Even today, women taking part in the Australian Defense Force is restricted to non-combatant roles, such as in the logistics and medical corps. In 1914, women were prevented from holding any military position, except as nurses who saw active duty on the front. Still wanting to make a contribution to the war effort, women turned their efforts to fundraising, and in the process, established the foundations of some vital charities which still exist today.
The Emotional Burden
The arduous conditions which the troops were faced with on the battlefields during World War I are well documented, however the emotional hardships of the women left behind are not as widely known. For the women who had said good bye to a husband, sons, brother, friend or father, their lives were spent in anxious waiting of their return. News travelled slowly at the beginning of the 20th …show more content…
At the time of World War I, Australia, New Zealand and a few other Scandinavian countries were the only nations who gave women the right to vote. Yet in Australia, women still received a wage 54 present lower than a male would get. Their role was still seen to be in the home, performing domestic worker and raising the children. From the outset, women were keen to be as actively involved in the war effort as men. Women applied to work in what were considered traditional women's role, such as cooks and clerk, so that the men could be free to go and fight. However, the government still discouraged any attempts by women to serve in the armed forces. The only women who were allowed to engage in any form of active involvement were the nurses who served overseas.
To add insult to the Australian women, in Britain, women were only allowed to be employed in factories and the transport in duty.
Charity and fundraising