Historians at the University of Portsmouth are helping Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust chart the vital work undertaken by female employees in the Great War.
Dr Melanie Bassett outlines recent breakthroughs in the research.
The outbreak of war in 1914 prompted a surge of patriotic volunteers who signed up to join the war effort and defend their country. However, labour deficiencies on the home front, made greater by the institution of conscription via the Military Service Act in 1916, meant that increasing numbers of women were able to show their mettle by taking on non-‘traditional’ jobs and also ‘do their bit’ for King and Country.
The story of Portsmouth Royal Dockyard’s wartime women workers is a little-known aspect of the yard’s history that is now coming to light, thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s (now National Lottery Heritage Fund) ‘First World War Then and Now’ scheme. Outcomes for the project will include the creation of resource packs for schools, a touring exhibition and a programme of public talks.
“Soon, trades such as welding, buffing, drilling, engraving, woodturning and electrical work were common tasks for women employed in the dockyard ”
The invaluable resea…
