World War II Restrictions

Check into records of the WACs, WAVs, WAMs (I'm missing one) and find out where units were stationed in relation to the front lines. You might not have to do the trickery. I know underage kids managed to enlist. Puma

WAAFs would be the other one.

If I'm not mistaken, you had to take a physical, so it might be hard to get past that bit!

If it's just a matter of having a woman on or near the front line...nurses, or, Special Ops, there were a few WAAFs who worked in France with the resistance.

Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes has a number of real stories of women disguising themselves as men and fighting in various wars - don't have my copy handy but I do recall a true story of a twin girl serving in her brother's place in the 17th century. If you're talking about her switching out with him, AFTER he has enlisted - that might work. It will depend on the unit, what they are doing that will make it more or less difficult to get away with. Marching along and needing to take a leak, can be a dead give away for instance.

If by front line unit, you mean combat, then no, she'd never make it there in the conventional manner (basic training to deployment). There's the intake physical, plus living with other soldiers, showering together, etc.

There are a number of ways that she could end up on the front lines: pilot shot down, nurse, press officer, intelligence agent, member of the resistance.

If you tell us what nationality you're considering, we could provide more ideas.

Are you thinking that the boy dies and the girl takes his place?

If you want the woman to be in a combat unit, you have to think through a few things, especially if you want her to skip basic.

The woman has to be able to carry to 30 to 60 pound pack for hours on end and be proficient with the gun(s) assigned. Plus, there's the voice issue and mother nature as well.

Oh please. She could drive to the front line if she had a uniform and training in the use of rifles. Women were near a lot of front lines as civilians. There was constant mass confusion with people separated from units. I could see her fighting a battle or skirmish, but as WriteKnight mentioned taking care of business would be difficult, plus her mannerisms could give her away--such as how she smoked. How long were you planning to leave her there?

There was a women in the Northern Army during the civil-war...they did not know she was a women.
Many women died in combat area's of World War two. Many women in Europe fought (guns in had) in the underground.
There are many true stories that are not public as yet...The best air combat flyers in WW2 were colored...that did not come for many years.
Find women who where in the war..talk to them. It would be a great book.

Domenic

BAY said:

Oh please. She could drive to the front line if she had a uniform and training in the use of rifles. Women were near a lot of front lines as civilians. There was constant mass confusion with people separated from units. I could see her fighting a battle or skirmish, but as WriteKnight mentioned taking care of business would be difficult, plus her mannerisms could give her away--such as how she smoked. How long were you planning to leave her there?

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If the sister wants to replace the brother and join an actual unit, as opposed to randomly fighting, it's not THAT easy. The substitution would have to be temporally and geographically specific.

If she's French, there's a limited window in France between the time of mobilization and defeat. Same in Belgium.

If she's British, she'd have to make the through the intake for the BEF. Maybe she's in France already, but the British didn't make much progress inland, plus there are German lines to consider. After Dunkirk, she'd be fighting in North Africa or Italy or sent to Asia. That would require passing on a close-quartered troop ship. After the D-Day invasion, it would be easier. If she's American, again she'd have to deal with basic training, the troop ship problem, and geography.

Civilian travel to the war zones was very restricted. You didn't go on holiday to Europe during the war. If she's a nurse or press corps, she could get close to the front lines in either place. The confusion of battle would allow her to join a unit temporarily. I can't see how she could take her brother's place at that point, since he'd have bonded with men in the unit.
There's also dog tags to consider. She'd need her brother's.

Yes, the sister's location is important. She couldn't walk into a camp and board the plane for the Normandy invasion, but she could be a reporter, a nurse, and expat American living around a place like Normandy, she could be with Red Cross, or a nun-lots of options. Civilians were often trapped around every battlefield. And from what I could tell, anyone wanting to go to a front line would be allowed to pass with little scrutiny as long as they wore a uniform, correctly, knew the passwords, knew the name of their platoon. There was constant movement in and out of the front-the old timers didn't want to know the newbie names because they changed so much. IMO it would take a great set up idea, but it's possible, if her brother feeds her specific information like nicknames etc.

But, I can't see here there for a long time.

AnonymousWriter said:

Thanks for all your replies. There seems to be a divide in opinions right now...

Just wondering, if she managed to prove herself just as worthy as the other men on the front line then got found out as a woman, do you think they would allow her to stay?

I've been thinking about this concept for a long time and I am still pondering whether to carry it through for now. I'm only 15 so I'm not sure if I'd be ready to tackle the many problems that would arise. I shall investigate a little longer before I make my decision I think.

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There were regulations against it. She'd be patted on the head and sent home.

If...

you'd chosen the Napoleonic wars it would have been much easier to slip a woman in, but during the Second World War the troops were so supervised and organised, and people might even expect a woman to try, whereas in the 19thC it just wasn't conceivable that a woman would do such a thing.

The Russian's had a unit of female pilots who made night-time bombing and harassment attacks against the Germans. They flew PO-2 (renamed U-2 in 1944)biplanes. They were the 588th Night Bomber Regiment.

tallus83 said:

The Russian's had a unit of female pilots who made night-time bombing and harassment attacks against the Germans. They flew PO-2 (renamed U-2 in 1944)biplanes. They were the 588th Night Bomber Regiment.

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The Night Witches. And they had female fighter pilots who became aces. Lidia Litvak "the White Rose of Stalingrad" shot down 12-15 Germans before buying it herself, and Budanova is credited with 11.

Google Litvak's name and see Jan Safarik's site.

What is your goal here? As indicated, there are a number of ACTUAL occurences of women serving combat roles in WW2. (In both 'regular' armies IE Russian, and irregular 'underground' forces) Additionally, there are a number of actual occurences of women 'disguising' themselves as men and serving in combat in earlier wars of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries - but that became increasingly more difficult as the whole 'induction' and training process became more rigid and structured. (And as I pointed out, at least ONE incident of a twin passing herself off as her brother.)

Are you looking to write a story about WW2 in particular? Or women in combat? Or the tale of a twin swapping out places with her brother, and the era is of little or no consequence?

EDIT: And there are PLENTY of modern examples of women in combat in IRAQ, of course.

tallus83 said:

The Russian's had a unit of female pilots who made night-time bombing and harassment attacks against the Germans. They flew PO-2 (renamed U-2 in 1944)biplanes. They were the 588th Night Bomber Regiment.

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US had female pilots who flew planes from the states to England in a transporting capacity, then turn the planes over to the male pilots to fly them into combat.

You know what? I just realized you said you were 15. You should write the story any old way you please, and plausibility be danged.

I hope this won't come across as insulting because I am full of admiration for you and what you're trying to do, but there's an excellent chance this book will not be published. So you might as well have fun with it. Let your creativity run wild, and learn from the experience of writing it.