What role did British women play in World War 2?

Answer 1

Here are some of the jobs women did during the war- taken from a museum exhibition- it does not mention much stuff about women air raid wardens- or women spys though.

Women in WW2

During WW1 women were brought into the workplace to take over the jobs of the men that were away fighting. However when the men returned home many women left their jobs to return to household work. Before WW2 most married women did not have paid jobs, but this was all to change.

In WW2 many different groups were set up involving women, and the Government began a massive advertising campaign to encourage women into the work place. Women worked in shipyards, aircraft factories, engineering works, chemical plants and munitions factories, all places normally worked in by men. They became bus conductors, railway workers, labourers, welders and porters. Some jobs involved things had never been done by women before such as building ships, driving tanks and railway locomotives.

At the beginning of the war all men between 18 and 41 had to prepare for conscription, yet Winston Churchill believed that women should not be conscripted as it would damage family life. In 1941 Britain became the first country to conscript women, first it was single women under 26, then women aged 18-51. Women with children under 14 had a choice to take part or not, however no women were brought into action. By 1943, 9 out of 10 single women and 8 out of 10 married women were working in industry or the armed forces. Registered women were labelled mobile or immobile, depending whether they had family commitments, and so could not be moved around the country.

The mobile women were often moved far from home to work in factories or on farms, and would have been given homes in hostels or would have lodged with local people. The immobile were given work nearer to home. However women earned half as much as men, even if they did the same job. It was not until 1970 when the Equal Pay Act came into force for men and women.

The number of women with jobs doubled during the war, some women returned to jobs they had done before they were married or retired, such as teaching and nursing. Factory workers were often given heavy jobs such as welding and working lathes. They often worked up to 60 hours a week, their work resulted in war materials being produced quicker than ever imagined. As many as 343,100 women worked as nurses and first-aiders in many different locations and organisations such as hospitals, the Red Cross, St John's Ambulance, the auxiliary nursing service and emergency medical service.

The war had a huge impact on how women lived their lives in this country. From 1945 child benefit was paid directly to mothers which increased their independence and freedom. There was a lot of stress on marriages when men returned home. Perhaps due to women's new found independence (of not relying on men), this resulted in there being twice as many divorces in 1945 as in 1930. There were many issues when men returned wanting their jobs back, as women were reluctant to give them up.

WLA Women's Land Army

Many men who worked on farms left to join the armed forces or went to work in factories for better pay. The Ministry of Food set up the Land Army in 1939-1940 to help make Britain self sufficient. Importing food was very dangerous and expensive, as ships came under attack. The Land Girls, as they became known, often lived on farms or in local houses. They carried out hard work for long hours, and had low wages with very few holidays. They carried out many tasks such as ploughing, threshing, tree-felling, milking and driving tractors. Although the work was hard, they were given extra rations to make up for it, and most of the girls enjoyed themselves as they were in the outdoors. By December 1943 the Land Army had 80,300 members.

ATS Auxiliary Territorial Service

The ATS was set up in 1938 and within a year it had 17,000 women volunteers and by 1943 it had 200,000. ATS members wore khaki uniforms and black shoes (not boots). They lived in barracks and learned to march, salute and obey orders. In December 1941 they became an equal part of the armed forces and were paid the same as men. At first there was bad feeling towards the female members as men did not want to salute female officers. Yet this changed when the men saw what good soldiers they were, and the many things they could do. The ATS were not allowed to fire guns, or go into action, but they could do every other job such as becoming cooks, clerks, telephonists, lorry drivers, motorbike riders, engineers and translators. One of their most important jobs was in anti-aircraft command. They tracked enemy planes with searchlights and radar, and aimed the guns, but men had to fire. There was a survey carried out in 1940 amongst women which showed that most women wanted the right to fight alongside their men.

One of the most famous ATS members was Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II.

WAAF Women's Auxiliary Air Force

The WAAF was part of the RAF (Royal Air Force) and had 182,000 women members by late 1943, which resulted in 22% of personnel on airfields being women. As they were not allowed to fight they operated radar positions, and so warned of approaching enemy aircraft. By the end of the war 70% of the WAAF were doing skilled work such as engineering.

WRNS Women's Royal Naval Service

These women were known as Wrens, and they had 74,000 members by 1943. They were not allowed to go to sea on warships, but still had skilled and difficult jobs such as drivers, engineers, radar operators and meteorologists (weather forecasting).

WVS Women's Voluntary Service

The WVS was set up in 1938 and involved women who did not want a paid job, but wanted to play a part in the war effort. Their motto was 'never say no' as they tried to do what ever they could to help. They helped during air raids by running canteens and rest centres for the homeless. They organised evacuation, managed air raid shelters and set up first-aid posts. They set up and ran national day nurseries which enabled other women to go out to work and to leave their children for 1 shilling (5p) a day. This led to the network of crches and nurseries we have today.

FANY First Aid Nursing Yeomanry

FANY was founded in 1907, and so was the oldest and most respected women's military force serving through WW1. In WW2 2,000 FANY members joined the 'Secret Operation Executive' which involved work risking torture and execution.

Answer 2

Women were encouraged to get Auxiliary jobs in places I.e: nurses,in factories making weapons. Every women was needed to sacrifice their treasures (leaving their children at home and changing their lifestyles) Characters like Rosie the riveter were introduced to give the women community a fictional idol.

Answer 3

British women served in as WRNs "Wrens" (the Women's Royal Navy,) the WRAF (the Women's Royal Air Force,) as well as air raid wardens, nurses, and as workers in jobs were the men had gone off to war.

Answer 4

In the United Kingdom, women were essential to the war effort, in both civilian and military roles. The contribution by women to the civilian war effort in the United Kingdom was acknowledged with the use of the words "Home Front" to describe the battles that were being fought on a domestic level with rationing, recycling, and war work, such as in munitions factories and farms. Men were thus released into the military. Women were also recruited into non-combat military units such as the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS or "Wrens") and the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) thus further releasing men into the frontline. Auxiliary services such as the Air Transport Auxiliary also recruited women. In Britain, women were not recruited into regular combat units, but the Special Operations Executive (SOE) did. They were used as agents and radio operators in Nazi occupied Europe.
They were making guns and equipment for war in factories, some others were farming food because we were running out of food then

Answer 5

Women's roles changed completely. When the men went off to war women took over their jobs in factories. The only women at the front were the nurses although approximately 80,000 women were part of the women's forces as non-combatents. The change in the role of women helped women's suffrage in the future. Women's roles changed completely. When the men went off to war women took over their jobs in factories. The only women at the front were the nurses although approximately 80,000 women were part of the women's forces as non-combatents. The change in the role of women helped women's suffrage in the future. Women's roles changed completely. When the men went off to war women took over their jobs in factories. The only women at the front were the nurses although approximately 80,000 women were part of the women's forces as non-combatents. The change in the role of women helped women's suffrage in the future.

Answer 6

Women did everything in ww2 and regardless of the myth that women were not allowed in combat, by the end of the war women were also on the front lines shooting down the planes causing the infamous air raids on Britain. One women recounts her mothers account of the war http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/07/a5541707.shtml Women were generally factory workers since its was optional for a women to fight on the front lines, they were also nurses and clerical workers. I believe women are definitely under valued when people recount the war efforts. The Germans were opposed to using their own women regardless of how much generals and soldiers pleaded with Adolf Hitler. Hitler didnt mind using POW that were female, for their factories. Many women sabotaged the weapons they were forced to create, and may have ultimately had the largest hand in winning the war. Unfortunatly these women on the front lines were often denied the same rights as the men, such as rum (As it was not proper in that time for a women to drink much) And in factories women were paid much less then men. Women who enjoyed serving on the front lines were immediately booted out of the army as soon as the war was over (along with the openly gay soldiers). In my opinion women were the under dogs that came through during the second world war and to this day are not aknowledged properly.