the wom-
en- workers Lad to be fully equipped,
within reasonable distance from the
places of employment, and on some
what higher standard of comfort than
was required then for the men.
With the cooperation of the mil
ltary authorities, preliminary ar
rangements We're so rapidly carried.
out that within a month after the
declslon to send women to France,
everything was ready for the first
groups Of workers. These crossed the
Channel at the end of April this year.
At present the women's quarters are
principally in hutted camps, and In
hotels taken over by the corps at some
of the bases. These camps accommo-
date from % to 500 women each.
Their total accommodation has
reached figure of 1000.
Each Camp Has Boss.
Each camp, however smill,is under
the charge of woman administrator
responsible for the comfort and we'll
being of it's occupants and for their
discipline outside office hours.
The question is often asked, is the
discipline of the women workers very
strict! The question of discipline was
0f III rciG ton
The women of the Auxiliary Corps
cannot be treated as children; they
are carefully chosen in the first in
stance and are doing responsible
work For this reason great deal
of liberty is given them and the rules
and regulations are not stringent.
Members of the corps must wear
their uniforms on all occasions;
there are certain restrictions regard
ing admission to cafes and estaminets
in France. There are occasional
roll-calls at the hostels, but out OF
Office hours the women are allowed
a great deal of liberty. The admins
traitor may sanction invitations to
men to the public recreation rooms
of the hostel.
The idea in enforcing discipline
among the women workers is that
they sh ould be led not driven and that
much depends on the administrator
who acts as leader, still more the
manner in which the individual mem
bers respond to the trust reposed in
them to keep up the personal credit
and the honor of the corps. It speaks
we'll for the success of the system that
after an experience of three months
in Franc only three girls have been
RI and thew for
act which showed more stupidity than
deliberate indiscipline.
Teachers Good Administrators
The administrators are carefully
chosen, being in many cases teachers
in girls schools or housekeepers in
schools or large institutions. Others
are trained in welfare work or uni
versity women who have had expert
ence in similar work. To fit them
for their special work in France, all
women chosen for administrators re-
ceive instruction before being sent out
to take up their duties.
Recruits for the Womens army are
very carefully selected in England
Each candidate must furnish two ref
erences, which are carefully consult
ed. Then the candidate is sent before
a selection board and medical
board, both of whom have set a fair
ly high standard. Approved candi-
dates are "called up to a receiving
depot after short time allowed them
for making preparations. On arriv-
ing at the receiving hostels the can
didates are solemnly enrolled and re-
quired to sign their formal agree
ments before a military officer. They
stay at the receiving hostel about
three weeks, during which time they
are inoculated and vaccinated, fitted
with uniforms and taught some ele-
mentary marching drill. They also
attend lectures on the work before
them. These three weeks are very
valuable; the women make friends
among their future associates and
begin to get little Of that valuable
esprit de corps, pride in their
work and understanding of it's value
and importance.
When the first batch of recruit came
to take possession of the big receiving
hostel in London they were told that
the beds had not yet arrived and that
they would have to sleep on straw
filed mattresses stretched over
planks. Not a protest was made, al
though vaccination and incubation
soon gave aches and pains to several
of than on the contrary they re-
joiced in the temporary discomfort
as part of the game