The incredible roles women undertook during WWII

Following the end of WWI, women’s roles in society were still largely confined to the family home.

In most western countries, they were expected to fulfil the traditional responsibilities of homemaking, child-rearing, and supporting their husbands’ careers.

As such, during the 1920s and 1930s, few women worked outside the home.

Those who did were often limited to roles such as teaching, nursing, or secretarial work, but these jobs were typically low-paying and offered little opportunity for further career advancement. 

In addition, in many of these countries, women lacked the right to vote or own property independently of their husbands.

For instance, British women only gained full voting rights in 1928, and in France, women did not receive the right to vote until 1944.

Through the early 1930s, economic pressures during the Great Depression further restricted women’s roles in the workforce.

Many governments, including the United States, encouraged women to leave their jobs to make room for unemployed men.

In Germany, the Nazi regime promoted the traditional family model and discouraged women from working outside the home, except in roles that aligned with their ideology, such as motherhood and domestic service.

In contrast, the Soviet Union promoted female participation in the workforce, but this was driven by ideological motives rather than a genuine belief in gender equality. 

As war exploded across Europe in late 1939, it created an urgent need for labor as millions of men left for the front lines.

This demand opened the doors for women to enter the workforce in unprecedented numbers.

By necessity, women stepped into roles previously held by men, including manufacturing weapons to building aircraft and ships.

By 1943, women comprised a significant portion of the workforce in many countries.

For the first time, women worked as welders, electricians, and machinists, performing tasks once considered ‘beyond their female capabilities’.

However, their contributions were essential to maintaining the war effort. They ensured that the production of war materials kept pace with the demands of the global conflict. 

In Britain, efforts were made through campaigns like the 1941 National Service Act, which required women to work in factories or join the auxiliary services.

At the same time, the Soviet Union mobilized women on an even larger scale, with thousands working in heavy industry and agriculture while also serving in combat roles.

In America, the propaganda image of ‘Rosie the Riveter’ became a popular symbol of female strength.

Her image, which was introduced in 1942 through posters and advertisements, rallied women across the nation.

By 1943, women made up nearly 35% of the civilian workforce, totaling more than 18 million. 

To the surprise of modern people, women did serve in the armed services during World War II.

In the United States, the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was established in 1942, allowing women to serve in non-combat roles within the army.

Over 150,000 women enlisted in the WAC, and took on duties such as clerks, mechanics, and radio operators.

This then freed up men for combat roles. 

The U.S. Navy also formed the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in 1942, enabling women like Mildred McAfee, the first director of WAVES, to contribute to the naval operations.

In Britain, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) included over 200,000 women who worked in roles ranging from anti-aircraft gun operators to drivers and mechanics.

In particular, the women of the ATS supported the military infrastructure during some of the war’s most intense periods. 

At the same time, the Soviet Union integrated women into combat roles, an extraordinary decision for the era.

The Night Witches, an all-female bomber regiment, gained fame for their night raids on German positions.

Specifically, Marina Raskova led the formation of this regiment, which included hundreds of women who flew missions in unbelievably dangerous conditions.

While Western Allied nations restricted women to non-combat roles, the Soviet Union’s inclusion of women in direct combat highlighted a different approach to female participation in the armed forces. 

At the highly secretive Bletchley Park in England, thousands of women worked as codebreakers.

They were required to intercept and decipher enemy communications. In fact, they were vital in finally cracking the difficult Enigma code used by the Germans.

A brilliant mathematician named Joan Clarke even worked closely with Alan Turing in the decryption of German naval codes. 

In the United States, women were also deeply involved in intelligence work. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to the CIA, employed many women in various roles, from analysts to undercover operatives.

Virginia Hall, one of the most famous American who worked with the OSS, operated in Nazi-occupied France, where she gathered intelligence and helped coordinate resistance efforts.

Despite losing a leg in an earlier accident, Hall’s determination and resourcefulness made her one of the most effective Allied spies. 

One of the most significant areas that women played an essential role was in various resistance movements during World War II.

Operating undercover, they often took on dangerous and covert tasks that harmed and harassed occupying forces.

In France, the French Resistance relied heavily on women to carry out vital operations.

Some of the roles they participated in were as couriers, passing messages between different resistance cells, and as saboteurs, disrupting enemy supply lines and communications.

However, they had to constantly evade detection or engage in armed combat when required. 

In Poland, the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) included many women who engaged in espionage, smuggling weapons, and operated the underground press.

In particular, Irena Sendler helped save thousands of Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Similarly, in Yugoslavia, women joined the Partisans, which was a communist-led resistance movement that fought against the Axis forces.

This included situations as different as fighting as guerrillas to providing medical care or organizing the logistics of supply lines.  

Not all women during WWII were involved directly in the war effort. For countless many, they had to try and maintain the regularity of home life under very difficult circumstances.

For example, rationing became a daily reality, as items such as meat, sugar, and gasoline were in short supply.

Women adapted to these constraints by growing Victory Gardens, which produced nearly 40% of all vegetables consumed in the United States by 1944.

In Britain, similar efforts were made, with women participating in the Dig for Victory campaign and ensuring food security despite the hardships imposed by the war. 

Many women also contributed to civil support initiatives. In the United Kingdom, over one million women volunteered for the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS), providing support in air raid precautions, evacuations, and emergency relief efforts.

They organized blood drives, set up canteens for soldiers, and cared for children who had been evacuated from cities.

In the United States, similar organizations like the American Women’s Voluntary Services (AWVS) mobilized hundreds of thousands of women to assist with wartime activities. 

Since millions of women had stepped into roles that had traditionally been held by men, demonstrating their ability to perform a wide range of tasks in industries, offices, and even the military, it caused a shift in societal attitudes.

After the war ended in 1945, many women were encouraged, or even required, to leave their wartime jobs and return to domestic life, as soldiers returned home and reclaimed their positions.

However, the experience of working outside the home had changed many women’s perspectives on their roles in society.  

In the United States, the number of women in the workforce initially declined after the war but began to rise again in the late 1940s and early 1950s, as economic growth created new opportunities.

The war had shown women that they could succeed in professional environments, which encouraged more of them to seek employment and education.

Also, the war had exposed the inequalities women faced, such as wage disparities and limited career opportunities, leading to increased advocacy for women’s rights.

By the 1960s, the foundation laid by wartime experiences contributed to the emergence of the second wave of feminism.