The table clearly shows in which direction women were expected to go should they have work. Many poorly educated young ladies simply worked for a large household as a servant. From here they could train to work in a kitchen but it is highly unlikely that they would have become the head of a kitchen as this was still the 'territory' of the male.
Even "Teachers = 124,000" is somewhat misleading as female teachers nearly all worked in junior or nursery schools. What we would now call secondary schools were staffed by male teachers.
Towards the end of the C19th, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first lady to qualify to be a doctor (GP). She then faced huge obstacles making progress in her profession. Men would not go to her simply because she was female , whereas, women usually kept with the way it was done then - they continued seeing a male GP. It took years for Anderson to succeed.
For decades women's progress in British society was haunted by the words of Queen Victoria
"let women be what God intended, a helpmate for man, but with totally different duties and vocations."
Coming from the most famous woman in the world at the time, men in power used these words to hinder the advance women had made. By 1900, women had been granted some improvements in their lifestyle via the law courts - it was only in 1891 that women were told that they could not be forced to live with a man if they did not want to - but because nearly all women were reliant on their husbands for a source of money, many women did live in miserable marriages. The myth that Victorian Britain was the time of great family values in that the family stayed together, is just that - a myth. Many wives could not leave their husbands even if they wanted to, simply because they did not have the financial independence that was needed to survive at the time. Also a divorced woman was shunned by society and treated as an outcast. With these obstacles, many women were forced to stay in unhappy marriages.
Emily Wilding Davison is one of the most famous of the . It was Emily Wilding Davison who threw herself under the king’s horse at the thus making her mark in history.
Emily Wilding Davison was born on October 11th 1872. She died on June 8th 1913.
As a young lady she had defied the odds a imposed on women, by graduating with a BA at London University and after this she gained a first class honours degree at Oxford University.
She was appalled at the lack of women had in late but she was especially angered by the stigma attached to all women by being denied the right to vote. A very wealthy female land owner could not vote at the end of the nineteenth century but many of her male staff could - the most obvious example being Queen Victoria who believed that women should not involve themselves in politics. The logic of this, according to the , was that this denial of the right to vote made them second class citizens. This particular aspect of discrimination greatly angered Emily Wilding Davison.
Emily Davison became a natural follower of the . She took part in attacks on property. She became a leading member of the Suffragettes and was imprisoned and force-fed. On one occasion she barricaded herself in a prison cell to escape force-feeding. Her cell was flooded with ice cold water which drenched her while workmen broke down the cell door. Such treatment only made her even more determined.
On another occasion while in prison, she threw herself off of a prison upper gallery floor. She was badly injured but realised that a Suffragette dying in prison would look bad for the authorities - who were to respond to this real threat by the introduction of the .
Emily Davison joined the WSPU in 1906 and her prison record was as follows:
Emmeline Pankhurst believed that it was her experiences in prison that brought Emily Davison to the conclusion that only the ultimate sacrifice would bring any success to the Suffragettes. Emmeline wrote in "My Own Story" that Emily decided that only the loss of life
Emily Davison died from the injuries she sustained at the .
Ironically, her self-sacrifice may well have made the position of women worse in Britain. Though there had been some movement in the Houses of Parliament with regards to women’s rights, some historians argue that Emily’s act at the so horrified those in charge that they were even more against the right to vote for women. They argued that Emily was a highly educated person. If a highly educated woman was willing to do what she did, what could society expect of less educated women? An extension of the vote to women would plunge British society into bedlam - so they argued.
What is true is that the monarchy was revered in Britain and any attack on the monarchy was more than just frowned on. However, at the time of her death, even some Suffragettes were concerned at the extreme ideas and plans of Emily Davison. Some felt that she was becoming too extreme in her actions and bringing the movement into disrepute.
Emily was buried in Morpeth Church in Northumberland. Her headstone has inscribed on it:
The Derby took place on June 4th 1913. was to achieve her place in history by giving her life for the cause at this Derby - the world's most famous horse race. suffered terrible injuries at this race and never recovered from them. She died in a local hospital four days after the race.
The Derby is not only a horse race. In some senses, the race is secondary to the social importance of this event. In 1913, it was a race where society's elite turned up, including the Royal family who traditionally had a horse entered into it. Because of its importance, it attracted a very large crowd to the Epsom Race Course.
The race itself was a flat sprint. Epsom was shaped almost like a horse shoe. The start took the jockeys along a fast straight that lead to a long and gradual bend. The bend sharpened at Tattenham Corner where the horses slowed down before picking up into the home straight to finish in front of the Royal Box.
In the 1913 Derby, the king entered a horse called Anmer. The jockey was Herbert Jones. As today, all the jockeys wore their colours - a racing jersey that identified that rider to the crowd.
As the horses rounded Tattenham Corner, Anmer was third from last. got underneath the barrier and threw herself in front of Anmer. The horse went over and Jones came off. Davison took the full force of a sprinting race horse hitting her. The impact took her clean off the ground.
Confusion reigned to start with. Some believed that Davison was trying to cross the race course and had failed to see that not all the horses had cleared the course. It was a tradition that once the horses had gone past, the crowd went onto the the course to walk down to the finish.
Other spectators claimed that they heard a woman shout "Votes for Women" before leaping out in front of the king's horse. A crude black and white film was taken that caught the event 'live'. On its own it shows little as it has poor clarity. It has now been enhanced and it shows clearly that Davison stopped in front of Anmer (therefore she did not want to simply cross the course) and it appears that she tried to make a grab for the reins of the horse but the speed of Anmer and the impact on her were so great that she took a terrible blow to her upper body.
Jones did what all jockeys are trained to do. Having come off his horse, he stayed where he was until all the back riders had gone past. He was taken off the course by stretcher and taken to the ambulance room at the back of the Grand Stand. His injuries included a fractured rib, a bruised face and slight concussion. He stayed the Wednesday night at the Great Eastern Hotel in Liverpool Street, London, but by Friday was back in Newmarket where he was described as "quite cheery". Jones did recollect that he saw Davison trying to grab his reins. Anmer, having gone over, got to his feet and completed the race minus his jockey. The "Times" the next day commented that the horse had suffered bruised shins.
Emily Wilding Davison was very badly injured. She was taken to Epsom Cottage Hospital. She never regained consciousness and it appeared that her heart was damaged in the impact. On the Wednesday evening, the king enquired as to Emily's well being but the doctors there realised that she had been seriously injured. They called for Mr. Mansell Moullin, a consultant surgeon at London Hospital, to assist them. But it was to be in vain as died on June 8th 1913 from substantial internal injuries.
Two eyewitnesses made the following statements. The first witness is unknown.
John Ervine who stood near to where was said the following:
Introduction :
was to give women the opportunity to show a male-dominated society that they could do more than simply bring up children and tend a home. In , women played a vital role in keeping soldiers equipped with ammunition and in many senses they kept the nation moving through their help in manning the transport system.
With so many young men volunteering to join the army, and with so many in Europe, a gap was created in employment and women were called on to fill these gaps. was to prove a turning point for women. At the start in August 1914, those in political power had been left angered by the activities of the and women had no political power whatsoever. By the end of the war, in November 1918, women had proved that they were just as important to the war effort as men had been and in 1918 women were given some form of political representation.
During , 8.9 million young men had been mobilised in Great Britain and her Empire. Of these, 908,000 were killed and 2 million wounded. 36% of those mobilised were of the war.
Women found employment in transport (the rail lines and driving buses and trams), nursing, factories making ammunition, the Women's Royal Air Force where they worked on planes as mechanics, on farms in the Women's Land Army, in shipyards etc. Before 1914, these jobs had been for men only (with the exception of nursing).
In December 1917, the "London Gazette" surveyed 444,000 women. 68% of them had changed jobs since the war began in 1914. 16% had moved out of domestic service (servants); 22% were unemployed in 1914 and now had work; 23% had moved form one factory job to another factory - such movement had been very rare for women before 1914.
The "Woman Worker" magazine interviewed women in February 1919, just three months after the end of the war, and 65% of those interviewed stated that they would never go back to domestic service regardless of their situation. Only 5% stated that they would go back to domestic work but on their terms - £40 a year, 2.5 days a week off and clothes to wear on duty to be chosen by themselves (unless the mistress/master paid for them). Before 1914, domestic servants had to pay for their uniform out of their own money and many resented this.
Nursing :
Young women volunteered to join the VAD's (Voluntary Aid Detachment) and FANY's (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry)
VAD's came from a variety of backgrounds - cooks, domestic servants, laundry workers etc. Their medical training was basic but the fact that they went to the war zone meant that they could comfort badly injured soldiers and give them basic medical treatment even if they were originally not allowed to give injections.
A volunteer to the VAD's found that her family did not welcome her involvement in nursing. "Whatever you do, you are not going to nurse; you can go (to the war) as a pantry-maid, but not as a nurse." The volunteer explained her mother's anxiety on the fact that she did not want her daughter dealing with the "lower classes - Tommies".
Regardless of parental opposition, the lady (Mrs. Warren) did join the VAD's. She dealt mostly with gunshot wounds and gas victims. Her main job was to keep wounds clean which meant constantly draining a man's wounds. She also found out that wounded soldiers would put dirty coins into the bandages and onto the wound if they felt that they were going to be returned to the frontline after they left hospital.
The only forms of painkiller the VAD's had were aspirin and morphine which, in morphine's case, they had in tablet form. The tablet had to be mixed with water and then sucked into a needle before the VAD had to find a suitable place near the wound to inject it.
VAD's did not get paid as it was a voluntary appointment. Those that organised them, Sisters and Matrons, did. Because of this non-payment, VAD's usually came from a certain social background where not being paid was not a problem.
Those who joined the FANY's had a less glamorous time. Antonia Gamwell remembers that as a FANY she had to drive an ambulance (in fact, a car belonging to her family), scrub out and disinfect rooms which housed wounded soldiers and on occasions was asked to get rid of bodies from the hospital she worked at. FANY's also ran soup kitchens for the soldiers and helped to organise baths for those soldiers given some time off from the front line.
The Women's Land Army :
With so many men away fighting, someone had to bring in the harvests and keep the farms going. As an island we had to feed ourselves as German submarines were sinking merchant ships bringing food from America to Britain. Therefore we had to become self-sufficient in food. The Women's Land Army played a vital part in this especially after 1916 when the killed and wounded so many young British soldiers - men who would normally work on the land.
Those women who joined the WLA were given a uniform : brown corduroy trousers, green jerseys and leggings, a WLA hat and hob nail boots. They were also issued with a 'Mac' in case it rained. One of the comments made by women in the WLA (but not a complaint) was that their feet were never dry even in dry weather - simply because they had to work early in the morning and the dew on the grass would enter the boots through the lace holes.
They were paid 18 shillings a week (near enough £1 now) but 12 shillings went in board and food. That left 6 shillings at a time when a pair of stockings cost 3 shillings. Therefore, those on farms found that they usually did not have enough money for any form of entertainment - but work during the day could be exhausting, so sleep was seen as a luxury.
To save fuel for the precious war effort, every that could be done by hand was done by hand. The use of tractors was very rare. Seeds were planted by hand, harvesting was done by hand etc. Horses were used for ploughing the land - just as in Medieval times !!
There was such a need for young ladies to join the WLA, that recruiting offices were none too keen to thoroughly check on someone's age. Patricia Vernon, who joined the WLA aged 14, told the recruiting office that she was 18 and was immediately accepted.
Factory Workers :
Some of the most important done by women was in the ammunition factories. With the young men away fighting, this vital work was done by women. It was very dangerous. Working with explosive chemicals meant that one explosion in a factory could trigger off many other ones. Also the protective clothing of today did not really exist then. The munition girls worked with sulphur. There was no protection from this dangerous chemical and the women who worked with sulphur found that their exposed skin turned yellow as the chemical impregnated itself into any exposed skin. Therefore, your face and hands could take on a yellow tinge. These women were given the nick-name "canaries" - though it was not a term of abuse, more a nick-name of endearment as people recognised the massive importance of their job. Ironically when the war ended in November 1918, and the soldiers returned from Europe, these ladies were dismissed from their job and replaced by those men who had been serving soldiers. The evidence suggests that this did not cause resentment among the women as the soldiers had fought for their country.
But all the work done by women during the war was to lead to something the had wanted but failed to get. In 1918, women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote and in 1928, this was changed so that all women had equal political rights with men.
As in women played a vital part in this country’s success in the But, as with , women at the end of , found that the advances they had made were greatly reduced when the soldiers returned from fighting abroad.
At the end of , those women who had found alternate employment from the normal for women, lost their jobs. The returning soldiers had to be found jobs and many wanted society to return to normal. Therefore by 1939, many young girls found employment in domestic service - 2 million of them, just as had happened in 1914. Wages were still only 25p a week.
When women found employment in the Civil Service, in teaching and in medicine they had to leave when they got married.
However, between the wars, they had got full voting equality with men when in 1928 a law was passed which stated that any person over the age of 21 could vote - male and female.
The war once again gave women the opportunity to show what they could do.
:
Young mothers with young children were evacuated from the cities considered to be in danger. In all, 3.5 million children were evacuated though many went with a teacher. As young children were normally taught by females, many of those who went with the children were women. The fact that women were seen to be the people who taught the youngest was something that had been going on for years.
The Women's Land Army :
As in , women were called on to help on the land and the Women’s Land Army (WLA) was re-formed in July 1939. Their work was vital as so many men were being called up into the military.
In August 1940, only 7,000 women had joined but with the crisis caused by Hitler’s , a huge drive went on from this date on to get more women working on the land. Even Churchill feared that the chaos caused by the to our supplies from America would starve out Britain.
The government tried to make out that the work of the WLA was glamorous and adverts showed it as this. In fact, the work was hard and young women usually worked in isolated communities. Many lived in years old farm workers cottages without running water, electricity or gas. Winter, in particular, could be hard especially as the women had to break up the soil by hand ready for sowing. However, many of the women ate well as there was a plentiful supply of wild animals in the countryside - rabbit, hares, pheasant and partridges. They were paid 32 shillings a week - about £1.60.
In 1943, the shortage of women in the factories and on land lead to the government stopping women joining the armed forces. They were given a choice of either working on the land or in factories. Those who worked on land did a very valuable job for the British people.
Factory Work :
Many women decided that they would work in a factory. They worked in all manner of production ranging from making ammunition to uniforms to aeroplanes. The hours they worked were long and some women had to move to where the factories were. Those who moved away were paid more.
Skilled women could earn £2.15 a week. To them this must have seemed a lot. But men doing the same work were paid more. In fact, it was not unknown for unskilled men to get more money that skilled female workers. This clearly was not acceptable and in 1943, women at the Rolls Royce factory in Glasgow went on strike. This was seen as being highly unpatriotic in time of war and when the female strikers went on a street demonstration in Glasgow, they were pelted with eggs and tomatoes (presumably rotten and inedible as was still in) but the protesters soon stopped when they found out how little the women were being paid .The women had a part-victory as they returned to work on the pay of a male semi-skilled worker - not the level of a male skilled worker but better than before the strike.
The Women's Voluntary Service (WVS) :
During the Blitz on London women in voluntary organisations did a very important job. The Women’s Voluntary Service provided fire fighters with tea and refreshments when the clear-up took place after a bombing raid. The WVS had one million members by 1943. Most were quite elderly as the younger women were in the factories or working on farms and were too exhausted to do extra work once they had finished their shift. The WVS also provided tea and refreshments for those who sheltered in the Underground in London. Basically, the WVS did whatever was needed. In Portsmouth, they collected enough scrap metal to fill four railway carriages……..in just one month. They also looked after people who had lost their homes from Germans bombing - the support they provided for these shocked people who had lost everything was incalculable. When the WVS were not on call, they knitted socks, balaclavas etc. for service men. Some WVS groups adopted a sailor to provide him with warm knitted clothing.
The Auxiliary Territorial Service :
In the military, all three services were open for women to join - the army, air force and navy. Women were also appointed as air raid wardens.
In the army, women joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). Like soldiers, they wore a khaki uniform. The recruiting posters were glamorous - some were considered too glamorous by Winston Churchill - and many young ladies joined the ATS because they believed they would lead a life of glamour. They were to be disappointed. Members of the ATS did not get the glamour jobs - they acted as drivers, worked in mess halls where many had to peel potatoes, acted a cleaners and they worked on anti-aircraft guns. But an order by Winston Churchill forbade ATS ladies from actually firing an AA gun as he felt that they would not be able to cope with the knowledge that they might have shot down and killed young German men. His attitude was odd as ATS ladies were allowed to track a plane, fuse the shells and be there when the firing cord was pulled……By July 1942, the ATS had 217,000 women in it. As the war dragged on, women in the ATS were allowed to do more exciting jobs such as become welders (unheard of in ‘civvie’ street), carpenters, electricians etc.
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force :
Women who joined the Royal Air Force were in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). They did the same as the ATS (cooking, clerical work etc) but the opportunities were there for slightly more exciting work. Some got to work on . Others were used in the new radar stations used to track incoming enemy bomber formations. These radar sites were usually the first target for Stuka dive-bombers so a post in one of these radar stations could be very dangerous. However, the women in this units were to be the early warning ears and eyes of the RAF during the . For all of this, women were not allowed to train to be pilots of war planes. Some were members of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) which flew RAF planes from a factory to a fighter squadron’s base. There were 120 women in this unit out of 820 pilots in total. The women had fewer crashes than male pilots but they were not welcome as the editor of the magazine "Aeroplane" made clear : they (women ATA) "do not have the intelligence to scrub the floor of a hospital properly." He , C.G. Grey, claimed that they were a "menace" when flying.
Secret Agents :
Women were also used as secret agents. They were members of SOE (Special Operations Executive) and were usually parachuted into occupied France or landed in special Lysander planes. Their work was exceptionally dangerous as just one slip could lead to capture, torture and death. Their work was to find out all that they could to support the Allies for the planned landings in Normandy in June 1944. The most famous female SOE members were Violette Szabo and Odette Churchill. Both were awarded the George Cross for the work they did - the George Cross is the highest bravery award that a civilian can get. Both were captured and tortured. Violette Szabo was murdered by the Gestapo while Odette Churchill survived the war.
Entertainment :
Women was also extremely important in entertainment. The most famous female entertainer of the war was Vera Lynn (now Dame Vera Lynn). Her singing ("There'll be blue birds over the White Cliffs of Dover" and "We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when") brought great happiness to many in Britain. She was known as the "Forces Sweetheart".
1945
The war in Europe ended in May 1945. At this time there were 460,000 women in the military and over 6.5 million in civilian war work. Without their contribution, our war effort would have been severely weakened and it is probable that we would not have been able to fight to our greatest might without the input from women. Ironically, in , had forbidden to work in German weapons factories as he felt that a woman’s place was at home. His most senior industry advisor, Albert Speer, pleaded with to let him use German female workers but right up to the end, refused. was happy for captured foreign women to work as slaves in his war factories but not German. Many of these slave workers, male and female, deliberately sabotaged the work that they did - so in their own way they helped the war effort of the Allies.
