Swiss Army Women's Services

History

The Beginning

Before the idea of a Women’s Auxiliary Service came about, the Swiss Women's Federation and the Federation of Swiss Women's Organisations had, in the early 1900s, advocated for compulsory national service for women in the armed forces, so as to be on the same playing field as men, who were already part of Switzerland’s Militia Model. It should, however, be noted that Switzerland is a heavily traditional country seated in firmly conservative, unwavering values and the sheer notion of a woman serving in the army at that time was unthinkable, almost as much as a woman wearing trousers.

In 1903, this was about to change, though, as women were allowed to join the revered Red Cross organisation of Switzerland. It is unknown how many women in fact volunteered to serve in the Red Cross during this time, but in 1914 basic housekeeping roles were opened up in the army to look after soldiers’ barracks at the advent of the First World War, and, later on with the outbreak of Spanish Flu in 1918, in military hospitals. The women were not issued uniforms, however, outside of the typical nurse dresses of the era and no photos dating of this period are known to exist.

At about the same time as this gradual opening of roles, a woman came forth in prominence who arguably had just as much of an impact as General Henri Guisan would have later on in the country’s history, despite lacking military credentials of her own.

Founder of the Soldatenstube

Else Züblin-Spiller was born on November 1st 1881 to a ‘modest' - if not impoverished - family in the district of Seen, Winterthur. Her father, a hardworking mechanic working for the Sulzer works, died from tuberculosis when she was at a young age, and this event would prompt her to be ambitious, to say the least.

At the age of 23, she would begin work for a local printing house, later rising through her career to become the editor of the press service of the Salvation Army, whose values of temperance would later prompt her to campaign for the reform of the Swiss Army itself. 

Soldiers of the Swiss Army during the First World War had few options for catering that didn’t involve walking into a Gasthaus[1] and getting completely hammered on poor quality sausages and beer, and then later tearing up the street in a stupor only described by some as a spider attempting to knit a web at speed.  In 1914, Else would found the Schweizer Verband Soldatenwohl [Swiss Association for Soldiers' Welfare] as a non-profit organisation firstly to provide healthy and affordable food to soldiers, but even more so to combat the consumption of alcohol, which both Else and the Salvation Army were against.

These 700 or so Soldatenstuben [Soldier's Rooms] would spring into existence up and down the country essentially acting as the Swiss equivalent of the British NAAFI canteens. The SVS would later also employ injured and sick soldiers to help assist their rehabilitation and also to spread their word to all ranks of army society. The SVS (now known as SV Group) still provides catering for factory staff today.

So, the woman who founded a leading chain of Soldiers’ Cafes, many of which were still in full use during the Cold War - long after her passing - was clearly a force to be reckoned with. It was with this force, as it turned out, that she would be campaigning successfully for the Swiss Feminist movement in the 1930s, heading the Third Women’s Congress and the Swiss Exhibition of Womens’ Work (SAFFA), and becoming the Editor of the Swiss Women’s Magazine in 1939, as well as campaigning for employees rights everywhere in between.

However, in 1939, if you had been paying attention, Switzerland was about to face a rather large predicament coming right at them from all sides.

The Second Small Disagreement

General Henri Guisan had a predicament. The Swiss Federal Assembly, having noticed a brewing militaristic storm in Europe owing to Hitler’s rearming and land-grabbing, knew the target would be firmly on them next. Brushing the dust off the rank of General, rarely used outside of situations of extreme national emergencies (in this case, war), the Assembly bestowed this rarely-used but highly esteemed rank to then-Lieutenant General Henri Guisan, Corps Commander of Field Army Corps 1 (FAK1).

Guisan would immediately face disagreement with the civilian government; who were largely all for understated and supposedly risk-free neutrality, whereas Guisan wanted a full-scale invasion prevention system (this would later take the form of the National Redoubt). He knew he had to get all the men he could on deck.

This proved an issue. Switzerland is a small country, with not many people now and even fewer back then. Pulling most of the able-bodied men out of their jobs into the Army, presumably directly on the front line, would completely ruin the whole defensive effort in the first place if there were no ‘rear line,’ as it were, to keep the supply chain running, keep the beds clean, keep the pigeons flying, etc. This left only one option: let women in the army take up the slack whilst the men keep the defences going.

With the assistance of women's’ rights activists, Else Züblin-Spiller prominently taking the helm, the Swiss Women’s Auxiliary Services was founded in September 1939 and officially incorporated by the territorial services in January 27th 1940 as the Frauenhilfsdienst [Women's Auxiliary Service], or FHD for short. 6 days later, on February 2nd, Henri Guisan published guidelines for the organisation: not only covering menial tasks already undertaken by women at that time (Soldiers’ Rooms, Laundry), but medical services, air observation, communications, transport, field post, kitchens, and the highly-revered carrier pigeon service. Women could also serve on a voluntary basis in the passiver Luftschutz [Air Raid Protection]. Every woman that signed up would free up a man to guard the country from attack.

By the end of 1940, 18,000 women were deployed, increasing to 23,000 in 1941 and dropping to 17,000 in May 1945. At least 3,000 women were deployed at any given time on a rotating basis. Knowing they could serve their country meaningfully for the first time led to such high numbers, as well as may fleeing the rigidity of social norms enforced during the era. Guisan would later step down from his position as General in 1945, his purpose fulfilled. Switzerland was not invaded, and he was lauded as a national hero. Else Züblin-Spiller would largely go forgotten, aside from a commemorative plaque and street name in Zurich.

However, with a suddenly new kind of society, where women would fight alongside men in one way or another, things did not settle well with much of the leadership of the Army. Women were often harassed and mocked in their roles, with heavy restrictions on physical appearance. Unlike the western armies, which largely turned a blind-eye (and often used it for propaganda gain), FHD women were not allowed to wear makeup, including lipstick and powder. A woman could be dismissed within four days for any reason, whereas this would never have applied to men. Numbers steadily fell in 1945 not because of Germany losing the war heavily, but rather the harshness of the conditions faced by recruits.[2] . The FHD would be regarded as beneath the men and not as equals, and this would continue in some way or another until significant improvements were made in the mid 1980s.

With World War 2 having drawn to a close, the argument of women's rights[3] and whether or not they had a significant commitment to the war effort led to many protests and debates.

Some considered that the commitment was simply just ordinary patriotism and did not mean women should be allowed to vote. The idea of this was proven (and brace yourself, this is pretty awful), that “women didn't deserve gratitude for their involvement in the war effort because they were the complement (or auxiliary) of man, who we should be thanking for” as quoted by Rudolph Briner, part of the federal commission of the army in the late 1940s. This argument would be at the very centre of the FHD’s continued existence until women were granted the vote (federally, at least) in 1971.

Unpleasant stuff, but has to be mentioned, because a lot of this sentiment towards women and sentiment held by women would ultimately shape the FHD’s entire structure and equipment as time progressed.

Cold Days

The threat of war continued long after the Second World War had even concluded, although now it came from the East. Paranoid (and rightfully so) of being invaded by Warsaw Pact forces and the Soviet Union itself as an easy shortcut into the rest of Europe, Switzerland further pursued their tried-and-proven deterrence doctrine of the National Redoubt. That meant, of course, lacing the whole country with hidden bunkers and explosives and digging lots of holes into the side of mountains. With this heightened activity, the FHD would be transferred to the leadership of the Gruppe für Generalstabdienste [General Staff Services Group], who then had the power to mobilise thousands of women if needed in an emergency. Numbers would never return to the levels seen during the World War, with a peak of 2,600 women in 1989.

The sheer lack of active numbers of personnel did not mean complete stagnation, however. The Red Cross services, having been merged with the FHD during the war, were again separated, although both branches would continue to use largely the same uniforms, with some minor differences.

Those enlisted to the services could apply for discharge after marriage and/or pregnancy or after 90 days of service where they would then be assigned to the reserves. The FHD was never made compulsory, unlike the Army itself which was and still is based entirely on conscription.

The total list of roles the FHD had were as follows:

• Warndienst [Warning Service] - Early Warning Service for Incoming Attacks.

• Fliegerbeobachtungs-und Meldedienst [Aircraft Observation and Reporting Service] - Akin to the UK’s ROC.

• Übermittlungsdienst [Transmission Service] - Operating Telephone Exchanges and Radios.

• Administrativerdienst [Administrative Service] - Filing paperwork and typing out mobilisation letters for example.

• Feldpostdienst [Field Post Service] - Delivering parcels and letters for soldiers.

• Brieftaubendienst [Carrier Pigeon Service] - Looking after the messenger pigeons.

• Motorfahrer-Sanitatsdienst [Motor Driver Medical Service] - Driving ambulances. Also included a sub-section for other drivers such as staff cars and radio vans.

• Veterinardienst [Veterinary Service] - Looking after various animals, predominantly horses.

• Materialdienst [Material Service] - Repairs to uniforms and equipment.

• Küchendienst [Catering Service] - Working in the vast kitchens supplying the forces.

• Fürsogedienst [Welfare Service] - Looking after soldiers’ families and children.

• Soldatenstube [Soldiers' Rooms] - Staffing the cafes used by the soldiers in their free-time.

• Rotkreuzdienst [Red Cross Service] - General medical services for injured personnel.

1981-1986 Reforms (The MFD)

With the inclusion of Gender Equality in the Federal Constitution in 1981, the FHD would slowly but surely re-brand itself as less of an ‘auxiliary’ service and more of simply a section within the army itself. The uniforms changed slightly, and in 1986 the Frauenhilfsdienst, or FHD, would be rebranded into the Militärischen Frauendienst [Military Women's Service], or MFD. Identical ranks to the army would be introduced, as beforehand the highest rank an FHD recruit could obtain were only in the guise of Functional Levels from 1 to 5. Women began to wear camouflage field uniforms - TAZ 83 - for the first time

It is worth noting, however, that still to this point, women were not usually armed. Women could however possess firearms and attend shooting clubs (which many did), but would hardly ever be seen carrying them while on active service in the army, and in most cases were forbidden to do so as there was no reason to.

It was not until 1991 that for protection purposes only, women could voluntarily be armed with Pistole 75s (better known as the SIG P 220), but with the phasing out of TAZ 83 for the more modern TAZ 90, the MFD would be re-branded yet again.

1991 Reforms - the FDA

The new name for the MFD, was simply Departement für Frauen in der Armee [Women in the Army Department]. Known by name only, the FDA would use mixed schools and units and would simply exist as a referral office, as the uniforms and roles themselves were now fully incorporated, with women and men both wearing TAZ 90. Women would later be armed fully in 1995 if training in frontline roles, and the FDA name would be broken up by the advent of the Armee XXI reforms from 2003 through to 2005, with women being allowed to serve in the Swiss Contingent in Kosovo (KFOR-Swisscoy).

[1] The Swiss equivalent to a British pub.

[2] One former Swiss militiamen recounted to the author that the FHD was nicknamed the Festungs-Hurendienst [Fortress Whores Service], which - while mildly amusing - is disappointingly representative of the derision with which female troops were viewed by their male counterparts.

[3] Women's rights, it should be noted, were extremely lacking in Switzerland at the time. Women only received the right to vote in Federal elections in 1971, and this was not fully extended at the Cantonal level until 1990. Those who deigned to enter the workforce, or largely do anything more than raise children and keep house, were socially shunned. 

- Kerry