THE LADIES OF THE RED TRIANGLE
I have received Her Majesty's commands to convey
to you an expression of the Queen's sincere thanks
for the interesting information you have given
regarding the work which is being done by the
Young Men's Christian Association among the men of
the Army and Navy.
Her Majesty is much pleased with the specimens of
writing-papers and envelopes, and publications,
which you have sent for her acceptance.
Her Majesty feels sure that the useful work which
is being carried on by the Young Men's Christian
Association in so many different centres is highly
appreciated not only by the soldiers, but also by
the community.--HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.
[Illustration: Y.M.C.A. IN A RUINED PARISH HALL IN FLANDERS, JUNE, 1916]
BEFORE the war it was one of our stock sayings that the Y.M.C.A. was a
work 'for young men by young men,' and one must recognise the fact that
the man who is a _man_--virile, strong, athletic--is the one to whose
leadership men will most readily respond. But in the early days of the
war most of our young male workers joined up; whether we liked it or not
we had to get the help of ladies, and our more enterprising leaders felt
that after all there were some things in Y.M.C.A. hut work ladies could
do almost as well as men. Things have moved since then, and now we know
that much of the work can be done infinitely better by women. In many
cases women have been entrusted with the actual leadership of huts, and
have carried through the duties magnificently. The Red Triangle has
given the woman her niche in the Y.M.C.A., and for the great programme
that awaits us after the war her help will be indispensable. It has,
moreover, given the woman who had home claims an opportunity of doing
war work that really counts, in her spare time. The Queen and Queen
Alexandra have been graciously interested in the work of the ladies of
the Red Triangle, and many of the ladies of the Royal House have
rendered conspicuous personal service, amongst whom might be mentioned
H.R.H. Princess Christian, H.R.H. Princess Louise, H.R.H. Princess
Patricia of Connaught, and H.H. Princess Marie Louise, whilst H.H.
Princess Helena Victoria as Lady President has given time and strength
to the work without reserve, and we owe very much to her. In the camps,
ladies have given the home touch that means so much to the men--games,
music, decorations, and flowers have come within their domain; they have
managed the libraries, and have in most cases taken full responsibility
for the refreshment department. Their personal influence has been
invaluable. We remember visiting a camp somewhere in France. It seemed
to us the roughest camp we had ever seen. The leader told us of an
encounter he had with one of the worst of the men on the occasion of
his first visit to the place. He had just got his tent erected, and the
man chancing to see it asked what it was. When told that it was the
Y.M.C.A., he replied, 'You b---- men are just what we d---- men b----
well want,' and that was the language of the camp. Eighteen months later
we were there again and the camp was like another place, so great was
the change for the better. The C.O. told us he attributed that change
almost entirely to the ladies of the Red Triangle. It so happened that
one of the ladies committed an unpardonable military offence. She
returned to England two or three days before her permit expired. Later
on, application was made in the usual way for the renewal of her permit.
The General concerned, who is no longer in France, returned the
application with the words written across it over his initials--'Keep
this woman out.' The Base Commandant sent it in again having written on
it--'Talk about keeping this woman out, she is of more value to me than
truckloads of parsons and chaplains!' That was his way of putting it,
not ours. We have the greatest possible admiration for the work of the
chaplains at the Front. There is no finer body of men on active service
to-day, and it is a privilege we greatly esteem to be permitted to
co-operate with them and to be of some service to them in their great
work.
[Illustration: BAPAUME-CAMBRAI ROAD, WITH TREES ALL CUT DOWN BY THE
GERMANS]
The ladies have always been ready to share the risks with the men, and
there are quite a number who have made the supreme sacrifice, including
Miss Smallpage, killed by shrapnel in one of our munition huts in
England; Miss Betty Stevenson, killed in an air attack in France; Miss
Edith Howe, who died of cerebro-spinal meningitis; and Miss Lee, who
lost her life in a fire in one of the huts on Salisbury Plain.
In one of the great bases in France there is a small camp in which at
one time there were boys only. They were too young to fight, their job
day by day was the prosaic one of filling up petrol cans. One of these
little chaps had badly hurt his hand, and it seemed to him the natural
thing to go for sympathy and help to the lady of the Red Triangle. A
brief examination convinced her that the damage was serious, and she
bade him go to the doctor, whose tent was just across the way. Very
grudgingly he trudged across to the doctor, but a few minutes later
returned with the request that she would look at the damaged hand and
see if the doctor had attended to it properly. She replied that it would
never do to interfere with the doctor's work and, moreover, the doctor
had no doubt done it far better than she could have done. Five times the
lad came back with the request, 'O Missis! do look at my hand and see
if he's done it right.' The fifth time he brought with him as an ally
the Y.M.C.A. secretary in charge, who said, 'If I were you, Miss, I
would look at his hand. The little chap will never be happy until you
do.' Then she undid the bandages, looked at the dressing, and bandaging
it up again said, 'There, it's just as I told you; the doctor has done
it far better than I could; run away and be quite happy about it!' He
went away, but returned again a few minutes later, and that time his
eyes were full of tears as he cried, 'O Missis! I did think you'd have
kissed me when you saw how bad it was,' and, like the good woman she
was, she kissed him as his mother would have done. Let no one think
that's what the ladies of the Red Triangle usually do, for it's not, and
yet in that simple story you have the whole secret of the success of the
war work of the Y.M.C.A. Time, and time again, one has been through
every base camp in France, and has traversed the whole British line in
France and Flanders, and wherever one has gone one has found the men
yearning for sympathy and longing for home. Not that they want to return
home until this fight ends in victory, for out there they have learned
what war means; they see it robbed of its romance, and they are
determined to see it through; they fight that this war may end war.
With unfailing loyalty to the high aims of the Red Triangle and with
conspicuous ability ladies have served the Y.M.C.A., and through the
Association the men of His Majesty's Forces and the munition workers, in
all parts of the United Kingdom, in France, and in every part of the
Empire, and have won for themselves a permanent place in the movement,
whatever its future may be.