Prisoners of War, Female

Joan of Arc

Despite being denied the right to serve in their respective militaries, women worldwide have historically found ways to aid the nation's war efforts, often risking capture, imprisonment, even death. One of the most poignant examples in history is Joan of Arc, an illiterate French peasant teenager who successfully led French male troops in battles against England to win some decisive victories for France in the 100 Year War. At 19, she was captured by the Burgundians in 1431, imprisoned, sold to the British, and ultimately burned at the stake on May 30, 1431, for being a religious heretic.

Confederacy and Union Spies

During the American Civil War of 1860–65, espionage became women's preferred weapon of service choice. Spying for the Confederacy as well as the Union forces did not come without risks. Dr. Mary Walker, the only female Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, was imprisoned in 1864 for four months by the Confederacy. Another female Union spy, Pauline Cushman, barely risked being hanged by the Confederacy after being found guilty of espionage. She was rescued by Union troops. For the Confederates, 20-year-old Confederate spy Nancy Hart was briefly imprisoned and managed to escape from her jailers. Twice imprisoned by Union forces, Washington, D.C., socialite Rose O'Neal Greenhow proved so formidable a Confederate that she earned personal praise from Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

World War II

World War II was the first conflict in which American military women were captured and imprisoned by enemy forces. On December 9, 1941, two days after the infamous Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese captured five American Navy nurses on Guam and imprisoned them in Japan. In 1942, 83 U.S. Army and Navy nurses were captured in the Philippines and held prisoner for three years in the infamous Japanese Los Banos Internment Camp. The German forces imprisoned Lt. Reba Whittle, a member of the Army's Nursing Corp., who was wounded during a thwarted aeromedical evacuation mission. While in the camp, she continued her nurse's duties, taking care of other POWS. She received the Purple Heart and the Air Medal, but it took years for the United States to formally grant her POW status. Although there are no precise numbers, French and other European women who were a part of the famed Resistance Movement also were imprisoned by the Germans. Some were executed.

...