Women on the Frontlines during WWII

 

During World War II a lot of women filled the occupational roles that were held by men before they were shipped off to the war. For some women, they made just as great of a sacrifice for their countries by traveling to war zones to report on the events of the war, serving as nurses, and even repairing trucks, such as what Queen Elizabeth II did. Some defied odds by working as reporters on the frontlines even when it was illegal.

As it's written in the history books, it seems like a lot of women were not involved in covering the unfolding events of World War II, but it was actually a woman that first reported Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939. Clare Hollingworth, described as having acquired the "scoop of the century" and notifying The Telegraph back in the U.K., saw the invasion first hand. After WWII, she covered the bombing of the King David Hotel, being just around 300 yards from the site of the blast at the time of detonation. Up until she died she was always ready for her next assignment, having her passport and packed bag readily available to grab and go at a moment's notice.

The strength of women covering the war stands out the most considering their circumstances, most notably their ability to access the frontlines and interviews with military figures; despite some news organizations and countries banning them from doing so. Most of them did it purely for themselves, and the sake of womanhood, to prove that they too can be journalists, some doing it better than men. A lot of women working on the front lines of the war as reporters were compared to men soldiers. It was almost as if this was the military version of allowing women to serve on the frontlines. Obviously, reporters aren't engaging in combat, but they are close enough to the front lines where their lives are just as at risk as soldiers. 

Judith Mackrell wrote a book titled "The Correspondents: Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II" where she recounts the lives of six women reporters during WWII. In addition to profiling the notable Clare Hollingworth, she details Martha Gellhorn's story of stowing away on a Red Cross ship and arriving at a body scattered Normandy beach. Even fashion magazine Vogue covered the war sending photographer Lee Miller to capture the action. Virginia Cowles another fashion columnist sent information to the Hearst owned papers and Britain Sunday Times. And Hellen Fitzpatrick, with the Chicago Daily News, became the first women correspondent who was actually allowed to reside in the warzone under orders from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. And if wasn't for people like Miller the sights of the inside of the Dachau Nazi concentration camp would have never been revealed to the public. In fact, she suffered PTSD after having been there saying after her experience that she "could never get the stench of Dachau out of her nostrils." 

It is because of these six trailblazers in Mackrell's book that women have advanced and are the main sources on the frontlines of war zones like CNN's Clarissa Ward and ABC News' Martha Raddatz who are the lead reporters for their respective organization's international units. Not only are women lead reporters, but they are leading organizations like Rashida Jones, President of MSNBC. Just like other minority groups, it is exciting to see women advancing into leadership positions to prove that they can do an equal or greater job as men, and also de-stigmatize the notion that women aren't as mentally/physically tough as men.