WW2:The Roles of Women

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The Roles of Women

What role did women play? 

During the Second World War women took over many of the roles left unfilled by men at war. These included farm work ammunitions production and some joined the naval and air forces. Without the help of women it is highly unlikely that Britain would have won the Second World War. Women are often credited for success of the Home Front in Britain. During the war they were often responsible for the families rationing and growing home grown produce e.g. fruit and vegetables. With even the moat outside the tower of London was turned into an allotment area. Women at home were often encouraged to mend their own clothes and spend very little money on material and buttons.

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 What types of jobs did they do?

Many new jobs became open to women; air-raid wardens, fire officers, evacuation officers, host families for evacuees, and so on. The novelty of women workers wore off more quickly than during the Second World War, because women were doing so in such large numbers. Women workers were taken for granted. Eight times as many women were working in the Second World War than in the first.  For example, during World War 1, the Women’s Land Army was employing 33,000 women. By 1944, the Women’s Land Army employed more than 2million ...

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