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Amanda MasonWednesday 3 January 2018

The First World War brought manychanges in the lives of Britishwomen. It is oen represented ashaving had a wholly positive impact,opening up new opportunities in theworld of work and strengtheningtheir case for the right to vote.

The reality is more complex. Not all ofthe opportunities the war provided towomen were entirely positive or longlasting.

Here are 12 facts about womenduring the First World War which help

12 THINGSYOU DIDN'TKNOWABOUTWOMEN INTHE FIRSTWORLDWAR

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to illustrate the ways in whichwomen’s lives changed during thisperiod.

1. WOMEN WEREALREADYWORKING

Women in paid employment were nota new phenomenon in 1914. Theymade up a substantial part of theindustrial workforce even before theFirst World War, although they weremainly concentrated in textilemanufacture. Aer 1915, when theneed for shells intensified, womenwere brought into munitionsmanufacturing in large numbers. By1918 almost a million women wereemployed in some aspect of munitionswork.

2. WOMEN ON THEBEAT

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The first women police officers servedduring the First World War. One of themain responsibilities of the Women’sPatrols - as they were initially known -was to maintain discipline and monitorwomen’s behaviour around factoriesor hostels. They also carried outinspections of women to ensure thatthey did not take anything into thefactories which might causeexplosions. As is shown here, they alsopatrolled other public areas such asrailway stations, streets, parks andpublic houses.

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3. ALL ABOARDTHE TRANSPORTINDUSTRY

One of the areas of employmentwhere new opportunities opened upfor women was in transport. Womenbegan working as bus conductresses,ticket collectors, porters, carriagecleaners and bus drivers. During thewar the number of women working onthe railways rose from 9,000 to 50,000.While new jobs did become availableto women during wartime, many ofthese opportunities were closed tothem aer the war as servicemenreturned to their jobs.

4. THE NEED FOR

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CHILDCAREINCREASED

For women with children who wanted– or needed – to take on paid work,childcare could be a problem. Thepressing need for women to work inmunitions did prompt the governmentto provide some funds towards thecost of day nurseries for munitionsworkers, and by 1917 there were morethan 100 day nurseries across thecountry. However, there was noprovision for women working in anyother form of employment and mosthad to rely on friends and family tohelp care for their children while theywere at work.

5. WOMEN BRAVEDDANGEROUSWORKINGCONDITIONS

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Munitions work was relatively well paid- especially for women previouslyemployed in domestic service. But itwas oen unpleasant, dangerous andinvolved working long hours. Womenin large shell filling factories workedwith TNT. This poisonous explosivecould cause a potentially fatalcondition called toxic jaundice,indicated by the skin turning yellow.There were also several devastatingexplosions in which women workerswere killed. The aermath of one ofthe worst, at Chilwell, Nottinghamshireis shown in this photograph.

6. WOMENWANTED TO JOINUP…

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Pressure from women for their ownuniformed service to assist the wareffort began in August 1914. Aer aWar Office investigation which showedthat many jobs being done by soldiersin France could instead be done bywomen, the Women’s Army AuxiliaryCorps (WAAC) was established inDecember 1916. In April 1918, theWAAC was renamed Queen Mary’sArmy Auxiliary Corps. The Women’sRoyal Naval Service was formed inNovember 1917 and the Women’sRoyal Air Force was set up on 1 April1918. In total, over 100,000 womenjoined Britain’s armed forces duringthe war.

7. …AND SOME DIDTHEIR BIT'UNOFFICIALLY'

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Even before the formation of thewomen’s services, some pioneeringwomen made their own way to thefront to help the war effort. In 1914,when the War Office turned down anoffer of help from Scottish doctor ElsieInglis with the words, ‘My good lady, gohome and sit still’, she set up theScottish Women’s Hospitals on thefighting fronts. Inglis herself went toSerbia to treat the sick and wounded.

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This is a jacket worn by her during thewar.

8. WOMEN’SFOOTBALLBECAME POPULAR

Working together in large numbersopened up new leisure and recreationopportunities for women. Sport wasencouraged amongst female workersas it was thought to be good for theirhealth and general moral wellbeing.Many munitions factories developedtheir own ladies’ football teams suchas the one shown in this photograph.The most famous of these teams wereDick, Kerr's Ladies FC in Preston.Founded in 1917, their matches drewlarge crowds. They continued to enjoysuccess until women were bannedfrom playing in Football Leaguegrounds in 1921.

9. THE SUFFRAGEMOVEMENTFRACTURED

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Christabel Pankhurst (centre) and hermother Emmeline (le) founded theWomen’s Social and Political Union(WSPU) in Manchester in 1903. It usedmilitant campaigning to try to gainwomen the vote. Its members wereknown as suffragettes. During the war,Emmeline and Christabel led theWSPU in supporting the war effort. Bycontrast, Sylvia Pankhurst (right)opposed the war and in 1914 brokeaway from the WSPU.

10. ONLY THEOVER-30S WONTHE VOTE

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The Women’s Social and PoliticalUnion (WSPU) suspendedcampaigning for women’s suffrageduring the war. This recognised theneed to support the war effort, butalso that such support could ultimatelybenefit the campaign. This tacticappeared to pay off. In February 1918,the Representation of the People Actgave the vote to all men over 21 yearsof age and to women over 30.However it was another ten years laterbefore this was extended to womenover 21. In December 1919, Lady Astorbecame the first woman to take a seatin Parliament.

11. SINGLEDOMWENT ON THERISE

Over 750,000 British men died duringthe First World War - 9% of all Britishmen under the age of 45. At the time -and in subsequent years - it was felt

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that the losses amounted to a 'lostgeneration' of young men. During the1920s, newspaper headlines talked of'surplus' women who would never findhusbands. While many middle classwomen did remain unmarried due tothe lack of available men in therelatively narrow social sphere in whichthey moved, some women in thisperiod remained single by choice or byfinancial necessity. Professions such asteaching and medicine were openingup to women, but only if theyremained unmarried.

12. WORKCLOTHESAFFECTEDWOMEN’SFASHION

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Women serving in the auxiliary servicesor working in manufacturing, transportand on the land wore a range ofuniforms and clothes, sometimesincluding trousers. Although women’sfashions were already evolving by1914, the move to more practicalclothing during wartime undoubtedlyaccelerated the pace of change. Asillustrated on this poster, by 1919many fashionable young women werewearing shorter skirts and looser-waisted clothing.

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