Figure 1.-- In Britain the pressing need for women to work in munitions prompted the government to provide some funds towards the cost of day nurseries, but only for munitions workers. By 1917 there were more than 100 day nurseries across the country. There were, however, no provision for women working in any other occpations. Most had to rely on friends and family to help care for their children while they were at work.Here we see a fresh air school (we think that means domething like a summer day camp) for workers children in the munitions township of Gretna Green.

World War I was the first total war involving civulians as never before. This time women were involved. Not yet in the actual fighting, but in every other phase of the War. This was also the first industrial war. And women were drawn into the industrial economy as never before. Women had played a role in Britain's wars before, but never in so mamy ways and so fully. At the onset of the War which was not expects to be very long, women performed traditiinal tasks which they had palyed in earlier wars. Standard domestic roles like sewing and knitting took began to take on military functions. Girls and women worked on handmade comforts for soldiers. The most common was knitting socks. The first asked of women who giving up their sons and loved ones. More were to follow. The War emergency created food and other shortages. Rationing had to be accepted. The German U-boats challenged the Royal Navy's ability to control the sea lanes and guaranteed food and raw material imports. Housewives had to make do with less and less, especially many of the most popular food--meat, butter, and sweets. Unlike other countries, however, the British never went hungary. Food was imported from Americaa and Canada. As more and more men were drawn into the fighting services and casualties mounted, women had to repace them in war factories, but as far as we know not the mines. Women played an especially imprtant role in the minitions industry. Many women had worked in the mills before the War, but they less commonly worked in industrial factories. This changed during the War. Women also replaced men in agricultural labor. It was vital that agricultural mproduction be maiantained. The Woman's Land Army became an iconic feature of Britain's War. Women also assumed not fightinng roles in the services as part of auxiliary corps a new aspect of warfare. Women were primarily involved on the home front, but they were not absent at the fighting fronts as nurses, ambulance drivers, clerks, and switchboard operators.

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[The 1840s][The 1900s][The 1930s][The 1940s][The 1950s]
[The 1960s][The 1970s][The 1980s]
[The 1990s]

Created: 10:38 PM 3/8/2019
Last updated: 10:38 PM 3/8/2019