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Women in the War |
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Wartime ... everyone had to do their
bit. Women were especially important. Mabel, Gran, Aunt Harriet and Auntie Gladys all went
off to war ... in their own way. Click on their pictures to learn more.
In July 1939, I
volunteered to help on the farm. By 1943 there were 77,000 women working in the Land Army ... digging for victory we were.
Then there was a shortage of workers
in factories and the Government decided to stop
recruiting women into the Armed Forces. Instead, women could choose factory
work. I went to work in a tank factory. |
Mabel |
Gran
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They said that I was too old to
work so I joined the Women's Voluntary Service
(WVS). The WVS was the largest women's wartime service. By 1944 there were
over one million of us! We carried out so many different tasks, including helping
evacuees, driving ambulances, running canteens and rest centres, ran nurseries and so much
more. |
| Some women became Air Raid Wardens. I had to patrol the streets during an air raid report the
bomb damage. I had to make sure that all windows were blacked out during an air-raid, and
that people always carried their gas masks. The
W on my had meant 'Warden' ... PUT THAT LIGHT OUT!! Come and see the kind of sadness I had to face .... |
Aunt
Harriet |
Auntie Gladys |
Women were allowed to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) .We carried out duties
such as driving trucks, digging roads, filling sandbags and serving on searchlight and
anti-aircraft sites, although we were not allowed to take part in combat i.e. we could
work on a gun site except for firing the gun! As more men
had to be released to fight, more ATS members became
armourers, carpenters, electricians etc. We also performed as radar operators or as
radar plotters. |
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