SHOULD WOMEN FIGHT?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 36, 1 April 1942, Page 4

SHOULD WOMEN FIGHT?

EDGECUMBE'S move to form a voluntary fighting unit composed entirely of women will probably attract Dominion wide attention, and from what we can gather is likely to set a precedent which if followed to any great extent will definitely create a wide field of controversy. In reviewing the movement we have to admit that the average Englishman feels a certain repugnance regarding the idea of women becoming" active belligerents, but after all has England ever been faced with active invasion in modern times. Have our exaultccl ideas of protection to the weaker six been born of the protective insulation with which England—the home, of our ancestors, has been blest for longcenturies. History furnishes us with innumerable instances of amazon battalions, fighting for fighting s sake, not merely for self protection. This does not apply to the savage countries or to the world of ancient times, but right up to the days of the last war when Russias Women's Battalion acquitted itself so well in the war against the Central Powers. To-day in China the women have found that a war without respect for age or sex has forced the initiative; upon them and from the quiet of their guarded domestic lives they have emerged as fighters and as patriots, burning to avenge themselves upon the wreckers of their country and the pitiless objects of their own shame. In France we are informed that the patriot army, only awaiting the signal to rise unitedly against the oppressors, is largely composed of women who will fight as their ancestors did in the fierce purge of the Revolution. So now it is our turn and our staid British character shrinks from taking the step which will upset our cherished traditions and will reach into our homes and our lives. We know definitely in our heart of hearts that war is no place for a woman. We would, every man of us, give our lives rather than that it should be brought to our homes. But the brutality and sweeping nature of modern war has made sport of our best ideals and dashed our hopes. If war should ever come to these shores (which God forbid) have not our women folk the right to demand that they too, be taught to defend themselves.