Milcey Zachary volunteered as a US Navy yeomanette in mid-April 1917 and became an assistant in the Office of the Scretary of the Navy. She attended meetings of the Naval Consulting Board, which evaluated inventions proposed for military use. After World War I, she was one of the few civilians kept on staff and on 1 July 1920, took on an administrative role for the Naval Research Laboratory, responsible for the department’s elaborate filing system, and for recruiting other women.
Æthelflæd was an Anglo-Saxon warrior queen in 9th and 10th century England, who fought to protect her land from Viking invasion.
Ilse (Intrator) Stanley was a German Jew who, working with a handful of people including Nazi Gestapo members of the Gestapo and other Jewish civilians, secured the release of 412 Jewish prisoners from Nazi concentration camps between 1936 and 1938, before the devastating events of Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938).
A legendary figure in West Africa, Yennenga has come to symbolise the epitome of the female warrior, a free and independent woman.
Vida Eliza Jowett OBE helped create the New Zealand’s civilian Women’s War Service Auxiliary in 1940. This led to the formation of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, to free up men for active service overseas or for essential industries. Jowett was appointed Chief Commander of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps in 1942.
She and her family also lived in Western Samoa during the devastating influenza epidemic that killed over 20 per cent of the population. After they returned to New Zealand in 1919, Jowett became involved in the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket). She helped establish the Eastbourne sub-branch in 1922 and later became its president; becoming president of the Wellington branch in 1935 and overseeing the work of local sub-branches. She also became a member of the dominion council.
In 1940 Jowett helped organise the Women’s War Service Auxiliary, a civilian organisation with official status to liaise between women’s organisations and government departments. It recruited women to work as drivers, radio operators and signallers and in welfare and clerical sections. Some WAACs trained for coastal and anti-aircraft defence work and were part of artillery units. Of the 5,000 women who served in the WAACs during the war, 920 were sent overseas; at least 10 died while serving overseas. Jowett was known for treating problems with understanding and tact, and was known to fight with the military authorities for the welfare and future of the WAACs, even threatening to resign.
After the war ended, an official report stated: ‘It is generally acknowledged that during the war, the WAAC proved its worth. Apart from their value in replacing men, it was found that in certain tasks, women were superior to men’. The WAACs were made a permanent part of the army in 1948, and became the New Zealand Women’s Army Corps.
In recognition of her work in the WAACs, Jowett was appointed an OBE in 1944. She resigned from her full-time appointment in 1947, but retained the honorary position of commandant in the Territorials until her retirement in 1953. In 1977, the WRAC was dissolved when women were integrated into the regular army; final parades were held across New Zealand, at which a message from Jowett was read out to all servicewomen.
Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac MBE was an agent of the United Kingdom’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) clandestine organization in France during World War II.
Joanna Nobilis Sombre began her career as a Nautch (dancing) girl in 1700s India, and eventually became the ruler of Sardhana, a small principality near Meerut.
When World War II began in 1939, the Women’s Royal Naval Service (New Zealand) was formed, becoming the Women’s Royal New Zealand Naval Service (WRNZNS) in 1942. Lorelle joined the Wrens’ first Auckland intake as a clerk–typist, as was rapidly promoted.
Considered by many to be the most successful pirate in history, Ching Shih led the Red Flag Fleet of 80,000 pirates and more than 1,800 ships, ruled the Chinese seas for two decades, and managed to retire happily – after extorting a very agreeable pension from the Chinese government.
Grace D. Banker served during World War I (1917–1918) as chief operator of mobile telephone communications for the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. She led 33 women telephone operators, popularly known as Hello Girls. From New York, they were assigned to travel to France to operate telephone switch boards at the war front in Paris, and at Chaumont, Haute-Marne. The women also operated the telephone switch boards at First Army headquarters at Ligny-en-Barrois and later during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. After returning to civilian life, Banker and her team members were treated as citizen volunteers and were not initially given recognition as members of the military. In 1919, Banker was honoured with the Distinguished Service Medal for her services with the First Army headquarters during the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives and received a commendation.