Guangxi Women's Battalion | |
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Active | 1938 |
Country | People's Republic of Chine |
The Guangxi Women's Battalion was a women's unit formed in 1938 in Guangxi, China. [1] It was one of several corps that were founded following an appeal by Soong Mei-ling for women to support the Sino-Japanese War effort in 1937. [2] [3] Similar units included: the Yunnan Women's Battlefield Service Unit, [4] Zhejiang Women's Guerrilla Band, [5] [6] Hunan War Service Corps, [7] and others.
In Guangxi, an initial appeal aimed to recruit 1200 students (both men and women), but over 18,000 initially signed up. [1] Of these 4,269 were selected for service, and of the women chosen, most trained as combat medics with the Fifth Route Army. [1] Reports on the size of the battalion vary from 130 students, [8] to 500, [9] to 800. [2] The battalion fought in southern China. [8]
According to anthropologist Elisabeth Croll, the Guangxi Women's Battalion was "the most famous of the girls' military units" in China. [7]
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