Current purchase price:
£14.99
During World War II women took on railway roles which were completely new to females. They worked as porters and guards, on the permanent way, and in maintenance and workshop operations. In this book Susan Major features the voices of women talking about their wartime railway experiences, using interviews by the Friends of the National Railway Museum. The interviews cover many areas of Britain.
Many were working in ‘men’s jobs’, or working with men for the first time, and these interviews offer tantalising glimpses of conditions, sometimes under great danger. What was it about railway work that attracted them? It’s fascinating to contrast their voices with the way they were portrayed in official publicity campaigns and in the light of attitudes to women working in the 1940s. These women talk about their difficulties in a workplace not designed for women – no toilets for example, the attitudes of their families, what they thought about American GIs and Italian POWs, how they coped with swearing and troublesome colleagues, rules about stockings. They describe devastating air raids and being thrust into tough responsibilities for the first time.
This book fills a gap, as most books on women’s wartime roles focus on the military services or industrial work. It offers valuable insights into the perceptions and concerns of these young women. As generations die out and families lose a direct connection, it becomes more important to be able to share their voices with a wider audience.
![]() He Who Dared And Died By: Gearoid O'Dowd | ![]() Mons 1914 By: Nigel Cave | ![]() Belsen and its Liberation By: Ian Baxter |
![]() Stauffenberg: Symbol of Resistance By: Wolfgang Venohr | ![]() Escape From Auschwitz By: Andrey Pogozhev | ![]() A Spitfire Girl By: Melody Foreman |
![]() U-Boats in World Wars One & Two By: Diane Canwell, Jon Sutherland | ![]() Colchester in the Great War By: Andrew Phillips | ![]() Small Wars and their Influence on Nation States By: William Urban |