Women of War : Gender, Modernity and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry

Women of War is an examination of gender modernity using the world’s longest established women’s military organisation, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, as a case study. Formed in 1907 and still active today, the Corps was the first to adopt khaki uniform, prepare for war service, staff a regimental first aid post near the front line and drive officially for the British army in France. It was the only British unit whose members were sworn in as soldiers of the Belgian army, and it was the most decorated women’s corps of the First World War. Bringing both public and personal representations into dialogue through an analysis of newspaper articles, ephemera, memoirs, diaries, letters, interviews, photographs and poetry, this book sits at the crossroads of British, social, gender and women’s history, drawing upon the diverse fields of military history, animal studies, trans studies, dress history, sociology of the professions, nursing history and transport history. It reconstructs the organisation’s formation, its adoption of martial clothing, increased professionalisation, and wartime activities of first aid and driving, focusing specifically upon the significance of gender modernity. While the FANY embodied the New Woman, challenging the limits of convention and pushing back the boundaries of the behavour, dress and role considered appropriate for women, the book argues that the Corps was simultaneously deeply conservative, upholding imperial, unionist and antifeminist values. That it was a complex mix of progressive and conservative elements, both conformist and reformist, gets to the heart of the fascinating complexity surrounding the organisation. Women of war is an examination of gender modernity using the world's longest established women's military organisation, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. These New Women's adoption of martial uniform and military-style training, their inhabiting of public space, their deployment of innovative new technologies such as the motor car, the illustrated press, advertisements and cinematic film and their proactive involvement in the First World War illustrate why the Corps and its socially elite members are a particularly revealing case study of gender modernity. Bringing into dialogue both public and personal representations, it makes a major contribution to the social and cultural history of Britain in the early twentieth century and will appeal to undergraduates, postgraduates and scholars working in the fields of military history, animal studies, trans studies, dress history, sociology of the professions, nursing history and transport history. Front matter Dedication Contents List of figures Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Introduction: Daughters of war – Gender modernity and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry ‘Fresh laurels for the brow of womanhood’: The formation of a female nursing yeomanry ‘Hussies’, ‘freaks’ and ‘lady soldiers’: Constructing the uniformed woman ‘Determined women full of initiative and vision’: The professionalisation of a voluntary women’s corps ‘Here we were, girls of the twentieth century’: Active service in the First World War ‘Gloried in her grotesque and spurious manhood’: Driving in the First World War Concluding thoughts Bibliography Index Women of war examines the FANY as a case study of gender modernity using newspapers, memoirs, diaries, letters interviews, photographs and poetry. While these New Women challenged the limits of convention in terms of behaviour, dress and role, they were simulataneously deepy conservative, upholding imperialist, unionist and anti-feminist values.