Women may serve on navy ships, join the artillery and fly as pilots. But they cannot join front-line infantry regiments or the Royal Marines, drive tanks or serve on submarines.

The 16,000 women in Britain's armed forces constitute about 8 percent of military personnel, but women account for 13 percent of new recruits.

Women who become pregnant are no longer required to leave the service. Some barracks have mixed-sex accommodations, and the army is considering letting unmarried couples share living quarters.

The government also has expressed support for allowing women in front-line combat. Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon has said the burden of proof is on opponents to prove that women would compromise combat effectiveness.

Winning the support of senior commanders could prove difficult. The departing Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Sir Charles Guthrie, warned in a farewell lecture Monday against "the perils in going slavishly down the route to political correctness."

"We must ensure that nothing, I repeat nothing, damages the combat effectiveness of the British armed forces," he said.

Germany admitted women to combat units for the first time last month, after the European Court ruled that German legislation restricting women from the armed forces violated European Union laws against sex discrimination.

Canada, Denmark, Norway and Israel also allow women to play some front-line combat roles.

Physical trials of mixed-gender platoons -- the first step toward integrating the front line -- were held in Britain last fall. For now, the results are secret.

"It's not just a simple fact of physical capability," Ministry of Defense spokeswoman Sarah Hayward said Tuesday. "The tests are also looking at sociological aspects. In the thick of battle, men will stop and try to help injured women rather than trampling over their bodies as may be required. That could be an argument for single-gender regiments in the front line."

There is evidence that opinion in the ranks is changing. The army magazine, The Soldier, receives a stream of correspondence about women in combat, an increasing amount of it positive.

"If they want to do it, are up to the job and don't hinder the guys, I could not care less," Warrant Officer Charlie Ellis told the magazine.

"At the end of the day, that's what I joined up for," said Lance Bombardier Donna Welch. "I don't want to be stuck in an office."

None of this matters to 20-year-old Winterton, a physical training instructor with the Royal Logistics Corps who joined the army at 16. Facing court-martial or expulsion from the army, she says she wants to leave the service to become a model.

"If I get de-ranked or even sent to prison or kicked out, it will still have been worth it," The Sun quoted her as saying.

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