![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It is believed approximately 950,000 women worked in British munition factories, making shells, parts for tanks, Spitfires, Lancaster Bombers and and fighter planes. In 1941, the Government conscripted single women aged 20-30 into war industries, the Armed Forces and the Civil Defence, after Winston Churchill’s famous rallying call: “Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job.” The Steel Girls by Michelle Rawlins is an historical fiction book based on the experiences of the Sheffield factory workers of the Second World War, out now with HQ Stories.The factories were crying out for women, despite how demanding and horrifically dangerous they were.”Īnd as history shows, those women who stepped up made a huge difference to the war effort. “Sometimes she would leave at nine o’clock at night to catch a tram and not return until 6.30am the next morning and collapse into bed exhausted.Īlthough Kathleen ended up in a full back cast and was told to stay off work until she was fully better, she only took the bare minimum time off. Within days mum started working on a gas producer, toiling away eight hours a day, a mixture of day and night shifts. “When they discovered my older sister, Audrey, who was only 14 at the time, was still at home, it was ruled she could take care of myself and Barbara. That wasn’t deemed a good enough reason, though. “Naturally, she protested, not because she didn’t want to do her bit, but due to the fact she had two young children to care for. Her son, Brian Denial, now 88, said: “I was only eight years old, and my sister, Barbara, was just two, when my mum was stopped outside the school gates by recruiting officers asking if she would be willing to sign up to the war effort. Never miss a moment by signing up to our newsletter here. The newsletter is emailed out first thing every morning, at 12noon and every evening. The Mirror's newsletter brings you the latest news, exciting showbiz and TV stories, sport updates and essential political information. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |