Source 39:  Women operating cranes in a shell-filling factory, Chilwell, Nottingham

 

Description

During World War I, women began to work in jobs and professions which had traditionally been dominated by men. By the end of the War in 1918, almost 1 million women were working in the munitions industry, producing and supplying weapons and ammunition. More women worked in this industry than in any other during World War I.

This photograph shows women operating cranes in a shell-filling factory, Chilwell, Nottingham.

(Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London. This image may not be copied without the permission of the Imperial War Museum).

[Source: Woollacott, Angela 'On Her Their Lives Depend', London / California, University of California Press, 1994]