Women working in wartime

Coventry Transport Museum link - women working in factories during WWII.

Thanks for the link morgana, it was really interesting. When I first started work I worked with several older women who had worked in the factories in Coventry, and on the land in Brinklow, during the war.

Thank you, Tricia. I bet those ladies had some interesting stories to tell. My mum too worked in the Daimler factory during the war.

To think, without these women most of us wouldn't be here. Even back then, as it states, the women had to fight for equality. While my mum was working in the shadow factory, being blown off her feet with the factory being bombed, my dad was driving trucks in India for the RAF, with not a bomb in sight. My mum had to also take a lodger in too, with government rules. He was a man from Yorkshire.

My late mum worked in the ammunition factories in Coventry. She worked during the day and dad worked nights, so that my oldest brother could be looked after before and after school. My dad didn't go off to war, for medical reasons, but they both worked really hard for the war effort

This is a photo taken at a Munitions factory in Coventry during WW1. The girl on the back row far right is my mum Mabel Vaughan daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Vaughan late of School Lane Kenilworth, who married my dad Edwin Francis Taylor. Can anybody possibly put names to any of the other people in the photo?

Interesting shot from a collection by Harold Hankin. He was a Cov Photographic Society member and worked at Cornercroft. This is the 1940s as they made parts for the DeHavilland Mosquito. Tea lady was obviously the second most important job - after the wages clerk.

Now, with you just mentioning books. I have been watching videos on youtube, thanks to Phillip for those, and reading some canal books. A set I recently purchased is about the young women who went to work on the canals during the Second World War, much like those that went onto the farms, but, as there was only around 30 women who worked the boats, they never get a mention, I never knew about them. They crewed two boats, a motor one towing a 'butty', (unpowered). They loaded with steel in London which they took to Birmingham, then empty to Coventry and loaded with coal from Longford, a brilliant photo of this happening from the time I've never seen before! and then back down to the factories near London to unload and then back up again. Written by the women, who had done this. I've read two so far and am half-way through another, great reading indeed. Post copied from topic Canals around Coventry on 7th Jul 2023 3:31 pm

A new line of topics warranted now Helen, involving lady electricians, plumbers, and landscape gardeners not forgetting the ladies working for the war effort. How did it go now.......Anything you can do, we can do better. A lady installed my phone on the day I moved in. Then to see a lady on my roof servicing the Solar tank had me staring. It makes having babies a walk in the park.

Hi Jo. There is a society with a series of small books about women workers in Coventry. I've not managed to get a look at them yet.

There must be a lot more than I mentioned. A fascinating topic don't you think. I have often thought and wondered what I would have done during the war. I probably would have landed up bonding with a spade for some reason. My daughter is a 'bossy boots' so she would have been someone in authority. Maybe my son would have donned a uniform. Come to think of it working on the barges may have been a good idea. Manor House has the right idea. My word for the day - - - envious.

I think that I might have wanted to build aircraft. Thankfully it wasn't an era I had to live through. I'm not one of those people who would choose to live in the past, if I could. Life really is better for women now. Apart from anything there are such fun things to play with and so many good people to make friends with.

Yes I am trying to imagine you in overalls and carrying a spanner, but don't think of me digging trenches will you. Are we dreaming or not. Goodnight then, time for me to put my pooch out. PS. you are having funny weather for July.

I worked in a power station for a while and had the overalls! They were dark green. Plus hard hat, ear muffs and toe 'tectors. But instead of the spanner I had a small brush, clipboard and pencils to work on junction boxes and computer racks. The shape of the overalls was all wrong for me and the short body length gave me a bit of a stoop. The long pocket for spanners was right across my knee so If I used it for pencils I couldn't bend my leg and looked like I had a limp. To stop the hat dropping off due to the weight of the cans, I had to put one forward and one back, which tended to tilt my head to one side. The boots were heavy and at first didn't bend in the sole very well, making me stomp along. Altogether I looked a lot like Quasimodo.