Today is International Women’s Day and here at Casemate we’re celebrating by reminding ourselves of some of the most fascinating women in history who you might not have heard of. There are snipers, spies, distillers, sports pioneers and even somebody committed of treason!
Lyudmila Pavlichenko
“The Deadly Woman Sniper”
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was the most successful woman sniper in history, credited with 309 kills. She developed a reputation among the Germans on the Eastern Front and was nicknamed “Lady Death” by them.
The commitment of Soviet women to their country during World War II was unprecedented, both in terms of their sheer numbers and also in terms of their unique roles. More than 100,000 of them would join the regular army, or the partisans. Of all the jobs women were allowed to do during the war, one of the toughest and most unlikely was that of the sniper. Here is the incredible story of those who, before the war, were teachers or students, and through the will to defend, or avenge, their country and their families, became snipers.
Click on the cover for more information about the Soviet women snipers who helped defeat the Nazis
Elizabeth “Bessie” Williamson
“The Greatest Female Whisky Distiller”
Shortly after graduating University of Glasgow in 1934, Elizabeth “Bessie” Williamson began working as a temporary secretary at the Laphroaig Distillery on the Scottish island Islay. Williamson quickly found herself joining the boys in the tasting room, studying the distillation process, and winning them over with her knowledge of Scottish whisky.
After the owner of Laphroaig passed away, Williamson took over the prestigious company and became the American spokesperson for the entire Scotch whisky industry. Impressing clients and showing her passion as the Scotch Whisky Association’s trade ambassador, she soon gained fame within the industry, becoming known as the greatest female distiller.
Click on the cover to learn more about women whiskey pioneers
Effa Manley
“The Godmother of Baseball”
Never one to mince words, Effa Manley once wrote a letter to sportswriter Art Carter, saying that she hoped they could meet soon because “I would like to tell you a lot of things you should know about baseball.”
From 1936 to 1948, Manley ran the Negro league Newark Eagles that her husband, Abe, owned for roughly a decade. Because of her business acumen, commitment to her players, and larger-than-life personality, she would leave an indelible mark not only on baseball but also on American history.
Attending her first owners’meeting in 1937, Manley delivered an unflattering assessment of the league, prompting Pittsburgh Crawfords owner Gus Greenlee to tell Abe, “Keep your wife at home.” Abe, however, was not convinced, nor was Manley deterred. Like Greenlee, some players thought her too aggressive and inflexible. Others adored her. Regardless of their opinions, she dedicated herself to empowering them on and off the field. She meted out discipline, advice, and support in the form of raises, loans, job recommendations, and Christmas packages, and she even knocked heads with Branch Rickey, Bill Veeck, and Jackie Robinson.
Click on the cover to learn more about Effa Manley’s startling career
Marthe McKenna
“One of the Greatest First World War Spies”
Winston Churchill said of Marthe McKenna “She fulfilled in every respect the conditions which made the terrible profession of a spy dignified and honourable. Dwelling behind the German line within sound of cannon, she continually obtained and sent information of the highest importance to the British Intelligence Authorities.”
With her medical studies cut short by the 1914 German invasion, her house burned down and her father arrested for suspected‘sharpshooting’, it was perhaps unsurprising that the multi-lingual Marthe Mckenna (née Cnockaert, codename ‘Laura’) was recruited by British Intelligence. At the time she worked as a nurse tending the wounds of occupying soldiers, and as a waitress in her parents’ café in the Belgian border town of Roulers.
Her memoir ‘I Was a Spy!’ describes her time in the intelligence service with remarkable detail in an enthralling narrative.
To check out Marthe’s Memoir, click on the cover
Mildred “Axis Sally” Gillars
“The Voice which Tormented the Allies”
Women can shape history for the worse too. One of the most notorious Americans of the twentieth century was a failed Broadway actress turned radio announcer named Mildred Gillars (1900-1988), better known to American GIs as “Axis Sally.”
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Mildred had been living in Germany for five years. Hoping to marry, she chose to remain in the Nazi-run state even as the last Americans departed for home. In 1940, she was hired by the German overseas radio, where she evolved from a simple disc jockey and announcer to a master propagandist. Under the tutelage of her married lover, Max Otto Koischwitz, Gillars became the personification of Nazi propaganda to the American GI.
After broadcasting for Berlin up to the very end of the war, Gillars tried but failed to pose as a refugee, but was captured by US authorities. Her 1949 trial for treason captured the attention and raw emotion of a nation fresh from the horrors of the Second World War. Gillars’s twelve-year imprisonment and life on parole, including a stay in a convent, is a remarkable story of a woman who attempts to rebuild her life in the country she betrayed.
To read more about her fascinating life, click on the cover
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