Jane Bradley

1900–1918

Jane Bradley was born in Dublin to John Bradley, a general labourer and his wife, Jane, and was one of eight children. Her mother died when she was fifteen and, like many girls and women of the time, she entered domestic service. At some point she moved to London and it was there on 23 September 1918 that she joined Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC).

The British Government had been hesitant to harness women’s skills to support the war effort. However, in 1917 the War Office established the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps to take on non-combatant roles, such as clerks, cooks and waitresses, with a view to freeing up more men to fight on the front line. In April 1918, Queen Mary, the wife of King George V, agreed to be patron and the corps was renamed.

Below is an advert typical of those that were placed in newspapers to attract new recruits:

Five Questions to Women of To-day

Can you do Clerical Work?

Can you Cook?

Can you Wait at Table?

Can you do Domestic Work?

If not, are you willing to try?

These are the Questions

QUEEN MARY’S ARMY AUXILIARY CORPS

Is asking today 

St Helen’s Newspaper and Advertiser, 23 August 1918

Although the women were restricted in the roles they could play, their presence, particularly on the Western front, was invaluable. There are accounts of exhausted soldiers returning from the fighting worn out, tattered and unnerved from the onslaught they had suffered to be greeted by “calm, business-like girls” who gave instant help and comfort serving hot meals and cups of tea, and keeping spirits up by hosting dances. However, QMAAC also provided opportunities for women to escape from domestic roles and to learn skills including record-keeping, managing the mail system, stenography, and vehicle mechanics. By the time it was disbanded in 1921, over 57,000 women had served with QMAAC both at home and abroad.

Sadly, Jane Bradley didn’t get the opportunity to expand her horizons. She died at Earl’s Court of pneumonia on 2 November 1918, after only six weeks in the Army and a few days before the end of the War.