Among my family's photographs is a picture of a beautiful young woman wearing a trim uniform. My great-aunt Vivian Crabtree was a US Marine during the Second World War. Like so many other women at the time, she was assigned an office job that was unglamorous but important.
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Last Thursday, Europe and the US marked the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, which turned the tide of the war against Nazi Germany. The commemorative events highlighted the sacrifices and courage of many people. Several new books have provided insights into the ways women helped to win the war, including “D-Day Girls” by Sarah Rose, “Resistance Women” by Jennifer Chiaverini, and “A Woman of No Importance” by Sonia Purnell.
Women played a vital role in many areas during the war. In the US and the UK, they were an essential part of the wartime workforce, building equipment, farming, driving cars and flying planes, and many other activities that were necessary while so many members of the typical workforce were away fighting. In London, women were known for their role in manning anti-aircraft guns and putting out fires following incendiary attacks.
In continental Europe, women had to find resourceful ways just to feed their families, escape combat zones, and avoid hostile Nazi forces. In Asia, women struggled to keep their families alive while under Japanese occupation or simply struggling with the shortages of food, medicine and other critical supplies.
Many women wore uniforms and served as drivers, couriers, nurses and in many other roles. They were an essential part of various militaries, even though they rarely saw combat. The Soviet military particularly came to rely on courageous women, including in combat positions as pilots, snipers and more.
Some of the most fascinating roles played by women in the war were serving in resistance networks. Throughout Europe, women resistance activists risked their lives to help rescue Allied pilots who were shot down, prisoners of war, Jews, and others fleeing the Nazis. They conducted sabotage operations, such as blowing up train lines and bridges. They produced and distributed anti-Nazi materials and collected intelligence. A few joined armed partisan groups. Jewish women participated in the uprisings in concentration camps and the Warsaw Ghetto, as well as other resistance work.
Rose's book focuses on a particularly interesting group of women who were selected by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) to parachute or fly into France in order to help organize the French Resistance and prepare for an eventual Allied invasion. They risked their lives through activities such as serving as couriers, operating radios, and gathering intelligence. One of the women that SOE sent behind enemy lines was Noor Inayat Khan, an early Muslim heroine of the war who was posthumously awarded the George Cross.
Chiaverini’s novel highlights the true story of American Mildred Harnack and other mostly German female members of the “Red Orchestra” resistance network inside Nazi Germany. Members of the group produced anti-Nazi pamphlets, helped people flee Germany, and provided intelligence to the US and the Soviet Union.