Australian Women During Ww2 Essay

424 Words2 Pages

This essay is about how Women’s role has changed during World War II. Women were encouraged by the government to enlist in the Army as nurses or as workers since most men were overseas and this created new opportunities for women. In this essay we’ll discuss about three events, women’s participation in military services, salary increase and why nurses were permitted overseas.
Australian women had many responsibilities during World War 2. The needs of the armed forces, the war economy and the deployment of men overseas created new jobs and opportunities for women. Before World War 2, they were not permitted to enlist in the military services, most of them were working in factories, shops or family businesses. From late 1940, Australian women were permitted and encouraged to enlist in the military services. Australian Women’s Army Service (A.W.A.S.) established the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force, Army and Navy forces. Lorna Byrne who used to be a member of the Australian Women’s Army Services (A.W.A.S.) said that women lived and worked under the same conditions as men. By the end of the war, 24,000 women were enlisted in the …show more content…

Women were still not permitted to travel overseas, the exception to this was the nurses who served in most of the areas that troops were sent and they lived and worked under the same conditions as them. At first, the AANS was the only woman’s service. The Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service was formed in 1940, and the Royal Australian Navy Nursing Service in 1942. But the AANS remained by far the largest and also made up the bulk of those who served overseas. Over five thousand Australian nurses served in variety locations, including the Middle East, The Mediterranean, Britain, Asia, the Pacific and