WOMAN CALLED TO THE ARMY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2908, 21 October 1916, Page 3

WOMAN CALLED TO THE ARMY

FOUR YEARS LIFE AS A MAN

A STORY OP PLUCK

An employer at the Hornsey military exemptions tribunal appealed on behalf of his foreman. The- Chairman, _ holding up a letter, expressed surprise that the employer - said the man was indispensable. Did lie know that "he" was a woman? Tho employer smiled incredulously, and suggested that the Chairman had made a mistake,.,for his man was a married man with two children. The Chairman then showed a certificate from the Mill Hill Medical Board, which, it was alleged, stated that the person named upon it was unfit for tho Army because it had been disclosed that the person was a woman. The employer said that the woman with whom his employee had been living came to his wife that morning, and said that the military authorities had sent "her husband" to Salisbury Plain.

The Woman's Story. Subsequent inquiries disclosed a great'deal of sympathy with tho woman. Six or seven years ago she was married in a northern seaport. She says that tho marriage was unhappy, and when her ( two children died she determined to leave her hsuband. She came south, taking only her sister, a widow with two children, into her confidence. The sisters came to London and settled in • Hornsey, but whereas women and two children had left the northern city, a "young man" and his wife and their two children arrived in London. They resembled any other working-class couple except that tho "man" appeared to be far from robust. "He" gave the name of Albert F , the surname, being "his" maiden name. The couple were seen about together with tho children. The "husband" obtained employment at a local printer's, and -became such an cxpcrt.aerographer that ho soon commanded high wages, and rose rapidly in his employer's esteem as a capable and efficient workman.

This was long before the outbreak of war. Then came the National Registration Act,'and tho "man" entered his namo as Albert F , and gave his age as thirty-two, describing himself as married with a wife and two cliildren dependent upon him. With the Derby campaign in full swing, it was noticed that F did not attempt to attest, and eventually became amenable to the. Military Service Act. About a month ago F was called up for service, but his employer at once entered an appeal on the ground that "ho" was indispensable. The receipt of tho yellow form appears to have pleased the disguised woman. She is said to have stated: "1 looked upon it as a godsend, and felt that hero was a chance at any rat© of getting where my husband wouldn't find ine."

The Confession,

In due course the appeal came before the Hornsey Tribunal, the employer and F both appearing. The case as presented appeared to be one which the members of the tribunal considered worthy of consideration, but as the "man" had not been medically examined, tbo tribunal directed that he should present himself at Mill Hill to see what category of service he would bo placed in. It was then that the "man" confessed that lie was not ■ a man at all, but a woman. Army regulations had not provided for an incident of this sort, and the authorities.were at. a loss .what to.do.with the "conscript."" She- told" thenr her story—how her marriage had proved'a failure,iiow'hcr.'t'ivo children," the only tie that bound her to her husband, had died, and how she had determined to make a homo for herself in the guise of a man. • Tending inquiries, it. was determined to hand her oyer to tho caro of the civil authorities, -and sho was placed in charge of tho local Polico Court missionary. - Investigations proved F-^—'s story to bo true in every particular, and a report presented to tho military described her as worthy of every consideration. ller second interview with the military authorities was of a very different nature from tho first. Tho colonel hoforo whom sho was taken, this time as a woman, witli the full facts before .him, expressed Ids sympathy, aud, shaking hands, described her as "a perfect littlo brick," and wished her many years of happiness. Tho; Polico Court missionary lias found a situation for her in the Midlands, whero she is already installed. In tho district of Hornsey in whials F lived no ouo had the slightest suspicion as to her sex. At tho printing .establishment there was never any sign that If was anything but a very smart littlo man, and the most surprised person in the whole of London was the employer when ho was informed by the Chairman of tho Hornsey Tribunal that for four years lie had been employing a women. "The case is ono of tho saddest I havo ever come across," said tho woman Police Court missionary. "How the woman ever managed 'to pass as a man for four years Ido not know. Sho is about sft. 3in., and hot at all masculine in appearance. I intend to befriend her ajl I can, and several people arc helping me." " i