Female Railway Workers in World War II
eBook - ePub

Female Railway Workers in World War II

  1. 200 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Female Railway Workers in World War II

About this book

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. 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.

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Yes, you can access Female Railway Workers in World War II by Susan Major in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Military & Maritime History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. List of Illustrations
  6. Preface
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Foreword
  9. “I Cannot Offer Them a Delightful Life”
  10. Getting in
  11. Learning the Job
  12. Working with Men
  13. Doing a Man’s Job
  14. Wartime Memories
  15. Surviving Air Raids
  16. Tricky Situations
  17. Yanks, Canadians and Italians
  18. The Railway Family
  19. And then the Men came Back
  20. Epilogue
  21. List of Contributors
  22. Abbreviations
  23. Notes
  24. Bibliography