THE GALS WHO WROTE THE WAR ~Linda Shenton Matchett

The Gals Who Wrote the War

Guest post from Linda Shenton Matchett

As a former Human Resources professional, I am fascinated by the history of women in the workplace, especially during World War II when millions of ladies stepped into positions formerly held by men. Some of the newer types of commerce such as aircraft manufacturers welcomed women. In fact, Minneapolis-based Strato Equipment, a designer of high-altitude pressure suits for pilots, boasted a female workforce of 100%. The only guy in the factory was a department store dummy! Other industries such as the quintessential male profession of war reporting were tougher to break into.

Initially, the military used the accreditation process to control war correspondents, refusing outright to accredit women. A lengthy process that required background checks on the applicant, as well as his or her family, weeded out many candidates. According to photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, “By the time you are accredited you have no secrets from the War Department and neither do your ancestors.”

By the end of the war, of the nearly 2,000 accredited war correspondents in WWII, 127 were women. Accreditation acted as a contract: The Army or Navy transported reporters, fed and sheltered them, and sent their dispatches home. In return, correspondents followed military law and censorship. Correspondents who defied rules lost credentials.

They received a pocket-sized “Basic Field Manual” of rules (which frightening enough included a waiver of liability for injury or death). Correspondents carried a green accreditation card and wore uniforms without symbols of rank, to indicate they would neither give nor take salutes. Instead, they wore green “WC” armbands, which evolved into “U.S. War Correspondent” patches, and were treated as captains, a rank that allowed them to eat with officers and facilitated POW exchanges if taken prisoner.

Nearly every commander in the Allied forces refused to allow women near combat. They feared women breaking under pressure, balking at a lack of women’s latrines, or influencing soldiers to take risks to protect them. Needless to say, this frustrated most of the female reporters.

Journalist Martha Gellhorn is considered to be one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20^th century. She said, “I have too frequently received the impression that women war correspondents were an irritating nuisance. I wish to point out that none of us would have our jobs unless we know how to do them and this curious condescending treatment is as ridiculous as it is undignified.”

Some accredited women did see combat. Sometimes the front shifted, catching women in the thick of action, as was the case with Ruth Cowan in North Africa. Others asked officers to write letters of introduction to combat zones, as did Bourke-White in Italy. A few got there “by hook or by crook.”

Martha’s career lasted sixty years, and she covered nearly every major event that occurred during that time, occasionally taking matters into her own hands to ensure she was there. In order to reach the beach and report on the D-Day invasion, she sneaked aboard a hospital ship and hid in the bathroom during the entire voyage then impersonated a stretcher bearer to disembark. She got the story, but lost her credentials. Her response? “I followed the war wherever I could reach it.”

The grit and gumption of these 127 women enabled them to provide eyewitness accounts to the harrowing events of WWII. I hope my Ruth Brown mystery series honors these ladies in a small way.

Book Blurb for Under Fire: Set in April 1942, Under Fire tells the story of Ruth Brown whose missing sister Jane is declared dead. Convinced her sister is still alive, Ruth follows clues from their small New Hampshire town to war-torn London trying to find her. Discovering that Jane has been murdered results in a faith crisis for Ruth, and she decides she must find Jane’s killer.

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/ B0743MS95H

Books 2 (Under Ground) and 3 (Under Cover) are now available for pre-order! Visit my website for more information.

Bio: Linda Shenton Matchett is an author, speaker, and history geek. She writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is also a lecturer with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through Granite State College. She is also a trustee for her local public library. Linda was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland and has lived in historic places all her life. Now located in central New Hampshire, her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

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