How Women Did Their Bit in World War 2 Britain

One of the things that has always drawn me to write historical novels is the incredible wealth of stories waiting for curious readers to discover. I’ve written extensively about some of the women of history I’ve learned about while researching my books, and while I’m on maternity leave I thought I’d dust off some of these pieces from my archives to share with you.

As a historical author writing about World War 2 Britain, one of the things I’m most interested in doing with my books is telling the often-neglected stories of women’s contributions to the war. One of the areas where women were vital was in staffing the various auxiliaries to Britain’s armed services as well as other branches of the war effort.

Today I’m taking a closer look at a few of the auxiliary services—and other areas—where Britain’s women might have served during World War 2.

At first, it was just British men who were required to go to war. In the spring of 1939 months before war was declared, the Military Training Act passed Parliament and meant that men between the ages of 20 and 22 were required to do six months of military training. However, when war was declared on September 3rd, 1939, the National Services (Armed Forces) Act vastly expanded the number of those conscripted into service. Now all men who were aged 18 to 41 were expected to serve, although some who were in Reserved Occupations—farming, medicine, engineering, etc.—were exempted from service because their day-to-day work was considered vital to the effort.

In December 1941, women faced conscription for the first time in the second National Service Act. Men up to the age of 60 were no required to serve, with those as old as 50 being eligible for military service. Childless women between 20 and 30 could be called up to one of the auxiliary services. These included:

• Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS)

• Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS)

• Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)

• Women’s Transport Service (FANY)

• Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS)

• Women’s Land Army

In order to have some say in which auxiliary service of the armed forces they ended up in, many women chose to volunteer for a particular service. Recruitment posters from that time show that the services tried to play on a sense of glamor and duty.

WRNS

The women’s auxiliary branch of the Royal Navy, the WRNS (nicknamed “The Wrens”) was the most glamorous of the services. It was known for attracting a posher class of girl and many believed that it had the best uniforms, given that they were designed by Edward Molyneux. A Wren might be assigned from a wide variety of roles, including cook, clerk, switchboard operator, electrician, motorcycle dispatch driver, or air mechanic.

ATS

The Auxiliary Territorial Service was the Army’s women’s auxiliary. (It is the ATS that Louise, the heroine of The Light Over London joins early in the book.) These women could take on roles as varied as spotlight operator, Ack Ack Command, clerk, cook, munitions, mail service, and more.

WAAF

The WAAFs supported the Royal Air Force throughout the war, as seen by Izzie, one of my heroine from The Dressmakers of London who joins up and is trained to become a WAAF. These women could be asked to pack parachutes, crew barrage balloons, cook, maintain aircraft, or work in meteorology or radar. Some did intelligence work, such as working on codes or analysing reconnaissance photography. What the WAAFs did not do, however, was serve as crew on aircraft. That role was taken on by the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary (the “Atta Girls”) who were civilians.

FANY

Originally formed in 1907 under the name the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and not associated with a branch of the military, these women liaised between the frontlines and field hospitals in World War 1, giving first aid and rescuing the wounded where they could on horseback. During World War 2, FANY provided convenient cover for many of the women of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), who played various roles in intelligence and as field agents.1

WVS

Playing a large role in civil defense on the British Home Front, the women of the WVS originally worked hand in hand with the Air Raid Precautions Department, enforcing the blackout and sounding air raid sirens. However, their role vastly expanded as the war went on as the WVS set up canteens and first aid centres and assisted with the evacuation of children from metropolitan areas that might potentially be the targets of bombing raids.

Land Girls

Although not members of the armed forces, the Women’s Land Army—known as the Land Girls—were vital to keeping Britain fed. The women who became Land Girls did agricultural work. It was often hard physical labor, and it could be an isolated existence because often they lived on the farms where they worked. (Bunking down in town became more common in the last years of the war.) My heroine Beth from The Last Garden in England is a city girl who finds her way in life when she is assigned to duties in Warwickshire as a Land Girl.