Talk:Elspeth Green

Military Medal

@Andrew Davidson: G'day, Andrew, interesting article -- thanks for your work on it. A quick query, though, does the cited source explicitly state that Henderson/Green was the first woman to receive the MM? If so, I think the source is incorrect. There were quite a few women who received the Military Medal much earlier, during World War I, in fact. For instance, Dorothie Feilding, Phoebe Chapple, and Violetta Thurstan (as a few examples). I would suggest potentially that Henderson may have been one of the first women to receive the medal during World War II, but not the first overall. Is there a way to clarify this in the article? Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 04:20, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

This source from the Australian War Memorial, discusses how the award was extended to women in June 1916: [1]. It also lists the eight Australian nurses who received the MM for their actions during World War I. According to this source (although possibly not an RS), there were around 54 to 55 British nurses who received the MM during World War I: [2]. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 04:40, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

• @AustralianRupert: The Biggin Hill museum says "In March 1941 she went with the other two WAAFs to Buckingham Palace to receive her medal. Unfortunately, there was public criticism for the award of what was perceived as a man’s medal, to women. Yet there also much pride at RAF Biggin Hill, as they were the first three women in Britain to receive this honour." But, as you say, this claim doesn't stand up without a lot more qualification as Lady Dorothie Feilding was clearly the first overall, as confirmed by The Gazette. I have amended the article accordingly.

The article was started at a Women in Red event and I now plan to take it to DYK. Claims of firsts are often problematic at DYK as they sometimes don't stand up, as in this case. Trust, but verify!

Andrew🐉(talk) 10:48, 18 December 2021 (UTC)