On This Day, 31 December 1917

Birmingham Mail

Monday 31 December 1917

WOMEN ABSENTEE

FIRST CASE IN BIRMINGHAM

Before the Stipendiary (Lord Ilkeston) at Birmingham today, Alice Evelyn Basford (22), 46, Wellington Road, Hanley (Staffs.), was charged with absenting herself from the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

This was the first case of the kind heard in Birmingham, and it was stated by Miss Eastgate, the Unit Administrator, that defendant enrolled on December 10 for duty at Saltley College, and absented herself on the 15th. She would have been called up for special work in a camp.

The woman’s excuse was that her husband, a soldier, had written to say that he objected to his wife joining the W.A.A.C. There was no special rule that applied to soldier’s wives.

In answer to the Stipendiary, Basford said she “did not like the place.”

Fining the woman 40s. or 21 days, the Stipendiary said: “You cannot get rid of your habilities like this.”

The woman declined to ask for time to pay, stating that she preferred to serve the imprisonment.