Plan of Investigation This investigation will evaluate the question, to what extent did the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force assist the Allies’ war efforts during the Second World War? This question is important because in World War 1 British women were active in the war effort but to a limited extent, acting as nurses on the battle field and working in munitions factories, but resumed their traditional roles in society after the war. In World War 2 women were more active in the military through auxiliary groups, such as Women’s Auxiliary Force (WAAF) and it is important to understand how much of an impact their work made on the Allies war effort. The scope of this investigation focuses on the use of WAAFs in World War 2, from 1941 to 1950. …show more content…
These accounts are significant because they provided real examples of what WAAFs actually did in their duties, and how they were treated by their fellow military persons. Flanders's account affirms that the WAAFs were in charge of manning the radars, which located enemy planes and allowed Allie planes to receive more accurate directions during air battles. Throughout the account, there is essential war work done, as the WAAFs are portrayed as doing a majority of the decoding of enemy transmissions and covering large areas of land that were vital to the numerous air victories the Allies won. Morley's account shows the adaptability of the WAAFs and the showcases some of the many jobs they performed during the war, making them seemingly invaluable. In the third account, Reading, yet another side of the WAAFs possible duties are shown, as they coordinate sea air rescues of fallen Allie fighter planes and are efficient in catching escaping "hostiles". These accounts were significant because they heavily favor the interpretation of the overall evidence as the WAAFs being essential to the Allies war effort and consequent …show more content…
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Within Megan H. Mackenzie’s essay, “Let Women Fight” she points out many facts about women serving in the U.S. military. She emphasizes the three central arguments that people have brought up about women fighting in the military. The arguments she states are that women cannot meet the physical requirements necessary to fight, they simply don’t belong in combat, and that their inclusion in fighting units would disrupt those units’ cohesion and battle readiness. The 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act built a permanent corps of women in all the military departments, which was a big step forward at that time. Although there were many restrictions that were put on women, an increase of women in the U.S. armed forces happened during
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Women proved their strengths to Australian society as they replaced the shortage of men in the work force. The government was reluctant to let women work. It was initially thought that women were incapable of manual labour but as the war went on, women took on roles such as factory workers, train conductors, bus drivers, taxi drivers and mail deliverers. The government continuously encouraged women to join the work force by displaying recruitment posters. They were used to great effect in Australia just like ‘Rosie the Riveter’, a character used in America to entice women to work in factories. Women were keen to experience a change and as a result, historians have stated that women made up forty per cent of the work force in war-related industries which required heavy-lifting and long hours of work. The most momentous involvement by women during the World War II era was the production of binoculars, bombs and ammunition. The reluctance of the government vanished; therefore, it cannot be denied that Australian women were viewe...
Since the war began women were led to believe that they were the ones who had to be the patriotic sacrifice until the men came home from war. The film reveals how the government used the media to alternately urge women to give up such elements of their feminin...
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My interviewee went through a lot during World War II and sharing her amazing story left me evaluating her words for a long time, rethinking and still not willing to imagine the pain. She was one of the 150,000 American woman served in the Women’s Army Corps during the war years. They were one of the first ones to serve in the ranks of the United States Army. She recalls being teased a lot about being a young woman in a uniform but was very proud of it. Women finally were given the opportunity to make a major contribution to the national affair, especially a world war. It started with a meeting in1941 of Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers and General George Marshall, who was the Army’s Chief of Staff. Rogers asked General to introduce a bill to establish an Army women’s corps, where my interviewee, Elizabeth Plancher, was really hoping to get the benefits after the World War II along with other women. ( Since after World War I women came back from war and were not entitled to protection or any medical benefits. )
When all the men were across the ocean fighting a war for world peace, the home front soon found itself in a shortage for workers. Before the war, women mostly depended on men for financial support. But with so many gone to battle, women had to go to work to support themselves. With patriotic spirit, women one by one stepped up to do a man's work with little pay, respect or recognition. Labor shortages provided a variety of jobs for women, who became street car conductors, railroad workers, and shipbuilders. Some women took over the farms, monitoring the crops and harvesting and taking care of livestock. Women, who had young children with nobody to help them, did what they could do to help too. They made such things for the soldiers overseas, such as flannel shirts, socks and scarves.
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