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ELLEN ATKINS:Loading...
The First Woman To Fight In World War 2Loading...
Grace MacdonaldLoading...
Ellen Atkins had dreamed ever since she heard about World War 1 as a young child that one day she would be able to help fight in the next war.
When World War 2 started, Ellen was the right age, 22, and had the right experience to help out during World War 2. Sure, it wasn't odd for women to be involved with World War 2. Not odd, of course, if they were nurses. If a woman wanted to be involved with World War 2, they could only be a nurse. The fighting would be only for the men, was what the people hiring field hospital nurses for the war told her. She had been about to ask if she could get a chance to fight, but they cut her off. Ellen just didn't understand! Women were just as capable to fight in wars as men were, she had thought.
Her blood was still boiling over it all while she was in the hospital tent on her first day as a nurse, eyebrows furrowing as she observed the shelf of medicine.
"Hurry up over there!" moaned a wounded soldier named Philip Wentworth. "My leg won't get better with time, it will get better with medicine!"
"I'll be right there," Ellen muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. The hurt soldiers were seriously impatient and demanding. But, Ellen reminded herself, they are sick, hurt, and not feeling well, so they can't help it. Turning on a forced smile, she made her way to Philip with the bottle of medicine clutched tightly in her hand.
Once Philip was done with his medicine, he sank back onto the pillow of his cot, glancing at his injured leg as a flash of worry crept into his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Ellen asked softly, and just as quickly as the worry had come, the coldness engulfed Philip's eyes once again.
"Of course." he sniffed, holding his chin high. "I was just uncomfortable, as usual."
Ellen chose to ignore the rude comment, starting to move toward a man who had a patch over one of his eyes.
"Wait!" Philip stopped her, and Ellen turned around, sighing.
"What is it now?"
"What is that coat doing on the floor?" Philip frowned, pointing at a men's war jacket slumped against the floor in the corner of the tent.
Ellen shrugged. "I guess someone just left it there." she moved across the room, and was about to pick it up when she had a sudden thought. She couldn't fight in the war if she was a woman, but she could if she was a man! Maybe, just maybe, she could pretend to be a man, just to fight in the war? They needed more people, she knew that. More and more men were getting hurt every day, so why did it matter if she joined the effort? They should be grateful that they were getting another fighter!
"Why are you taking so long?" Philip demanded from his cot. "It doesn't take that long to pick up a coat!"
"I just got a crazy idea," Ellen murmured, a faraway look in her eyes. Then she began to tell him her idea.
At first Philip was sceptical about Ellen's idea. He wanted to know why she wanted to fight, why she wasn't happy with just being a nurse. Ellen told him everything: how she had always wanted to fight in a war to protect her country, how she was so excited when she was finally the age to join the effort but couldn't because she was a woman. She had begun to realize as she was telling him all of this that even if she protected her country, no one would know she did it. They would think he did it. But it was her only option, for now. And after a very long talk, Philip agreed to help keep her identity hidden.
It wasn't easy at first. Ellen and Philip kept the secret hidden for a while, but after a few months another soldier caught her with her hair down, not stuffed into her hat. Ellen got in big trouble, but she kept fighting for what was right, and finally, Ellen was the first woman to fight in the war.
When World War 2 started, Ellen was the right age, 22, and had the right experience to help out during World War 2. Sure, it wasn't odd for women to be involved with World War 2. Not odd, of course, if they were nurses. If a woman wanted to be involved with World War 2, they could only be a nurse. The fighting would be only for the men, was what the people hiring field hospital nurses for the war told her. She had been about to ask if she could get a chance to fight, but they cut her off. Ellen just didn't understand! Women were just as capable to fight in wars as men were, she had thought.
Her blood was still boiling over it all while she was in the hospital tent on her first day as a nurse, eyebrows furrowing as she observed the shelf of medicine.
"Hurry up over there!" moaned a wounded soldier named Philip Wentworth. "My leg won't get better with time, it will get better with medicine!"
"I'll be right there," Ellen muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. The hurt soldiers were seriously impatient and demanding. But, Ellen reminded herself, they are sick, hurt, and not feeling well, so they can't help it. Turning on a forced smile, she made her way to Philip with the bottle of medicine clutched tightly in her hand.
Once Philip was done with his medicine, he sank back onto the pillow of his cot, glancing at his injured leg as a flash of worry crept into his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Ellen asked softly, and just as quickly as the worry had come, the coldness engulfed Philip's eyes once again.
"Of course." he sniffed, holding his chin high. "I was just uncomfortable, as usual."
Ellen chose to ignore the rude comment, starting to move toward a man who had a patch over one of his eyes.
"Wait!" Philip stopped her, and Ellen turned around, sighing.
"What is it now?"
"What is that coat doing on the floor?" Philip frowned, pointing at a men's war jacket slumped against the floor in the corner of the tent.
Ellen shrugged. "I guess someone just left it there." she moved across the room, and was about to pick it up when she had a sudden thought. She couldn't fight in the war if she was a woman, but she could if she was a man! Maybe, just maybe, she could pretend to be a man, just to fight in the war? They needed more people, she knew that. More and more men were getting hurt every day, so why did it matter if she joined the effort? They should be grateful that they were getting another fighter!
"Why are you taking so long?" Philip demanded from his cot. "It doesn't take that long to pick up a coat!"
"I just got a crazy idea," Ellen murmured, a faraway look in her eyes. Then she began to tell him her idea.
At first Philip was sceptical about Ellen's idea. He wanted to know why she wanted to fight, why she wasn't happy with just being a nurse. Ellen told him everything: how she had always wanted to fight in a war to protect her country, how she was so excited when she was finally the age to join the effort but couldn't because she was a woman. She had begun to realize as she was telling him all of this that even if she protected her country, no one would know she did it. They would think he did it. But it was her only option, for now. And after a very long talk, Philip agreed to help keep her identity hidden.
It wasn't easy at first. Ellen and Philip kept the secret hidden for a while, but after a few months another soldier caught her with her hair down, not stuffed into her hat. Ellen got in big trouble, but she kept fighting for what was right, and finally, Ellen was the first woman to fight in the war.