Women in warfare and the military (1900–45)

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This timeline of women in warfare and the military (1900–45) deals with the role of women in the military around the world from 1900 through 1945. By the end of the 19th century, women in some countries were starting to serve in limited roles in various branches of the military. The two major events in this time period were World War I and World War II. Please see Women in World War I and Women in World War II for more information.

For articles specifically pertaining to the United States, see: Timeline of women in war in the United States, Pre-1945

Timeline of women in warfare from 1900 until 1945 worldwide

1900s

1900: Yaa Asantewaa, the queen mother of the Ejisu, leads the Ashanti rebellion (also known as the War of the Golden Stool) against the British in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana).
1904–07: Herero warrior women fight alongside men against the Germans during the Herero and Namaqua Wars in German South-West Africa (modern Namibia).

1910s

1910–20: Mexican revolution. Soldaderas (female soldiers) participated heavily.^[1]
1912: Rayna Kasabova is the first woman in history to participate in a military flight, flying as an observer on combat missions during the Balkan Wars. She carries out a number of sorties, including dropping propaganda materials and bombs on Ottoman positions during the siege of Adrianople.
1919–22: Greco-Turkish War (1919–22). Halide Edip Adıvar was granted the ranks of first corporal and then sergeant in the nationalist army. She traveled to the fronts, worked in the headquarters of İsmet Pasha, Commander of the Western Front and wrote her impressions of the scorched earth policy of the invading Greek army and the Greek atrocities in Western Anatolia in her book "The Turkish Ordeal".

World War I

Australia: More than 3,000 Australian civilian nurses volunteer for active service.^[2]
Britain: The British form the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1917; the Corps is renamed the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1918. Members of this corps serve as clerical staff, cooks and medical personnel. It is disbanded in September 1921. Also in 1917, the British form the Women's Royal Naval Service as a branch of the Royal Navy. Members of this corps serve as clerks, cooks, electricians and air mechanics. The British disband the unit in 1919.
Canada: Over 2,800 women serve in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during the war. Women also receive training in small arms, first aid and vehicle maintenance in anticipation of being used as home guards.^[3]
New Zealand: Nurses in the New Zealand Army Nursing Service serve on hospital ships and in hospitals at the front in France.^[4]
Romania: During the 1916 battle in the Jiu Valley, Ecaterina Teodoroiu transfers from the Romanian Army's all-female nurse corps to the Reconnaissance Corps. She is taken prisoner while serving as a scout, but escapes after killing several German soldiers. In November she is wounded and hospitalized, but returns to the front; she is decorated, promoted to Sublocotenent (second lieutenant) and given the command of a 25-man platoon. For her valor she is awarded the Military Virtue Medal, First Class. On September 3, 1917 (August 22 Old Style) she is killed in the Battle of Mărăşeşti (in Vrancea County) after being hit in the chest by German machine-gun fire. According to some accounts, her last words before dying were "Forward, men, I'm still with you!"
Russia: Russia fields 15 formations of female battalions for several months in 1917; two (the 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death and the Perm Battalion) are deployed to the front. By the end of the year, all battalions are dissolved.^[5]
United States: The United States Navy formally accepts women nurses into the Nurse Corps. The first twenty women are known collectively as the Sacred Twenty.

1920s

1920: During the Turkish War of Independence, Kara Fatma and her group conducts operations against British, Armenian, French, Italian and Greek soldiers, especially targeting those who rape young girls. Şerife Bacı participated in transport of ammunition needed in the Greco-Turkish War.
1924: Lottorna, the Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Service, is founded.

1930s

See Women in World War II for information specific to World War II

1936: During the Spanish Civil War, women militia members known as milicianas fight on the front lines with men (primarily on the Republican side).
1937: During the Dersim uprising, Sabiha Gökçen (the first female aviator in Turkey) carries out sorties in operations against the guerrillas.
1939: The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) of Britain, disbanded after World War One, is re-founded.

^[6]

1940s