Our men have gone to war to help stop Germany, but what are women doing to help?
While men are at war, women are expected to manage the home and raise the children. Lots of women around Australia want to be involved in the war. Some of the jobs women want to do are: nursing aides, driver, laundry workers, cooks and clerks. Women are paid less than men. Australian women run the canteens,. Some women wanted to be fighting on the battle front, however the government decided that women had no role in the battle front except as trained nurses. Around 2000 women have been recruited as nurses to help the wounded and injured. Women were also not allowed to serve as doctors, only as nurses.There are rumors that some groups are organizing touring concert parties for the soldiers. It’s not just adults who are helping out, School girls are being encouraged to raise money for patriotic funds — they are raffling geese, selling pet lambs, gathering and selling vegetables from their gardens, knitting and making cakes.
Some women are not satisfied with this decision a and have set up AWSC (Australian Women’s Service Corps), an organization who’s goal is to try to persuade the government to change its mind and employ women for active service at battlefront. It isn’t just AWSC that is trying to have this changed. Groups such as the Australian Women’s National League, the Australian Red Cross, the Country Women’s Association, the Voluntary Aid Detachment Women’s Peace Army are also involved. Although they weren’t allowed to fight on the battle front, women still did what they could for their men. That incudes visited wounded soldiers, sell buttons on button days, walk around with collection boxes on collection days, and also organize fetes, bake cakes and put together comfort parcels for soldiers.
Women have a mixed reaction to the conscription debate. Some women want conscription in Australia because they want other people to help their boys out. Others don’t want families...