However not all the actions of the suffragettes during the war were commendable. Some militant action was still taken, it was eventually called off, but it led people to believe that the suffragettes were as bad as the Germans and they were just terrorists.
In July 1415 Christabel Pankhurst organised a ‘Right to Work’ march in London in response to the shell shortage. The march did its job and by the end of 1915 women began to work in factories. Men had previously run that. They built planes, weapons and ammunition. This work was very unlikeable as the explosive powder made skin turn yellow and so the women were named ‘Canaries’. Women could catch lung diseases and as safety precaution was extremely basic some women became unable to have children. However hundreds of thousands of women worked in these factories as they produced freedom for women and the wages were high at £3 per week.
Many women also took up jobs in the motorcar industry, where they worked as drivers and mechanics. The army had realised how useful lorries cars and tanks could be in helping to win the war. Many women also took up jobs in the aeroplane industry and they took part in more clerical jobs such as postal workers, bank clerks and conductresses.
Women were also allowed into the armed services and women in FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) were used as nurses abroad. By 1918 there were over 45,000 women in Voluntary Aid Detachments who were used as drivers and secretaries. In 1917 the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps was set up and following that the Women’s Royal Naval Service and the Women’s Royal Air Force were set up. Women joined the Land Army in the place of male farm workers and began to wear trousers. However there were only 13,000 women in the Land Army.
Many women were felt that they were treated unfairly during the war because although they had high wages their wages were not as high as men with the same jobs and women were promoted less frequently than male colleagues. The men also played many practical jokes on the women and as a result of this, women started strikes against this behaviour. When the war ended many women were sacked due to their strikes and complaints and women were urged to give up their jobs and return as housewives. The women who did not do this were often attacked and they were known as ‘Heroines to Scroungers’.
I believe that women did gain the vote due to their efforts during the war because we would not have won the war if it were not for women making munitions during the shortage and being nurses to save soldiers lives. Women not only gained the vote after the war, it was now acceptable for a woman to wear trousers and their clothing had become simpler and they wore shorter skirts and sleeves. I think that women gained more from the war than only the vote and I agree that their efforts helped not only win the war but they also gained the vote.
