Describe the ways in which women’s work in the home contributed to the war effort.

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9/7/02                              Women in WWII                              Clare Dutton

  1. Describe the ways in which women’s work in the home contributed to the war effort.

In World War II the men left their jobs and homes to fight, leaving their wives behind to run the houses and families.

In 1940, the government started a rationing program to ensure that everyone received a fair share. Each family was registered with a local shop to collect their rations. Women had to queue for hours and didn’t necessarily get what they wanted. There was a shortage of fresh produce and so dried egg and SPAM was brought over from America. Nettle tea and acorn coffee substituted the real thing. Women had a hard job to make pleasant and nutritious meals for their family. People such as Lord Wooton published hundreds of recipes to help women to make the most out of the available ingredients.

Ships coming to England were under threat from attack and so few came. Women helped by accepting the rationing rules, which meant more of the ships importing things to Britain could bring essential war materials and not food.

The ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign to encourage self sufficiency, urged people to grow their own fruit and vegetables. In 1945 Britain only imported one third of her food compared to two thirds in 1932. Women undertook much of this hard manual work.

 

The amount of allotments rose from eight hundred and fifteen thousand in 1939 to one million four hundred thousand in 1943. Gardens, golf courses and sports grounds were all cultivated.  Rabbits, chickens and pigs were all kept at home and fed until they were ready to eat to add variety to basic rations.

By 1942, the Government had made a big move to encourage people to recycle their rubbish to make munitions. Salvaging things helped save metals which could be recycled for weapon production. Women helped by sorting their rubbish and salvaging things.

Women protected the safety of their property by preparing for bombs and fires and knowing what to do. This meant that firemen didn’t have so much to deal with and it was one less homeless family which reduced the strain on the social services who had to place them. Women also maintained blackouts, which helped to protect the cities from German bombers who located them by their lights.

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Women had with fewer clothes when they were rationed in July 1941. A utility scheme was instigated in 1942 to prevent wastage and the clothes available were ugly and militaristic. Women managed to customize clothes and make them attractive so that when their husbands returned home they would please them. This left more material available for uniforms for service men.

Clothes were expensive for what they were and so people we asked to mend their clothes and instructions on how to prevent moth balls were published.

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