It must be remembered that women also played a huge role in the war effort.
This interesting poem is by war poet writer and journalist
Jessie Pope
1868-1941
War Girls
'There's the girl who clips your ticket for the train,
And the girl who speeds the lift from floor to floor,
There's the girl who does a milk-round in the rain,
And the girl who calls for orders at your door.
Strong, sensible, and fit,
They're out to show their grit,
And tackle jobs with energy and knack.
No longer caged and penned up,
They're going to keep their end up
'Til the khaki soldier boys come marching back.
There's the motor girl who drives a heavy van,
There's the butcher girl who brings your joint of meat,
There's the girl who calls 'All fares please!' like a man,
And the girl who whistles taxi's up the street.
Beneath each uniform
Beats a heart that's soft and warm,
Though of canny mother-wit they show no lack;
But a solemn statement this is,
They've no time for love and kisses
Till the khaki soldier boys come marching back.
Jessie Pope was born in Leicester and educated at the North London Collegiate School. As a journalist she was a regular contributor to Punch magazine, The Daily Express and The Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail, a newspaper which actively encouraged enlistment, handing out white feathers to those who did not take up the call of duty, regularly published Pope's war poetry.
Pope's poetry was in direct contrast to other war poets , particularly Sassoon and Owen who found her pro-war poetry distasteful. In 1917 , Wilfred Owen directed his poem, Dulce et Decorum Est at Pope and initially, dedicated the poem to "To Jessie Pope etc.", but then later changed this to "To a certain Poetess".
It would seem that Pope's pro war poetry was in direct contrast to the more notable war poets anti -war stance.
