There have been some very famous female warriors
in history, such as Boudicca; who led a fierce resistance to Roman rule
in England, The Trung Sisters; who led an all-female army against
Chinese occupation of Vietnam in the 1st century AD, St Joan of Arc; who led the entire forces of France against the English at age 17 in the 15th
Century and Septima Zenobia; who ruled Syria from 250 to 275 AD and was
the scourge of Rome. Therefore, it seems strange that it took modern
armies so long to officially allow females to serve in combat alongside
their male counterparts. Nevertheless, women now play crucial roles in
the armed forces of many nations and here are ten interesting facts
about countries that recognize the value and velour of female soldiers.
1) The United States of America
Women have served in the US Military
since 1775 but their early roles consisted of support roles such as
nurses, seamstresses, cooks and cleaners; roles which were not included
amongst uniformed personnel until relatively recently ( in the 20th
Century). However, females now serve in 91% of US Army occupations and
account for 14% of the active Army. Furthermore, assignment policy
changes introduced in 2012 mean that a further 14 000 positions closer
to the frontline are now available to women.
2) The United Kingdom
There are over 187 000 people serving in
the British Armed Forces and around 17 and a half thousand of them are
women, with 3760 female officers. In 2008, around a fifth of the service
personnel in Afghanistan were female and many served in frontline
roles. However, women are not permitted to engage in roles which involve
close combat where the main purpose is to engage and kill the enemy.
Nevertheless, the guerrilla tactics of opposing forces in many modern
theatres of war dictate that no matter which roles women play, they are
often in extreme danger the moment they leave their base camps.
3) Russia
Women have fought alongside men in the
Soviet and Russian military forces in various conflicts and in 2002 100
000 women from a total number of almost one million serving Russian
combatants were female. In World War I, the Women’s Battalion of Death
recruited members between the ages of 13 and 25 and fought in the June
Offensive against German forces in 1917. In World War II, over 800 000
women fought in the Russian military, many of them in frontline roles as
snipers, aviators, machine gunners, tank drivers and medics. 200 000
Soviet women were decorated in the conflict, and 89 received The Hero of
the Soviet Union award; the highest military award available. Amongst
these recipients of the most coveted Soviet award was Maria Raskova; a
sublimely skilled and courageous aviator.
4) Germany
Women were first officially enlisted
into the Bundeswehr; the German Military, in 2001. Although only 244
women joined in the first year, there are now over 17 000 serving
females, and they account for around 9% of the entire German forces.
However, German women did serve in the military during World War II in
auxiliary units in the Navy, Air Force and Army.
5) Israel
Israel is the only nation on Earth which
has a mandatory military service requirement for women and females have
been a part of the Israeli Armed Forces since before the state was
officially founded. 33% of current Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are
female and 51% of officers. Furthermore, equality legislation introduced
in 2000 means that 92% of all roles are open to women and females can
now be found in around 70% of positions. In 2011, Orna Barbivai became
the first female Major-General of the IDF.
6) Sri Lanka
The Sri-Lanka Army Women’s Corp was
founded in 1979 and was originally an unarmed support unit formed to aid
the regular army. Thus, the roles of women in the corps included
nursing, clerical work, communications, mechanics, doctors and
technicians. However, after hostilities began in Sri Lanka in 1987,
members of the Corps were allowed to serve as Army Instructors and by
the last phase of the hostility female units were involved in direct
combat missions.
7) Sweden
The Lottorna is the Swedish Women’s
Voluntary Defence Service and is part of the Swedish Home Guard. It is
named after the fictitious heroine of a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg
and was founded in 1924. Women currently account for around 5% of
Sweden’s Armed Forces.
8) Poland
Women have officially served in the
Armed Forces of Poland since 1988 and can be found serving in Land
Forces, the Air Force and the Navy as well as other regular cadre corps
and have recently served in Iraq and Darfur. Although females only
account for around 1.5% of the current total Polish Armed Forces, there
are have traditionally been few restrictions on the roles which females
can fulfil. In World War II, Polish women made a massive contribution to
the war effort: taking combat and intelligence roles in the resistance
movement, where 50 000 females joined and 3000 lost their lives during
the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Meanwhile, 5000 women served in the regular
armed forces during that conflict.
9) Canada
Women first served with the Canadian
Military as nurses in 1885 and almost 3000 served in the Royal Canadian
Army Medical Corps where they also received paramilitary training in
case they were required for home guard duties. By the time of World War
II, 45 000 women were recruited for military roles other than nursing
and by the late 80s all military occupations were opened to females
except submarine roles, although these were also opened up in 2000.
Currently, 15 % of Canadian Armed Forces are female and 2% of combat
troops are women.
10) Libya- The Amazonian Guard
‘The Amazonian Guard’ was the name given
to Muhammar Gadaffi’s elite group of all-female bodyguards. Formed in
the early 1980s, Gadaffi reputedly preferred females for these dangerous
roles because he thought that potential Arab assassins would baulk at
the thought of firing upon women. Gadaffi usually travelled with a unit
of 15 of these guards, who were highly trained in firearms and martial
arts techniques and rather bizarrely, had to take a vow of chastity. In
1988 one member of the Amazonian Guards was killed whilst shielding the
former Libyan President from an assassination attempt.
