Nichola The full entry is: We are the Government's army, We girls of the M.I.D, We cannot fight, we cannot work, What earthy use are we? And when we go into the office The governors all say Mien Gott! Mien Gott! what a jolly fine lot Are the girls of M.I.D. signed "Marmalade" M.I.D. 8.8.17 >From a war album courtesy R & K Pykett Peter On 17 Feb 2013, at 10:06, Nickie Johnson wrote: > >> " In my WW1 research I have come across reference to the following ditty >> dated 8/8/17: >> We are the Government's army >> We girls of the M.I.D. (and it goes one with humour) >> > What were the girls of the MID?? Have Googled and failed! > I am trying to find out about the role of women in WW1 >> Peter " >> > Any chance of a bit more of the ditty. It might help? You've got me > intrigued! > > Nicola > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DERBYSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

How about Military Intelligence Directorate/Division ? In WW1 they took on many young ladies for a number of jobs in the registry, mail interception, etc. I think they used to have a revue each year. However, the ditty is a bit self-derogatory! Pete in France -----Original Message----- From: Peter Patilla Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 2:24 PM To: Nickie Johnson ; derbysgen@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [DBY] Girls of the M.I.D. Nichola The full entry is: We are the Government's army, We girls of the M.I.D, We cannot fight, we cannot work, What earthy use are we? And when we go into the office The governors all say Mien Gott! Mien Gott! what a jolly fine lot Are the girls of M.I.D. signed "Marmalade" M.I.D. 8.8.17 >From a war album courtesy R & K Pykett Peter On 17 Feb 2013, at 10:06, Nickie Johnson wrote: > >> " In my WW1 research I have come across reference to the following ditty >> dated 8/8/17: >> We are the Government's army >> We girls of the M.I.D. (and it goes one with humour) >> > What were the girls of the MID?? Have Googled and failed! > I am trying to find out about the role of women in WW1 >> Peter " >> > Any chance of a bit more of the ditty. It might help? You've got me > intrigued! > > Nicola > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DERBYSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DERBYSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I think I agree with Peter Lee, it could well be the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) - especially signing Marmalade, like a codename. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorate_of_Military_Intelligence They may have turned it into MID to rhyme better with the fourth line! The Americans did have a department MID (Military Intelligence Divison) in WW1. Nicola ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Patilla" <ppatilla@me.com> To: "Nickie Johnson" <nickie@barnsoft.co.uk>; <derbysgen@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 1:24 PM Subject: Re: [DBY] Girls of the M.I.D. > Nichola > The full entry is: > > We are the Government's army, > We girls of the M.I.D, > We cannot fight, we cannot work, > What earthy use are we? > And when we go into the office > The governors all say > Mien Gott! Mien Gott! what a jolly fine lot > Are the girls of M.I.D. > > signed "Marmalade" M.I.D. 8.8.17 > >>From a war album courtesy R & K Pykett > > Peter > > On 17 Feb 2013, at 10:06, Nickie Johnson wrote: > >> >>> " In my WW1 research I have come across reference to the following >>> ditty >>> dated 8/8/17: >>> We are the Government's army >>> We girls of the M.I.D. (and it goes one with humour) >>> >> What were the girls of the MID?? Have Googled and failed! >> I am trying to find out about the role of women in WW1 >>> Peter " >>> >> Any chance of a bit more of the ditty. It might help? You've got me >> intrigued! >> >> Nicola >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> DERBYSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DERBYSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hi Peter and Nicola This sounds remarkably like one of the songs from "Oh What a Lovely War", with the words adapted and the swearing removed. Barbara At 13:24 17/02/2013, you wrote: >Nichola >The full entry is: > >We are the Government's army, >We girls of the M.I.D, >We cannot fight, we cannot work, >What earthy use are we? >And when we go into the office >The governors all say >Mien Gott! Mien Gott! what a jolly fine lot >Are the girls of M.I.D. > >signed "Marmalade" M.I.D. 8.8.17 > > >From a war album courtesy R & K Pykett > >Peter > >On 17 Feb 2013, at 10:06, Nickie Johnson wrote: > > > > >> " In my WW1 research I have come across reference to the following ditty > >> dated 8/8/17: > >> We are the Government's army > >> We girls of the M.I.D. (and it goes one with humour) > >> > > What were the girls of the MID?? Have Googled and failed! > > I am trying to find out about the role of women in WW1 > >> Peter " > >> > > Any chance of a bit more of the ditty. It might help? You've got me > > intrigued! > > > > Nicola