The Sword of Deborah: First-hand impressions of the British Women's Army in FranceJesse, F. Tennyson (Fryniwyd Tennyson)
History
The Sword of Deborah: First-hand impressions of the British Women's Army in France
Jesse, F. Tennyson (Fryniwyd Tennyson)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Women
But, hard as the life is, it seemed to me that at that camp which has
the happiness to be at this castle, its duress must be assuaged by the
beauty of what is always before the eyes. Buried in woods it is, still
bare when I saw them, but with the greenish yellow buds of daffodils
already beginning to unfold in great clumps through the purple-brown
alleys, and with primroses making drifts of honey-pallor and
honey-sweetness beside the slopes of ground ivy, while from beyond the
curving ramparts of the castle shows the steely-quiet glimmer of a lake.
For war this castle was built, and war she now sees once again, for the
arts of war are taught within her walls. And how Anne Boleyn's roving
eyes would have brightened at the sight of so much youth, at the sound
of so many spurs! Let us hope her sore spirit can still find pleasure in
wandering again over the scenes where she once was happy, and if she has
kept enough of innocent wantonness to love a straight man when she sees
one, ghost though she be, and if her nose turn up ever so daintily at
the clumsily-clad members of her own sex, whose toils she would so
little understand ... why, she is but a ghost, and the modern mind must
contrive to forgive her.
* * * * *
These slight vignettes have all been of vision; let me add one of a less
pictorial nature. The Unit Administrators, as I have said, have to act
not only as commanding officers, but very often as mother-confessors as
well. Parents write to them about their daughters, would-be suitors
write to them for permission to marry their charges, and amongst the
letter-bag are often epistles that are not without their unconscious
humour. One day a mother writes to point out that she and the rest of
the family are changing houses, and so may Flossie please come home for
a few days ... another mentions that Gladys's letters of late have been
despondent, and please could she be put to something else that will not
depress her? Then Gladys is had up in front of the Unit Administrator,
and perhaps turns out to be one of the born whiners found everywhere,
perhaps to be merely suffering from a passing fit of what our
ancestresses would have called the megrims. If her work is found to be
really unfitted to her and it is possible to give her a change, then it
is done, but as a rule that is seldom the case, as, rather differently
from what we used to hear was the way in the Army, every Waac Controller
finds out what the girl is best at and what she likes doing most, and
then, as far as possible, arranges her work accordingly.
Perhaps a letter comes from a Tommy in His Majesty's forces, and begins
something like this:--
"DEAR MADAM,
"I beg to ask your permission to marry Miss D. Robinson, at
present under your command...."
The Unit Administrator writes back that she will endeavour to arrange
leave for the marriage; and perhaps all goes well, or perhaps some such
lugubrious letter as this will follow:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account