THE ROLE OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR:

DOTING MOTHERS AND WIVES OR ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SHAPING

OF A NATION?

As we examine the construction of Australias strong sense of national identity, we

cannot overlook the events of The Great War. Significantly cementing itself as a defining
moment in world history, The Great War saw Australia, a then young and new nation,
assert itself as a united country. Here we are presented with various ideals that would
contribute to this structure; the birth of the ANZAC legend, the sacrificing of lives in the
hope of securing the protection of the commonwealth, as well as the uniting of an entire
country, still young since the federation of its colonies in 1901. But what we as
historians will also note is the evident male dominance that would preside at the time
and would remain a key factor in our recalling the events of such a historically

significant period in time. This essay will explore female participation to the war effort
and thus to the building of a national identity.

When examining the role of women during The Great War we are welcomed with an
unappreciated history of forgotten heroes. Through the creation of numerous
organisations, women would see themselves welcomed with endless hours of voluntary
work. Such charitable work included the production of care packages for soldiers
serving abroad, the caring of returned veterans as well as wives widowed by the
endeavours of war. Women would also fill various work-related positions with many
men resigning to serve with the army. And finally, possibly the most significant sacrifice
of all made by women during The First World War, would be the sacrificing of husbands
and sons to the war effort in the hope of securing the survival of a nation. However after
the closing of the chapter that would forever remain the Great War, women would
remain unappreciated for their efforts. In a predominately male war, women, though
determined to exhaust all possible avenues in the hope of contributing to the war effort,
would remain restricted and unnoticed.

VOLUNTEERNG FOR THE WAR EFFORT

Lady Helen Munro Fergusons Red Cross
During the period of the First World War women would take many avenues in their
hope of contributing to the war effort. Voluntary work would become part of everyday
life for many women at this time. Unable to fight on the front lines, women were
determined to do whatever they could to contribute. Just days after the declaration of

war Lady Helen Munro

Ferguson established
the Australian Red
Cross on the 13th of
August 19141.

Figure 1.
Lady Helen Munro
Ferguson, Founder of the
Australian Red Cross in
1914.

The main aim for The Red Cross was to tend to injured veterans returning home from
the front, coming back not quite the same way they left. These women would provide
soldiers with shelter, food and clothing2. Their time would be sacrificed to look after and
attend to men unable to care for themselves. The Red Cross also aided in the raising of
funds to be spent on both the Australian Forces and Empire Forces. Through charity

Redcross.org.au, 'Red Cross Commemorates ANZAC Legacy | Australian Red Cross' (2014)

<http://www.redcross.org.au/red-cross-commemorates-anzac-legacy.aspx> accessed 15
October 2015.
2

Alison Alexander, A Wealth Of Women: The Extraordinary Experiences Of Ordinary Australian

Women From 1788 To Today (Duffy & Snellgrove 2001), p. 115

concerts the organisation is also responsible for raising money that would be put
towards the not only ill and wounded soldiers returned from war but also those who,
while overseas fighting, found themselves prisoners of war3.

The Many Unknown Sock Knitters.

Figure 2.
Grace Cossington Smith, Oil on
Canvas, The Sock Knitter, 1915

Grace Cossington Smiths

portrait of her own sister
Madge symbolises a
mundane task assumed by
many women during this
time. She was to knit socks that would be transported to soldiers fighting in the war.
While a outwardly small gesture, this voluntary art acts to represents the efforts
undertaken by women wanting to do their part for the war, no matter how small or
seemingly insignificant. Care packages would be made and sent overseas to awaiting
soldiers, tiresome dull work behind each, completed by a woman hoping that her small
contribution would provide assistance in some way.

Awm.gov.au, 'The Australian Red Cross In Two World Wars | Australian War Memorial'

<https://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/redcross/redcross_bothwars/?query=red+cross+WW
1> accessed 15 October 2015.

After the conclusion of the war, women hoped their efforts would be noted and
honoured. However the reality was quite different than expected. The sacrificed time of
women volunteering, the countless packages sent and thousands of veterans cared for
was ignored and overlooked as returning diggers were celebrated and esteemed4.
Women were pushed to observe on the sidelines, their own sacrifices dimmed by the
light of male domination.

A WOMANS WORK
A Spike in Female Involvement
The commencement of World War 1 made it possible for women, at the time confined to
domestic roles in the home, to branch out and experience other areas of the workforce.
With a scarce number of men now remaining in the country, some half a million
withdrawing from their daily occupations to take arms on the battlefields overseas,
certain roles would have to be filled by the remaining women. When we are presented
with statistics such as those reported below, and focus on the data presented between
the years of 1911 and 1921, a noticeable increase of women entering into various
sectors of the work force becomes salient. For example the number of female labourers
spikes from 4,039 to 10,379 over this period of time. However despite rising numbers of
females entering into the workforce, a number that inevitably ceased to change would
be wages paid to women. The wages of a woman it would seem were to remain much
lower than those of men and boys in comparable job5. During the war period, womens
labours would be exploited and go unappreciated.
4

Bruce Scates, 'The Unknown Sock Knitter: Voluntary Work, Emotional Labour, Bereavement

And The Great War' [2001] Labour History, p. 44

5

Marilyn Lake and Farley Kelly, Doubletime, Women In Victoria, 150 Years (Penguin Books 1985),

p. 269

Figure 3.
Leonard Broom and F. Lancaster Jones, Opportunity and Advancement in Australia, pp 125-8

And while the female presence in the workforce did increase, it cannot be denied that a
vast opportunity was limited. Despite women entering into labour, farming and rural
positions, a vast majority of women could only branch out into what was already
considered womens work. These roles included the manufacturing of clothing, as well
as in areas such as food, printing and clerical-related positions6. With the declaration of
war came the installation of clothing factories; their purpose being to provide clothing
to soldiers away at war.

Brigid Andersen, 'Timeline: The Women's Movement' (ABC News, 2012)

<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-08/timeline3a-the-women27s-movement/3873294>
accessed 15 October 2015.

Figure 4.
South Melbourne, Vic, 1918, Machine Room in The Commonwealth Clothing Factory.

Disregarded Factory Cogs

And so despite strong female efforts to become more invested in work related roles in
Australia, as well as positions directly aiding the war effort, their attempts would be
almost futile. Finally with the closing of the war, women would see themselves quickly
released from many of the work related positions that they have maintained in an
attempt to make way for men returning home from the front line7. Women were to be
pushed back into their domestic based roles in the home, excluded from positions that
had been only briefly opened up to them with the tragedy that was The Great War.

Kate Adie, Fighting On The Home Front (Hodder & Stoughton 2013), p. 301

However while their efforts and sacrifices would at the time go unappreciated, in the
years that would follow, the female contribution to the war effort, as well as the building
of the countrys strong sense of national identity, would finally be celebrated. The
outbreak of war, and sudden dwindling numbers of able men, allowed to an extent a
number of women to break through the previous gender barriers that had been once
restricted them. And as Kate Adie notes in her novel, as the historical growth of women
has been slowly noted and praised over the years, as well as their heavy contributions
during the period of The Great War recognised, it is now understood that the war
couldnt have been won without them8.

GIVE UP YOUR SONS

And finally the most significant sacrifice that would be made by women during The First
World War would be one that may have seen them saying goodbye to loved ones
forever. With the declaration of war came the plea to mothers; send off your husbands
and sons to the war effort so that they may protect the country and its growing sense of
nationhood.

Kate Adie, Fighting On The Home Front (Hodder & Stoughton 2013), p. 302

Figure 5.
The Age (Melbourne), Woman and Her
Home 1915

The article Woman and Her

Home was released in
Melbournes newspaper The Age
in 1915. It acts as a cry to
women to give up loved ones to the war effort9. The piece holds a belief widely accepted
by the Australian population at the time of the outbreak, and that is that the only
acceptable sacrifice that a woman could make, was in connection to a man. A womans
role during the time of the war was to support it and do so silently. The underestimating
of female capabilities is clear through articles such as the one mentioned above. It was
not expected of women to assume political roles, nor work related positions that had
once been filled by men. They charitable work was admired and to an extent valued, but
more then anything what the Australian nation wanted from a woman, was her
husband, her brother and her sons. Her own individual capabilities were neither asked
for nor needed in the eyes of the male dominated Australian government.

CONCLUSION

The Age (Melbourne), 'Woman And Her Home' (1915)

<http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/printArticlePdf/155003796/3?print=n> accessed 15 October 2015.

Through our analysis of female participation to war efforts during the period of The
Great War, we are greeted with a rich history of a both brave and determined group of
individuals, unwavering in their attempts to do their part for the nation. These women,
though not recognised for such truths, would act as active participants in Australias
construction of a national identity. Their upholding and sustaining of the Australian
nation in a time that large members of its population were overseas fighting, was
crucial. However following the conclusion of the war they remained overlooked and
ignored for their indispensible maintaining of society in the wake of the war.

The significant voluntary work undertaken by many, as well as the establishment of

organisations such as the Red Cross by Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, would not receive
its deserved recognition. Rather then revaluate gender roles the end of the war saw
women thrust out of previously male-occupied positions to make way for returning
veterans. Pushed back into the home and the domestic life, womens outstanding
contribution to the war was quickly forgotten. While women persevered in the hope of
acquiring a position in society as an equal match to the then believed superior males,
they would find themselves constantly pulled back by the restriction that was gender.
Their emotional and physical pains would not compare to those of the men fighting on
the front lines and so they were to remain irrelevant and would not hold significant
weight.

Women are extremely significant in the countrys building of a national identity and the
events of The First World War act only to cement this truth further. Through their
substantial sacrifices as well as the determination exhibited women would prove
themselves to be the strong equals to their male counterparts.

10

Primary Sources
1. Broom L, Jones F and Zubrzycki J, Opportunity And Attainment In Australia
(Stanford University Press 1977)
2. Darge Photographic Company, 'South Melbourne, Vic, Machine Room In The
Commonewealth Clothing Factory, Where Rows Of Women Worked Sit At
Sewing Machines' <https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/DAX2294/> accessed
15 October 2015
3. Cossington Smith G, 'The Sock Knitter, 1915'
4. The Age (Melbourne), 'Woman And Her Home' (1915)
<http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/printArticlePdf/155003796/3?print=n>
accessed 15 October 2015
5. Cubbin N, 'Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, Founder Of The Australian Red Cross In
1914' <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/australian-red-cross-at100-days-after-wwi-began-one-melburnian-founded-this-aussieinstitution/story-fni0fit3-1227037563402> accessed 15 October 2015

Secondary Sources
1. Adie K, Fighting On The Home Front (Hodder & Stoughton 2013)
2. Alexander A, A Wealth Of Women: The Extraordinary Experiences Of Ordinary
Australian Women From 1788 To Today (Duffy & Snellgrove 2001)
3. Andersen B, 'Timeline: The Women's Movement' (ABC News, 2012)
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-08/timeline3a-the-women27smovement/3873294> accessed 15 October 2015
4. Awm.gov.au, 'The Australian Red Cross In Two World Wars | Australian War
Memorial'

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<https://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/redcross/redcross_bothwars/?query
=red+cross+WW1> accessed 15 October 2015
5. Lake M and Kelly F, Doubletime, Women In Victoria, 150 Years (Penguin Books
1985)
6. Redcross.org.au, 'Red Cross Commemorates ANZAC Legacy | Australian Red
Cross' (2014) <http://www.redcross.org.au/red-cross-commemorates-anzaclegacy.aspx> accessed 15 October 2015
7. Scates B, 'The Unknown Sock Knitter: Voluntary Work, Emotional Labour,
Bereavement And The Great War' [2001] Labour History

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