American women played important roles during World War II, both at home and in uniform. As the men fought abroad, women on the Home Front worked in defense plants and volunteered for war-related organizations, in addition to managing their households.

Between 1917 and 1919, over 8 million chapter women along with many Junior Red Cross members produced over 370 million relief articles for the Allied armed forces and civilians in Europe.

Despite the equal rank, the Army paid the nurses around half what the male officers received. Nurses’ wages were so low that they often received financial support from their families while they were away. Lieutenant Harold Williams was wounded at Peronne in September 1918.

More than 3,000 Australian civilian nurses volunteered for active service during the First World War. While enabling direct participation in the war effort, nursing also provided opportunities for independence and travel, sometimes with the hope of being closer to loved ones serving overseas.

Nurses worked closer to the front lines than they ever had before. Within the “chain of evacuation” established by the Army Medical Department during the war, nurses served under fire in field hospitals and evacuation hospitals, on hospital trains and hospital ships, and as flight nurses on medical transport planes.

Sixteen nurses

The Battle of Okinawa

Women played a significant role in the Civil War. They served in a variety of capacities, as trained professional nurses giving direct medical care, as hospital administrators, or as attendants offering comfort. Although the exact number is not known, between 5,000 and 10,000 women offered their services.

Although the inherently clandestine nature of the activity makes an accurate count impossible, conservative estimates of female soldiers in the Civil War puts the number somewhere between 400 and 750.

Military records reveal that women fought—and died—in all the major battles of the Civil War, participating in clashes in Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Vicksburg, among many others. Most women soldiers not only evaded discovery, but also served with distinction.