Dear Sir. - Our small club is called the "As You Were" and originated many years ago amongst three of us who were close friends and all in one way or another short of a limb or limbs. None of us was actually sensitive of our shortcomings, but we were not of a nature to openly display our incomplete bodies as some of those in similar circumstances undoubtedly are.
We did our best in public to appear as normal "fully equipped" human beings and it was understood between us that this should always be so.
Naturally we had amongst our friends several girls minus limbs and it was from the desire of the three of us to appear natural and avoid being unusual that the idea of the club came. It is only of small membership, and the name "As You Were" conveys our effort to appear, all the times, in spite of our various lack of limbs, as normal. We strive to appear in public as we were before the loss of arms or legs - or both.
The club has no subscription and no fixed meeting place. We meet officially four times a year at one of the member's houses. Membership is confined to girls who have lost either an arm or a leg above either wrist or ankle, and who are in agreement with our ideals, which may be summed up in the phrase: "As you were with the aid of artificial limbs".
Our rules are few and simple: Members must at all the time (except in the privacy of their home) wear artificial limbs to disguise their loss and no member may attend a meeting without both arms and legs - real or false; no tucked-up sleeves or empty skirts are allowed.
Naturally peg-legs are forbidden, as they offer no disguise merely advertisement for missing legs. Nor are crutches permitted for the same reason.
In this instance we make allowance for a girl who has lost both legs. She is allowed to come on crutches and an artificial leg. Sticks for the legless members are the only aids allowed.
We continually vie with each other in making our artificial limbs do the work of real ones, but there is no doubt that those minus a leg fare much better in this than those minus an arm. This latter loss is far more difficult to overcome than the former.
Our badge, designed by an artistic member, is artificial limbs in the shape of a swastika, the thigh or shoulder part to the centre, and the four limbs comprised of two legs and two arms.
Amongst our members are completely legless and also completely armless girls, besides those who have lost one leg or one arm, and two members who have lost an arm and a leg.
We are not a melancholy lot of limbless girls, for we are young and always take great pride in our skill - achieved not without pain and great discomfort in some cases - to use our "dummy" legs and arms to the best advantage.
Yours truly,
Hon. Sec.