January-February - Air Defense Artillery

36 THE COAST ARTILLERY JOlIRNAL ]all/lary-FebntllT)
been destroyed bv AA fire over Great Britain since the with the discipline, ,,,elfare and administration of their
start of the 'war. . detachment. Operationally the women are on the same
The value of the ,,'ork of the ground defenses is not footing as the men, entirely under the battery officers.
to be measured. of course. merelv bv the number of ma- Socially the experiment is undoubtedly a success. As
chines they hit. It is their busin'ess'to prevent the accu- regards the women's reactions in action I cannot do
rate bombing of vital objectives and to break up forma- better than quote the words of the commanding officer
tions of bombers to facilitate our fighters' work. of the first mixed battery to bring down a German
Bombers in formation can bring powerful fire to bear plane. "As an old soldier," he said, "if I were offered
upon attacking fighters, but if the formation can be the choice of commanding a mixed battery or a male
forced to open out and lose cohesion by antiaircraft fire battery, I say without hesitation that I would take the
the fighter finds his job greatly simplified. mixed battery. The girls cannot be beaten in action at
It should not be supposed, by the way, that the bat- their own duties.
tery personnel lead by any means a sedentary life. All "Beyond a little natural excitement, which only
the men are intensivelv trained on "commando" lines shows itself in rather humorous and quaint remarks,
to ensure the right fighting spirit. If circumstances they are quite as steady as the men."
brought the two sides into contact a surprised enemy Further opportunities for ATS girls to undertake the
would find himself at grips with the equivalent of first- invaluable operational role in antiaircraft units are
line infantrv. certain to occur. Every woman so employed not only
Perhaps 'the most striking development in the ex- plays a direct fighting part in the country's defense but
pansion of our ground defenses has been the embodi- frees a man for service overseas, where antiaircraft rement
of ATS personnel as combatant members of anti- inforcements are likelv to be needed more and more.
aircraft batteries. It would certainly be an incentive to women to vol-
This revolutionary innovation was started in a small unteer if they were allowed the title and badges of the
way some two years ago. Today there are a growing Royal Artillery. They thoroughly deserve them, and
number of mixed batteries. no considerations of tradition or ill-founded prejudice
The establishment of the one I visited latelv was should stand in the way of an innovation which would
roughly one-third men and two-thirds women wh~ carry be both popular and logical.
out all duties except the actual firing of the guns-al- \,Vomen are not at present employed in what could
though, in a hot action, they have before now helped be called a combatant role with searchlight batteries,
to keep the guns supplied with ammunition. although they may be in course of time. The search-
Normally the women's duties include driving and lights playa part of the highest importance. Old-fashmaintaining
transport, sentry duty (as a rule by day ioned apparatus of the early days of the war is fast disonly),
despatch riding, telephone operating, range find- appearing, and the batteries' primary role is now to coing
of every kind, and work in fire control positions. operate with night fighters.
Each mixed battery has three f\TS officers charged 1\'\ost of the searchlight personnel live and work in
Malta