These women were given the highest bravery award, the George Cross. Women also worked as entertainers in the military. They would perform for the troops. The two most famous entertainers of war were Vera Lynn and Gracie Fields. Overall, 460,000 women served in the Military and 6.5 million in Civilian work (“Women in World War II”).
Amelia Earhart is famous in history as being the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. When Earhart was growing up, women were just beginning to assert their rights to enter careers generally reserved for men. She actively documented newspaper clippings that highlighted women entering occupations normally male-oriented. Earhart first became interested in flying while attending a stunt-flying exhibition around the age of 20. She said then“ I believe that little red airplane said something to me as it swished by.” When pilot Frank Hawks, in December 1920, gave her her first ride, she said she knew then that she had to fly.
1941 – 1969 1945 - 5 million more women working than in 1940 – many were married. 350,000 women joined the armed forces. After the war 75% of women wanted to stay in paid
Some women “felt they were needed at home to raise families, crops for food and to fill the jobs that the men had vacated in order to serve their country.”(Suite101) Women’s lives on the home front during World War II were a significant part of the war effort for all participants and had a major impact on the outcome of the war. Once the men went off to war and left their jobs, the women that were single had a great advantage because job opportunities were everywhere. In the other hand married women had a tough time, especially if they had children. Hundreds of women worked in machine shops, welding shops, manufacturing plants, and also worked in war industries to make equipment for the war. New industries, naval, and army bases were being built during the home front.
Women during WWII 1950s/60s Factory Work: Many women decided that they would work in a factory. They worked in all manner of production ranging from making ammunition to uniforms to aeroplanes. The hours they worked were long and some women had to move to where the factories were. Those who moved away were paid more. Skilled women could earn £2.15 a week.
Heroes and Heroines By Anna Wright As the 1920s began, the world of aviation was new to the United States. The invention of airplanes was fresh on the American scene, and both men and women found joy in the freedom of flight and the wonder of see their lives far below them. Two particular pilots, Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh, left a lasting impression in aviation, as well as in the hearts of all Americans. Charles Lindbergh, a pilot from a small town in Minnesota, became the first person to make a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic. Many had previously tried for this accomplishment that came along with a $25,000 reward, but on May 20, 1927, Lindbergh set off on a flight that turned him into a hero (not to mention $25,000 richer).
For approximately 70 years after the end of World War II, our American women have moved into almost every role available that men were already doing except for one job. That will all change soon, as the Department of Defense will be lifting all gender based restrictions on military service starting in January 2016. With this change women will be able to move into more than 220,000 jobs in all military services, which is roughly 10 percent of the entire active and reserve force!2 Well before the impending change in how the military uses its most important resource, which is manpower. There was huge accomplishments that propelled women well before this change that most likely jump started this movement. I’m talking about when two women on 21 August, 2015 made history by becoming the first to graduate from the traditionally all-male Army Ranger School.3 5.
We Can Do It Statistics show that during World War II the number of working American women jumped from nearly 9 million to 20 million merely because of a simple poster encouraging women (Wiki). This poster of a now well know woman, Rosie the Riveter, refer to a period in American history that can be considered the beginning of a major shift in the role of women. During World War II, when millions of men were conscripted or voluntarily joined the armed forces, defense plants in the United States had to continue producing needed artillery, weapons, and other goods for the war effort. At the time, reasonably few women worked outside the home, and even fewer would have worked in factories like those producing airplanes and other military goods. Enlisted to see to it that production did not decrease in this time of emergency, the female
It was the only way to keep up production. 5. What was the scale of female wartime employment in the munitions industry? The number of women involved in the munitions industry increased from 200,000 in 1914 to 900,000 in 1918. 6.
According to Sarah Killngsworth, “The war started and jobs kinda opened up for women that men had. I took a job at a shoe-repair store on Wilshire Boulevard. Cleanin’ shoes and dyin’ shoes, the same thing that men did.” Rosie the Riveter is widely known as the symbol of feminism and women’s economic power. “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter” by Connie Field, although the documentary was only an hour long, went into great detail to explain the “new place in society” that white and black women had during the time of World War II. Field chose five women to interview and talk about their experiences during the war, stressing the working conditions that the high volume of war production built for black and white women.