One of the most interesting things about my current research on women at sea in waritime is finding out how similar and different the situation was in other countries. At the big international maritime history conference in June, I was fascinated to hear from a German colleague. Christine Keitsch. She said:
1. German women worked as stokers (the very demanding job of shovelling coal to fuel the ships' engines) in WW1
2. Although in WW2 the German equivalent of Wrens were not allowed to sail, Hitler allowed one woman to be a dee-sea Merchant Navy captain: Captain Anneliese Teitz. There were also women on coastal vessels.
Christine Keitsch runs the German Women and the Sea Network, Frauen zur See. www.frauen-zur-see.de
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