The First World War was the conduit for some of the most dramatic changes in the role of women in British society. Suffragettes gave up their militant protests to support the war effort, and from the moment war broke out women were ready; many had already trained as military and Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses. As more and more men left to serve in the armed forces more and more jobs, most of them pre-war preserves of men, were taken over by women, from postal deliveries to tram clippies, and delivery drivers to land workers.
The public outcry over the 'Shells Scandal' of 1915 led...
The First World War was the conduit for some of the most dramatic changes in the role of women in British society. Suffragettes gave up their milit...
During the uncertain early months of World War 2, many feared that it was only a short time before an attempt would be made to invade a woefully undefended British mainland. What became Home Guard was formed in February 1940 to help defend Britain's shores from attack, initially just in Dover, but, after the beginning of Hitler's Blitzkrieg, all over Britain.
Originally called the Local Defence Volunteers, this army of men, drawn from those too old and too young to enlist in the regular army were equipped with uniforms, equipment and the know-how to repel the invader-at least such...
During the uncertain early months of World War 2, many feared that it was only a short time before an attempt would be made to invade a woefully un...
In the skies above south-east England in 1940, battle was waged between the men and machines of the Royal Air Force and Hitler's Luftwaffe. At stake was air superiority, and the Germans intended this to be a first step in the invasion of Britain. Squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires, then among the best and most modern fighter aircraft in the world, took on the threat and defeated the Luftwaffe. This extensively illustrated history of the battle looks at the origins and events of the battle, at the men and women of the RAF who prepared for and fought in it, and at the ordinary people of...
In the skies above south-east England in 1940, battle was waged between the men and machines of the Royal Air Force and Hitler's Luftwaffe. At stake w...
The Women's Suffrage Movement is an overview of the struggle for women to gain the vote in Great Britain and explores who the women were that formed and led or became members of the women's suffrage movement; explains their motives and what the press and other women thought of them. Early campaigners and pressure groups in the nineteenth century led to the formation of National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in 1897; many women within this group became increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in their campaign to win the vote and, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, they broke away...
The Women's Suffrage Movement is an overview of the struggle for women to gain the vote in Great Britain and explores who the women were that forme...
When war broke out in 1939 the Women's Land Army was already organised and ready for action. Women who had served in the WLA in the First World War returned to service with their daughters, ready to fill in for the male labourers who had gone abroad to fight. Livestock was tended, fields were ploughed, harvests were reaped and everything possible was done to keep Britain self-sufficient. Neil Storey and Molly Housego tell the story of the Women's Land Army, how it was organised, what its members did and what training was provided, and describes the work of the Timber Corps of the WLA, also...
When war broke out in 1939 the Women's Land Army was already organised and ready for action. Women who had served in the WLA in the First World War re...
Norfolk’s military heritage dates back to the earliest times, from Iron Age forts, Iceni strongholds and Boudica’s rebellion against Roman occupation to its front-line role with coastal defences and numerous airbases during the Second World War. The Romans left their mark with fortifications, garrisons and shore forts. The county was shaped by Anglo-Saxon and Viking invasions and the Normans, whose castles still stand dominant in the county. Norfolk was the scene of uprisings and rebellions, including the Peasants’ Revolt, Kett’s Rebellion and Civil War conflicts. The men of the...
Norfolk’s military heritage dates back to the earliest times, from Iron Age forts, Iceni strongholds and Boudica’s rebellion against Roman occupat...