worked in a lot of places in the war in which normally it would have been seen has a womans
place is in that of the home, caring for their husbands and children, so it was a real chance for
them to show what they were made of. Women gained a lot of independence during the war
and it was recognised that they played a key role in the victory of the Second World War,
however not all women it must have been said wanted to do these jobs and although a lot of
women cherished the chance to gain some independence a lot of women were just happy once
the war was over to go back to usual duties in the home. Even though WW1 had provided
women with a lot of new opportunities it wasnt really until WW2 that they started to gain some
independence. Women got a lot of new opportunities during the war which included working in
munition factories, being part of the armed forces and doing farming jobs. At the beginning of
the war though all women were used for was propaganda to try and get men to join the armed
forces but bit by bit they began to play a key role in the war. Women also were involved in The
Womens Land Army. The land army involved doing everyday farming jobs eg haymaking,
ploughing, harvesting and looking after the farm animals and by 1943 production had almost
doubled. There was also the Grow Your Own Campaign to encourage people to grow crops
and food, even the Tower of London's moat was used. Women did things like the ATS,
WAAF and WRNS, these were introduced so men could be out fighting instead of doing these.
During the Second World War things like rationing were introduced to make sure that everyone
had enough to live on and not just people who could afford it. Propaganda posters were
produced by the government to make people be more careful with their food and household
items for example one source says "Make-Do And Mend" (Source G of Assignment Booklet,
page 5) which is telling people to make do with things they have got and if something breaks
mend it. There was also posters published encouraging people to eat healthily, a brilliant
example is source H on pg5 of the assignment booklet.
Not all women in factories were treated friendly for example one woman says "They eyed all
newcomers suspiciously and were very unfriendly" ( page 6, Source A of assignment booklet)
although this source might not be as accurate or could be biased because it does not state
wether it is primary or secondary although it is most likely secondary because it states "From the
experiences of....". Almost 50% of women between 14-59 years old did some form of war
service. After the war ended most women were seen as competitors to the men on returning
and a few women were kept on inplace of men.
The impact of the Second World War was much greater than that of the first and should be
regarded a key factor in the way everyday life is today.
