Powering the War Machine: A Look at Women’s Work in Industry and Beyond in WWI

When World War I started in 1914, it wasn’t only men who were called to serve. On the home front, a massive need for workers arose as men left their jobs to join the military. Women stepped up in huge numbers, taking on roles they had rarely, if ever, filled before. These women became essential war workers, keeping their countries running and directly supporting the war effort.

One of the most critical areas women worked in was manufacturing, especially in munitions factories. These factories made the weapons, ammunition, and supplies needed by soldiers fighting on the front lines. The work was often difficult and dangerous. Women handled powerful chemicals, operated heavy machinery, and worked long hours. They assembled shells, packed explosives, and produced everything from bullets to airplane parts. This was a complete change from the jobs many women had before the war, which were often in domestic service or textile factories.

Working in munitions factories came with serious risks. Exposure to chemicals like TNT, which was used in explosives, could turn their skin yellow, earning them the nickname “Canaries.” More dangerously, it caused severe health problems and sometimes death. Factory accidents were also a constant threat, with explosions possible due to the volatile materials being handled. Despite these dangers, women performed these vital jobs with determination.

#1 Workers preparing for the construction of concrete ships.

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#3 A woman working in an armaments factory during World War I.

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#4 A woman driving a wagon and horses in north London during World War I, 1916.

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#5 Women railway employees during World War I.

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#6 A woman tram driver during World War I, 1916.

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#7 Five women ambulance drivers of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in Calais during World War I, 1917.

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#8 Lady Florence Norman, a suffragette, on her motor-scooter travelling to work in London, 1916.

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#9 A woman “land girl” driving a tractor, 1918.

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#10 A woman mechanic repairing a car at a Women’s Volunteer Reserve garage.

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#11 Two women porters at Marylebone station in London loading wicker baskets, 1914.

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#12 A woman assembly line worker at a munitions factory during World War I, 1917.

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#13 Members of the women’s police service during World War I.

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#14 Women workers feeding a charcoal kiln at a Scottish sugar refinery during World War I.

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#15 A woman bus conductor with a drink beside her bus in south London, 1916.

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#16 Women window cleaners working in Nottingham during World War I, 1917.

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#17 Workhouse women watching firefighting training, 1917.

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#18 Women workers assembling artillery shells at a Vickers munitions factory during World War I.

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#19 Female construction workers pushing wheelbarrows in Coventry during World War I.

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#20 Female workers at an engineering factory during World War I, 1917.

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#21 A woman munitions worker welding in an armaments factory, 1915.

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#22 Women munitions workers in Paris, 1916.

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#23 Two women replacing male porters at Marylebone Station, London, during World War I, 1915.

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#24 A parade of women ambulance drivers during World War I, 1915.

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#25 Members of the Women’s Fire Brigade with their Chief Officer, 1916.

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#26 The Women’s Reserve of the British Army National Motor Volunteers being addressed by an officer, 1916.

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#27 Women war workers in an engineering shop, 1917.

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#28 Women munitions workers in a Vickers factory making shell cases, 1915.

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#29 A woman working on an engine in an engineering shop, 1915.

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#30 Members of the Women’s Fire Brigade on a fire drill, 1916.

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#31 A member of the Women’s Land Army in WWI, 1916.

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#32 Women’s Army recruits drilling, 1917.

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#33 A woman shaping a steel knee splint at the Kensington War Hospital supply depot, 1917.

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#34 A young woman in an armaments factory in WWI, 1916.

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#35 Women war workers marching to Buckingham Palace, London, 1918.

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#36 Miss D. Milman of the Women’s Service League outside 67 Warwick Square, 1918.

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#37 Members of the Women’s Royal Air Force at Buckingham Palace, London, 1919.

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#38 A woman porter at Marylebone Station cleaning a carriage, 1914.

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#39 A woman munitions worker operating a machine in an armaments factory during World War I, 1915.

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#40 Women navvies pushing wheelbarrows in Coventry during World War I, 1917.

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#41 Women pulling apart old ledgers for the London & South West Railway, 1917.

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#42 Women sorting paper for the London & South West Railway, 1917.

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#43 A woman at work in an armaments factory, 1914.

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#44 Women police at a munitions works trying on new boots, 1917.

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#45 Young women from Lowell, Massachusetts, forming America’s first Women’s Death Battalion, 1917.

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#46 Women waiting to ask about American Red Cross nursing positions, 1918.

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#47 British women’s work during WWI.

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#48 British woman winding cotton at a lace factory in Nottingham.

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#49 British women aeroplane workers near Birmingham welding frame tugs for planes.

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#50 British women cleaning a locomotive in the Midlands.

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#51 British women glass workers in a factory in Lancashire.

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#52 British women glass workers.

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#53 British women in a glass factory cutting shop near Birmingham.

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#54 British women moulding and finishing stoneware taps at terra cotta works in Leicestershire.

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#55 British women working in a lace factory in Nottingham.

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#56 British women working in a tannery in Nottingham.

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#57 General view of a brass fittings shop.

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#58 A girl operating a stitching machine in a Leicestershire boot factory.

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#59 A mechanic.

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#60 Mine net workers wiring floats together.

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#61 Railway workers cleaning carriages.

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#62 Railway workers unloading goods from a train.

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#63 The King chatting to munitions girls.

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#64 W.R.N.S. fitting a mine.

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#65 W.R.N.S. instructor at respirator and mask drill.

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#66 Working a machine to extract metal from rubbish.

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#67 Women assisting at a punching and shearing machine.

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#68 Women cleaning windows.

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#69 Women engaged in labouring work in a dressing shop.

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#70 Women loading nitrate of soda into a skip.

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#71 Women testing a mine with air pressure.

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