A MODERN AMAZON.

Taihape Daily Times, 11 December 1918, Page 5

A MODERN AMAZON.

o One of the wonderful women of these tremendous times 'has arrived fn London. Her name is Mdme. Marie Botchkareva, and she is the famous Colonel of the Russian Women’s Batj talion of Death. She has come by way i cf 'America, and is now staying at the 1 Savoy Hotel (says a correspondent in ! Lloyd’s “Weekly News”). ! She wears the uniform of an officer I -—khaki tunic, breeches, gaiters, and I serviceable-looking boots. Her jetblack hair has been cut short, and has a side parting* On her breast there are half a dozen medals. » Altogether a woman of remarkable character. Powerful-built, of medium height, with, an extremely intelligent j face, and a capacious forehead, she has attracted considerable attention. It was last year, when the Bolshevist influence was beginning to sap the fighting spirit of the Russian army, that she raised her women s army, 15,000 strong, to carry on the war. {She herself led them in successful )I;fighting against the Germans. : After the Bolshevists climbed into power she had to flee the country, and she reached America via Vladivostock. A young Siberian peasant, still only 28, her adventures are an outstanding ! feature, even in the mighty annals of ! this war of wars. ! When her husband joined up in 1315 ' she accompanied him as a volunteer,

being the first woman in Russia accepted for service in the line. Within a few mouths she was in the front trenches. Very few of her’comrades knew her for a woman. At last she went forward at her husband’s side in an attack. *He was killed, and she herself was so badly wounded that she narrowly escaped death. Soon her exploits became the talk of the army, and she was several dmes promoted. When the revolution oarae, Kerensky summoned her to Petrograd. ‘T agreed,” she says, “to take charge of a women’s battalion, which was to bear my name, and was sent to the front to save the revolution. There were 2000 recruits within a couple of days. But the hulk did not take it seriously. “I thought they would drive me mad. I could not understand their coquetry at such a time. In two weeks only 250 were left; the others could not stand the discipline. “These survivors arrived at the front at a moment when male soldiers had disobeyed orders. With one faithful male battalion they moved to the ritack. cl ■ 7| j “Inspired by . our example, the whole line followed. We took the first, second, and third line of trenches, and over 2000 prisoners.” Wounded four times, the heroine has twice won the Russian equivalent of the V.C,