MISS CHRISTOBEL ELLIS
To face page [148]
On Miss Ellis’s return to England she found that the demand for trained motor-drivers and mechanics was fast outpacing the supply. Her own successful experience of motor work under the roughest conditions had taught her how well the services of women might be used to supplement men, especially in England, with the advantages of good roads and help in difficulties usually to be had close at hand. Miss Ellis discussed her ideas with Lady Londonderry, who had organised the Women’s Legion for war service, and as a result of their representations they were given permission to supply twenty women drivers as an experiment, to take up work under the War Office in May, 1916.
The great value of women’s employment in motor work lies in the fact that the men whom they are releasing are precisely the most valuable class of workers—namely, trained mechanics, of whom there is an all too limited supply, which can only be augmented by the slow process of training others. Much of the work which the women drivers are undertaking is work upon which highly skilled men were wasted; driving cars, for instance, for staff officers involves many empty hours simply spent in waiting. The women’s reception by the men whose work they are taking over has been generous in the extreme. No trouble has been spared to help the girls in every possible way, and to assist them to maintain the high standard of Army efficiency.
The girl drivers work long hours, for they have to be on duty by 8 a.m. and often do not put their cars away till late at night; but they stand the strain of the life wonderfully well, and in spite of the bitter cold of last winter there were few who dropped from the ranks.
It cannot, of course, be maintained that the women’s mechanical knowledge equals that of some of the men they are replacing, but the standard of care of their engines and cars increases with their experience, and their capacity and skill in driving are undoubted.
Besides motor-driving there are other branches of women’s work under the same department. There are corps of women despatch-riders—motor-bicyclists whose services are proving most valuable. Women are also taking over the charge of Army mechanical stores. This is responsible work which requires great accuracy, for if incorrect supplies are handed out, endless delay may be caused to the convoys. In the delicate and intricate work of assembling aeroplane engines, women also working under this department are proving more and more efficient. The numbers of women employed in this dilution of men’s labour will soon reach many thousands, and the way in which they have succeeded in overcoming considerable prejudice against their employment in the Army is in itself testimony to their efficiency.
To Miss Ellis belongs the recognition due to a woman who has been able to give personal proof of women’s capacity in a comparatively new field.
XXX
MADAME BRUNOT AND MISS MARION MOLE