Figure 1.--We see many images of children during World War I wearing soldier's uniforms. This commercial postcard focuses in on the uniforms women wore as they replaced men in the workforce. The Inter-Art Co. postcard show girls as a kind of cute take on the changes taking place, but of course the jobs were taken up by young women, We see a Land Girl, bus conductor, nurse, factory worker and mailwoman. Curiously not pictured are the three Army, Navy, and Air Force auxileries. The card was written by some one in Parisat the end of the War to someone else in France (1919). Click on the iage if you think you can translate it.

British women played a wide variety of roles in World War I. Women were drawn into factory work and played an especially important role in the munitions industry. Many women had worked in the mills before the War, but they less commonly worked in industrial factories. This changed during the War. There were social class issues. The volunteers for factory work were primarily young women from working-class families. The vast expenditure of munitions on the Western Front mean that ammunition factories were especially important. One sign of that was that day nurseries were opened for the workers in ammunition factories. Women also replaced men in agricultural labor. It was vital that agricultural production be maintained. given the U-boat threat. The Woman's Land Army became an iconic feature of Britain's War. Women also assumed non-combat 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, dispatch riders, clerks, and switchboard operators. One might get the impression that women stayed out of danger, but this is not necessarily true. Ambulance drivers and dispatch riders were at the front. Munitions work was very dangerous. this is of course because of the possibility of explosions. But even more dangerous was the exposure to toxic chemicals used to produce explosives. Munition workers became known as canaries, because their skin began turning yellow. There were serous health problems, not well recognized at the time.

Agricultural Work

Women also replaced men in agricultural labor. It was vital that agricultural production be maintained. given the U-boat threat. The Woman's Land Army became an iconic feature of Britain's War. To provide agriciltural labor, the Government established the Women's Land Army (WLA). Some tradition-minded farmers resisted the idea of using women farm hands. The Board of Trade dispsatched agricultural organizing officers to convince the farmers that the WLA girls and women, most from towns and cities, would be useful. They were genrally successful and about 260,000 WLA recruits were hard at work on Britain's farms (1917). The WLA is often considered a footnote of the War, but it was in fact of some importance. There was no comparable program in Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. And each of these countries experienced severe food shortages that in the end affected their ability to make war.

Public Services

We see women taking on public service roles such as delivering the mail and ticket taking on busses. We are not sure if there was a national goverment service coordinating this or if there was just a policy that municipalities adoopted as their younger nale employees volunteered or were conscriopted for military services.

Nurses

Women volunteered to be nurses whichwas their most valuable service role. This was a type of military service. More than 80,000 women enlisted to be burses, Thisincluded women who were already qualified nueses and omen without any nursung qualificatiions who had to be trained. There were different nursing services, including the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS), the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), and the Territorial Force Nursing Service.

Indusrtrial Factory Work

Military Auxileries

Women also assumed non-combat roles in the services as part of auxiliary corps -- a new aspect of warfare. Few women served in any kind of uniform before World War I. Some 80,000 women joined the services during the War. 【Bourke】 They served in non-cobat roles, primarily to release men for combat. 【Atwood, pp. 134–35.】 Women were primarily assigned to posts in Britain itself. But some were assigned overseas, mostly in France. While they mosly worked in relatively safe posdts behind the front lines, some served at or near the front lines. Some of the roles at or ner the front were nurses, ambulance drivers, dispatch riders, clerks, and switchboard operators. there were ayxileries for each of the three services. The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps was renamed Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). The WAAC was orgnizatiinally divided into four sections: cookery; mechanical; clerical and miscellaneous. Most of the women served in domestic postings, som 9,000 served in France. The other two auxileries were the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF). There were two organizations whuch actully trained women to use weapons in case of an enemy invasion. unlike world war II, this was never a real probability as the allies managed to hold the Germans in northern france, well away from the Channel ports. The two orgnizations were the Women's Emergency Corps which evolved into the he Women's Volunteer Reserve. 【Atwood, pp. 135.】

Sources

Atwood, Kathryn. Women Heroes of World War I Ch. 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics. (Chicago Review Press: 2014).

Bourke, Joanna. "Women and the military during World War One," BBC History (March 3, 2011).

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Created: 3:46 AM 10/2/2024
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