Australian Women In World War 1 Essay

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Australian women in World War One (WWI) played a great role both behind the front lines as nurses and also on the home front, taking the place of many men who were at the war. Women at this time were split into four groups, 'Ordinary women ', 'working-class ', educated women ' and the 'married working-class ', all of which impacted the soldiers lives whether it be from house hold duties, to working as a nurse at the war. The Australian women involved themselves in WWI leaving a large impact on the soldiers lives. These women were very rarely recognised for their great contribution to war. The Australian women at the time of WWI were heavily involved in the workforce of Australia and tried their best to involve themselves in the war, …show more content…

According to Fiona MacDonald, an author who has published 300 books about social history, these women were part of the 'ordinary women ' who worked as domestic servants, which included, cooking, cleaning and caring for sick people and children (source D). The next class was known as the 'working-class ' which were women who laboured in factories, sweatshops or did piecework at home (source D). Above the 'working-class ' came the 'educated women ' who were commonly found working as shop assistants, office clerks, telephone operators or junior teachers (source D). And last were the 'married working-class ' women who usually did two or more jobs, such as, home-makers caring for their children, and going out to do work on wages as well. The women who worked back in Australia, also know as the homefront, were also involved in voluntary jobs as they were trying to help the people away at was as much ad they could. Sources A,E,F and B all corroborate on the fact that women joined voluntary organisations to help the soldiers at war. "Help the war effort by joining voluntary organisations including, Australian Red Cross, the Country Women 's Association, the Women 's Christian Temperance Union, the Australian