WOMEN IN THE FIRING LINE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2504, 3 July 1915, Page 11

WOMEN IN THE FIRING LINE

A SPIRITED OFFER.' , . An interesting proposal ■ was brought forward in a letter, written to ilia Man- .. Chester "Guardian!' of . May 7, and signed by several prominent English :. women, one, among their numbor being -.•• Mrs. Despard,- General French's sister, i v/ .It' embodies, the . suggestion :.of ,women : acting as stretcher-bearers :in the war, and runs as follows:—■ : - . "A recent account of the work of- the British.Red'Cross Society says: 'Every British soldier fighting at tho front j must be encouraged 'by-"tho reflection that 'should' lie fall he will be .taken' with', . all possible Speed and comfort to a per- • fcctly equipped-: hospital at the base.' iWould this. were always true ! But :thoso:who have talked much,with those •>.' engaged in lied Cross,: work ,or with wounded soldiers., back from the front know that there are dark exceptions to ; ; this optimistic view: ' They; hear ■. of ■v men. who . have lain wounded on the . field for,: very: long periods '.'after: they = have fallen. (They near of others.who were seen by a comrado to fall,'but "wo .: ... never saw /him : after .that.'. ..'Wo, are ; afraid ho must have died from oxposj " . ure. •: The enemy would not let us. go out to pick the wounded: up." -- ' " 'IVe.make tho'following'• suggestion .with the: knowledge that it will appear . 'at''lrst; ; - -startling ; ■ and impracticable. • Wo merely ;: ask : . those who feol disposed to reject it off- ! ■ hand -:to try to imagine, the anguish,, physical and' mental, that/must be endured bv a soldier, - who lies untended :. .' through day and'night, waiting for the succour which i does not. come, until death, outs an end to his sufferings. • ■ ' : -, "We suggest that a certain number ■' - of.. carefully-selected-:: women' should bo employed-' as collect the wounded, and that'they should be ■ dressed in some uniform which should :■ be> as conspicuous' and .as easily .distinguishable from a long distance as pos-.-sible. ■: We believe- that-: thdy .would sometimes succced in accomplishing their task in circumstances where men wouldfail simply becauso they would bo much >' >' less likely to be: fired on. . The type of : German officer or soldier who would do--1 ; liberatelv pick off a woman engaged on • - such--.work: no:-doubt exists,' but we-do: : : •: not behevo that lie is common. v There would be other cases where women would Y -..' be hit .'by 'fa stray bullet 1 or ..by a. shot ■ -, from a long-distance-battery. But we. b'eliove that there are many women who. • would be glad and proud to take tho , I risk. We 'submitsthat the .greatness: <:«. of the need justifies tho experiment,—< > ~ iYourSj etc., -. . -' . - ' Margaret Ashtoa. Betty Balfour. ' M Bedford. 1 , Lvdia A.'Booth. £ Ebzabeth M. Cadbuiy. _ j Kate Courtney of PenwitJi, * > V. ' A. Cowray. , Xouiso Croighton,':: ; | C. Despard. Millicent Garrett Fawcett ( Maude Bannister Flotcher. : : i - : Eldred Horsloy. • K atherine Pnoe HughaS, 'Alice Meynell. ' , Mary Murray. > • '. -.-■■■ : i-'Eleanor F.'ltathbono.: ■ i j M. L. Broadley Roid. • .. j Xouis'e. Gilbert Samuel. :.. . Maud 'Selborne. , Xi'danor Mildred Sidgwick. Janet P. Trevelyan. '... Mary Trevelyan.; ■■ i ■ ■ t Official Attention. •" Two or three days later the reply to :lhe suggestion; was printed in. tho same 1 ipapor: by a: corresponent r .v who stated ;.. ';jv:tbat,'the .letter :.:had.. received .'High oiffii ■cial attention; It'goes on _to say-that the. military _mcdical: authorities regard, ■; : the'letter. Avith inspect and : admiration ■ -as an expression of tlie brave spirit and : high courage of the.women 'of England, . v • but there is not the> slightest hesitation in:dismissing tho suggestion as imprao- : ticable. -V''- ' . v . The question whether tho .Germans . <would spare women.. pgaged. in a work ' of; mercy need not be discussed. The serious fact is that. the worWf colloct- .. . ing.the wounded is-toolaborious, physi- ■ - callv and so exhausting in other ways' i i-that' it is.altogether.ibeyondithe capa- • cjty of women..-j.,Collectingfthe, wound-• '': ed is no mere mattertof.- 1 lifting: a. helpless man on to a .stretcher and carrying . him to the rear/;':ofton it involves lift- . N ing over obstacles that: need the raising , of- the burden l ' shoulder-high. For ; ; : women to' attempt; that ' work'. would 1 mean a swift addition to the numbers •*••>>•• rendered physically ■ incapable \in, the area where every physically : incapable : ■ ■ unit burdon of ilia field medical ' services: ■ . ■ How Wounded Are Colleoted, . :. 'A medical man who was ,recently at '■ ;■: .tho front- : has:, described, to me -how ;'the; . "work of collectrng tjio: .'wounded is car- . '. 'lied, on.' - There' is ' a: popular<idea, to -which.: the ,lettOT.,.bf.'th.e'' ; .Wmiy-two;rer'-presentstive women rather gives countcnanco,: that the Rod Cross workers. • 'do it all. l This is entirely-a mistake* . :!All the work of collecting the wounded . cm the battlefield is done by tho Army

Medical Corps; working in what are called field ambulance units/ / They get the wounded to the field hospitals,' and there it is that tho Red Cross helpers, with their splendid fleets of motor ambulances, take charge. /Each field i ambulance has, from 16 to 2Q wagons and a personnel of 220 iriien. the officers aro fully qualified doctors, and no fallen man is moved except under .their direction. . Tho officers hastily examine each wounded man, scribble instructions on a tag ,and'tie this to tho man's clothing.'-.: The. instructions always specify whether the wound is dangerous or otliorwise. According to tlie instructions the bearers act. In many cases —suoh as lung or abdominal injury—it it better to leaye'the hian lying for a time .than to take stops which might startv a, probably fatal ■ ■ hemorrhage. But the removal of tho wounded to the