Military Archives - Page 40 of 41

Solør shield-maiden

A Viking burial site was found in Solør, Norway in the year 1900. It is dated to the 10th century and contained the remains of a young woman, 18 – 20 years old and no more than 1.55 metres high. as befitting a warrior, she was buried with a two-edged sword, an axe, a spear, five arrowheads, a shield, the skeleton of a horse with bridle and other tools. In 2019, British scientists used the skeleton, which is preserved in Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History, to create a facial reconstruction of what she would have looked like. The remains showed that she had suffered a head injury consistent with a sword wound; the skull was found to have a dent in it serious enough to have damaged the bone.

Rusla

Viking lore has long indicated that not all warriors were men. One 10th-century Irish text tells of Inghen Ruaidh (“Red Girl”), a female warrior who led a Viking fleet to Ireland. Numerous Viking sagas, such as the 13th-century Saga of the Volsungs, recount stories of skjaldmö (“shield-maidens”) fighting alongside male warriors. According to Saxo, Rusla was the daughter of a 5th or 6th century king of Telemark called Rieg, and sister of Tesandus (Thrond). Rusla formed a pirate fleet to attack Danish ships as revenge for removing her brother from his throne. Rusla was always accompanied by another woman (some sources identify her as Rusla’s sister) Stikla, who was her second-in-command in all raids. Stikla turned to piracy to avoid marriage, and her name is the origin of the Norwegian city Stiklestad (as recorded in the 13th century Gesta Danorum, or “The History of the Danes,” by Saxo Grammaticus; Stikla would have settled in the area some time after Rusla and Stikla’s participation in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.).
Rusla indiscriminately attacked ships and towns along the coasts of Iceland, Denmark and the British Isles. During a battle arrising from a Danish king tricking her brother out of his throne, she sank Tesandus’ ship. Although she saved his life, this loss caused Tesandus to seek revenge on his sister. Tesandus pursued her fleet on ships of his own and eventually captured his sister Rusla, grabbing her by the braids while his crew killed her with blows from rowing oars.
Her nickname comes from the Gaelic “Ingean Ruagh”, and she had a reputation for being bloodthirsty and taking no prisoners. Irish documents also note Rusla and Stickla’s participation in the Battle of Clontarf. They were some of the mercenaries hired by the Vikings who fought against Brian Boru. Rusla went down in history as the most cruel of all warrior Norse women.

Andrée Borrel

Andrée Raymonde Borrel was a French woman who fought in the French Resistance and worked as an agent for Britain’s clandestine Special Operations Executive during World War II. The purpose of SOE carried out espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance against the Axis powers (particularly Nazi Germany) in occupied Europe. SOE agents worked with resistance groups, supplying them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from Britain.
On 24 September 1942, Borrel (code name “Denise”) and Lise de Baissac (code name “Odile”) became the first female SOE agents to be parachuted into occupied France. Borrel was a member of the SOE’s Prosper circuit, appointed second in command of the circuit in the spring of 1943. Her work included the creation of circuits in Paris and northern France, sabotage, weapons training, and supervising weapons drops. In June 1943, she was arrested by the Gestapo and subsequently executed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.

Queen Lozikeyi Dlodlo

Lozikeyi was a senior queen of the Ndebele nation until 1893. She was known for being outspoken, and for her defiance of the white settlers – who described her as a “dangerous and intriguing woman” – in what would become Rhodesia. When her husband disappeared in 1893, she served for a time as de facto regent of the kingdom. She is credited with keeping the nation stable following not only her husband’s disappearance, but also their 1893 Matebele war with The British South Africa Company.
In 1896, along with her twin brother, Queen Lozikeyi led the resistance against colonial rule and land theft. Referred to as Imfazo or The War of the Red Axe (Impi Yehlok’elibomvu), this was the catalyst to what is commonly known as the First Chimurenga war. Queen Lozikeyi had wisely stored ammunition that had not been used by King Lobengula; the Imbizo regiment were able to use this ammunition against the Cecil Rhodes’ forces. The predominantly Ndebele Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) referred to her as the Foremother of ZIPRA; in a show of honour and for good fortune, ZIPRA forces buried two bullets at her grave years after her death.
By the end of that year, British forces and the Ndebele army had reached a stalemate. Queen Lozikeyi led peace negotiations in the Matobo mountains, resulting in amnesty and a ceasefire, though the Ndebele people had already lost their best land and control.
She remained defiant until her death in 1919 after she succumbed to influenza.
Author Yvonne Vera once referred to her as a “conspicuous and commanding figure. A big, bold and beautiful woman of ample proportions and clearly the leading spirit among the Ndebele queens. With quick intelligence and ready wit, she was also remarkable among Ndebele women.”
Near Nkosikazi in Bubi District is a school for which she campaigned and which she opened; it still serves students. She was the subject of a 2013 biography, Lozikeyi Dlodlo, Queen of the Ndebele by Marieke Faber Clarke and Pathisa Nyathi.

Constance Babington Smith

Constance Babington Smith MBE FRSL was a British journalist and writer. Having worked for The Aeroplane magazine before World War II, her knowledge of aircraft led her to the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She served with the Central Interpretation Unit (CIU) at RAF Medmenham, Buckinghamshire, earning the rank of Flight Officer.
Working on interpretating aerial reconnaissance photographs, Constance was credited with the discovery of the V1 flying bomb at Peenemunde, Germany.
In 1945 she was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). After VE-Day (Victory in Europe) on 8 May 1945, Constance was attached to U.S. Air Force Intelligence in Washington, D.C. to continue workingon photographic interpretation, this time for the Pacific theatre. In 1946, she was awarded her the U.S.’s Legion of Merit.

Dr Agnes Elizabeth Lloyd Bennett

Dr Agnes Elizabeth Lloyd Bennett OBE was a New Zealand doctor. She served as the Chief Medical Officer of a medical unit during World War I and was later awarded an O.B.E. for her services in improving the health of women and children.

“Texas Tonk”

A Tonkawa woman called “Texas Tonk” served as a U.S. Army scout in 1872; she rode out with soldiers from Fort Griffin and was later found dead at King’s Creek off the Brazos River.

6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

The only African-American Women’s Army Corps unit to serve overseas during World War II

“Ardala”

From BBC – “The story of female gladiators is largely unknown. Contemporary Roman writers, to whom we owe much of our historic knowledge, did not approve of women fighting in the arena. But ironically their outbursts against women gladiators give us indirect proof of their existence.
Based on hard historic evidence, we recreate the life of a fictional Roman gladiatrix we call Ardala. Through her dramatic journey, we discover how these young women survived desperate conditions, why so many were ready to die for the sake of public entertainment and the skills they needed to fight and survive in the arena.”

“Harry Fitzallen”

US Civil War soldier – According to the Cincinnati Daily Press, a police officer “arrested a female yesterday who was dressed in a soldier’s uniform.” This woman, known as Harry Fitzallen stood before a judge who “let her go on promise to don her proper habiliments.”