7 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT WOMEN’S WORK IN DONCASTER DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR Image submitted by Margaret Groome to Doncaster 1914-18.

1. WOMEN WORKING WAS NOT NECESSARILY NEW Some women did work before the First World War. Women worked in factories, as housemaids in large houses, in shops and lots of other places in Doncaster. However, the First World War opened up lots of new types of jobs for women. It also led to more women working, particularly in making munitions. The staff at Cusworth Hall before the First World War (Image: Doncaster Heritage Services)

2. WOMEN STEPPED IN TO JOBS TYPICALLY RESERVED FOR MEN When men went away to fight, some women stepped in to their jobs whilst they were away. In Doncaster these jobs included working as tram conductors, train carriage cleaners, motor car drivers, as post officers and tram drivers. After the war many women lost these jobs as the soldiers returned home to fill them. Lady Tram Drivers (Image: Doncaster Chronicle July 1915)

3. WOMEN WORKED IN AUXILIARY HOPSITALS IN DONCASTER Auxiliary Hospitals were where soldiers who had been wounded were sent to spend time recovering. There were many Auxiliary Hospitals in Doncaster, including the Arnold Auxiliary Hospital on Thorne Road. Some nurses who worked in hospitals were volunteers. They were known as V.A.D. nurses. One volunteer nurse in Doncaster, called Winifred Clarke, spent 10,000 hours volunteering at the Arnold Auxiliary Hospital. Patients and nurses at the Arnold Auxiliary Hospital during the First World War. (Image: Doncaster Heritage Services)

4. WOMEN MADE MUNITIONS IN DONCASTER As the First World War continued it was necessary to make more and more explosive munitions to carry on the fighting. Women were brought in to factories in large numbers to make the munitions. By 1918 almost a million women were employed in some aspect of munitions work. In Doncaster women worked in munitions factories. The munitions work could be dangerous as it used chemicals and explosives. Women making munitions in Doncaster during the First World War. (Image: Doncaster Heritage Services)

5. SOME WOMEN JOINED THE ARMY Some women wanted the opportunity to help the war effort by working for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Women were not allowed to fight in the British Army. In December 1916 the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was created, quickly followed by the Women’s Royal Navy Service and Women’s Royal Air Force. Women who joined the military worked as drivers, mechanics, cooks, clerks, and other domestic and administrative jobs. Cooks at the Front during the First World War, including members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. (Image submitted by Ruth Scott-Chambers to Doncaster 1914-18)

6. HELPING ON THE HOME FRONT Some women contributed to the war effort on the Home Front. Work on the Home Front included fundraising, collecting items to send to soldiers on the front and knitting socks for soldiers. Other women helped work on farms and in agriculture to help produce food. These women became known as the Land Army. Women also helped on the Home Front by saving food and rationing. This was particularly important as some food shortages began to happen. Left: Ruth Birkby was a member of the Land Army during the First World War (Image submitted by Allan Birkby to Doncaster 1914-18) Right: Sarah Julia Warde-Aldam organised fundraising and collecting comforts for troops during the War. (Image by kind permission of Mark Warde-Norbury)

7. WAR TIME WOMEN’S FASHION Women’s fashions changed during the First World War to reflect the type of work they were now doing. Women wore a variety of uniforms for their war work, often including trousers. One Doncaster company began selling a ‘military curve’ corset that was meant to be more comfortable for women to wear whilst making munitions! The military curve corset. (Image: Doncaster Chronicle, 1915)