Lady Oliver is another untiring worker to whose keenness and energy much of the success of the V.A.D. activities is due. As staff officer to Lady Perrott before the war, she was responsible for a large part of the detailed work. Since the formation of the Joint Department, Lady Oliver has worked with Mrs. Furse at Devonshire House. Lady Perrott, Lady Oliver, and Mrs. Furse have all been decorated by the King with the Royal Red Cross, and are also members of the Order of St. John, Lady Perrott and Lady Oliver being Ladies of Justice, and Mrs. Furse a Lady of Grace. XIV COMMANDANT DAMER DAWSON, MRS. CARDEN, AND THE WOMEN POLICE AND PATROLS The employment of women for police service, in vogue for some years on the Continent and in the United States of America, has been developed in this country only by the outbreak of the war. Women in uniform are so frequent nowadays that the passer-by scarcely spares a glance for a hard “bowler” kind of hat, plain blue clothes, and a blue armlet with white letters on it. The wearers of this uniform seem to be peculiarly unobtrusive people, anxious to avoid, rather than to attract, attention. For all that, among the innumerable women who are taking on the new work which the times have entailed, the women police are by no means the least valuable, brave, and steadfast. [Illustration: CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT M. S. ALLEN INSPECTOR GOLDINGHAM COMMANDANT DAMER DAWSON _Barratt_ _To face page 75_ ] The names of three pioneers are impressed on the memory of those who have watched the development of this movement in Great Britain: Commandant Damer Dawson, Superintendent M. S. Allen, and Inspector Goldingham. It is largely through their tireless efforts that the Women Police Service, the association that they originated, has now at its command one of the finest bodies of women in the country. The influx of the Belgian refugees in August, 1914, became the starting-point of the movement. While aiding forlorn exiles lost in London byways in the small hours of the night, it was borne in upon Miss Damer Dawson how much work in the streets could be done by an organised band of trained women, armed with authority. The idea took root in her mind and grew with her work. She was soon joined by Miss M. S. Allen and Miss Goldingham, and from that period the Women Police Service may be said to have originated. These pioneers obtained the necessary training and soon set to work in the organisation of a voluntary corps. Recruits flocked in, undertook necessary training in drill, practical and theoretical instruction, and soon obtained positions as officially appointed policewomen. In this capacity they undertake such work as patrolling the streets, attendance at police courts, domiciliary visiting, the supervision of music-halls, cinemas, and public dancing-halls, and the inspection of common lodging-houses.