Evening star., 1937-09-12


European countries of using women
in future wars on conscript basis.
opens up field of high controversy.
Do not woman soldiers exercise an
unsettling, corrupting, weakening in
nuence on a combatant army? Can
they physically stand the racket Are
they any real use as fighting material? /?
And. even II a proportion may be
useful as fighters, is it not true that
huge mass armies will not be wanted
IN the future. being replaced BY
mechanical outfits, and that there
are males and to spare for this new
warfare?
Several schools Of thought are cur
rently clashing.
There is the simple and decisive
Mussolinian conception summed up
in the epitaph of ancient Rome: She
stayed at home and spun wool"
There is the totally opposed anarcho-
communist view that red women can
go where the men do, if they want to.
and will be of use.
There is the tendency to restrict
woman combatants to the specialized
branches - sharpshooting. PARACHUTE
lists, machine gunners.
There is the much-supported con-
tention that women, picked on a.
selective basis, should be conscripted
IN military formations for serv-
Ice behind the lines only, taking care
of the male army generally.
British Have Other Ideas.
And there is the notion that anv
move to get more out of women in
war, other than that which thev
showed themselves capable of last
tlme, should not go beyond their being
asked to volunteer as anti-aircraft
auxiliaries on the home front.
rms last idea is British and was
sponsored by the government when it
recently announced plan for the
creation of 100000 strong fire. fight
ing army in the United Kingdom. To
cope with the effects of incendiarv
bombs. Women are being invited to
enroll for picket duty. But this is as
lar as 1t goes. Albion's idea of 'wom-
an soldiers" and the reason is not far
to seek. During l914-l8 Great Britain
got incomparably more out of its
womenfolk than did any other belIip-
erent-a fact that has come to be
widely recognized. The writer par
tlcularly remembers prominent Ger
man shortly after the victors took over
the Rhineland. THE more l think of
it, the more ] am astounded that we
did not use our women as you did" he
said. German women could have
done equally well, being of much the
same texture and temperament"
1t would be impossible even to
sketch here the extent to which women
were used in Britain in direct support
OF the war effort. A book some years
ago gave over hundred of their war
waging occupations. Munitions Waacs
and Wrens and Wrafs, landgirls
nurses, transport-these constituted
merely the most crowded and visible
side. But it so happens that the United
Kingdom would not again need fem
mime cooperation on such scale for
the good reason that there would be
/ Niiob6h iutil W EO III view vi
declared British policy never more to
send popular" -in-the- street
/ conscript army out of the country. 1t
is going TO be case of sea and air
only" with the tight little isle, plus a
tiptop regular army of five divisions,
and extras. to be held for the defense
OF threatened parts of the empire.
Turks Think Otherwise.
Other latitudes, other notions:
Here is Kemal Ataturk prior to send
| ing bill to the Grand National As
sembly introducing special courses in
all girls schools for the training of
woman soldiers: "Insomuch as there
should be no differences regarding the
rights of the sexes, there should be no
differences in the duties asked of them.
Women. in case of necessity, should
accomplish their military service. One
cannot pretend that the physiological
structure of woman does not lend
itself to military service, for we have
proof of how Turkish peasant women
have overcome the same hardships as
our menfolk. On the battlefield they
have repeatedly proved their worth,
and, therefore, the physical prepara-
tion of our new female generation
must be seen to-
Turkish man power is at low ebb
the result of Turkeys having been
almost continuously at war for eight
years 19l1-19). a protracted attrition
that was to leave the nation ultimately
with only 100000 population.
Hence the projected dependence on
.omen.
Nor are the "fanums" tagging be-
hind. Turkish women are enthusi-
astic, as they would be over most
things emanating from. their emanci-
pator and idol. Girl guide organi-
zations are being inundated with ap-
plications from would be recruits and
already there is waiting list of over
a hundred girls for the air force. all
of whom have passed tests in para
chute jumping.
Diversity of Uses.
Authorities say it is in AtatIrk' S
mind TO make use OF his conscripted
womanhood in a diversity of ways.
} Those who are fit for the first line.
such As the hardy peasant women.
will go there. The more fragile city
girl of superior type will be allotted
to the specialized branches, such as
the air force, or to the administra-
tive of1ices, liberating men for fight
ing The bulk OF the selected women
will do the work Of the army behind
the lines-cooking. baking, mending,