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When war was declared in 1939, Britain was almost completely dependent on imported timber – but only had seven months of it stockpiled. Timber was critical to the war effort: it was needed for everything from aircraft and shipbuilding to communications and coal mining. The British timber trade was in trouble. Enter the Lumberjills. Lacking in both men and timber, the government made a choice. Reluctantly, they opened lumber work for women to apply – and apply they did. The Women's Timber Corps had thousands of members who would prove themselves as strong and as smart as any man: they felled and crosscut trees by hand, operated sawmills, and ran whole forestry sites. They may not have been on the front line, but they fought their own battles on the home front for respect and equality. And in the midst of heavy labour and wartime, they lived a life, making firm friends and even finding soulmates. In Lumberjills, researcher Joanna Foat tells their story for the first time, and gives them the recognition they so truly deserve.
Amidst the turmoil of war, would you risk your life to save a friend? Fighting from the forests, three spirited women find new depths of courage, strength and love.
'As this book shows, the women of the Durham coalfield played an equal role in shaping daily life and trajectories of history in the region, just as women today are building their own futures in communities around the world.' - Hillary Rodham Clinton The Second World War took its toll on every part of society. The appeal for women to work outside the home in the ammunition factories supporting the war effort was taken up by many women throughout the colliery villages. They worked for eight hours a day at the factory, taking up their caregiving and home-making roles when they returned home. Their days continued to be long and strenuous. After the war, the government introduced a series of initiatives intended to improve the lives of the nation. A reformed education system was implemented in 1944, nationalisation in 1947 and a national health service in 1948. At last things were looking up for coal-mining families. At the edge of this bright new horizon, little did Hannah's female descendants realise that they would come to represent the last generation of women of the Durham coalfield.
Joinery, Joists and Gender: A History of Woodworking for the 21st Century is the first publication of its kind to survey the long and rich histories of women and gender non-conforming persons who work in wood. Written for craft practitioners, design students, and readers interested in the intersections of gender and labor history—with 200 full-color images, both historical and contemporary—this book provides an accessible and insightful entry into the histories, practices, and lived experiences of women and nonbinary makers in woodworking. In the first half the author presents a woodworking history primarily in Europe and the United States that highlights the practical and philosophical ...
Since the suffrage campaigns in the early twentieth century, the advancement of women's rights in the UK has been nonstop. Proponents of the cause have aimed for equality across all sectors: personal and civil rights, employment rights, equal pay – and yet Britain's first official female ambassador did not take up her position until 1976. Many obstacles lay between a capable, educated woman and the fulfilment of her potential. Here, Elizabeth and Richard Warburton cast a detailed eye over the advancement of women in the Foreign Office, as diplomats, ambassadors, ministers and Foreign Secretary. Leaving no stone unturned, they discuss the culturally conservative, closed pillar of the Foreign Office in the context of the times, and of the development of women's rights both in the UK and across the first world. Supported by first-person accounts, they explore the stories of those who successfully broke through the constraints of convention, prejudice and law, and why.
Known affectionately as 'Dad's Army', the Home Guard was Britain's very serious attempt to protect our shores from invasion by Nazi Germany in the Second World War. In the 'Spitfire summer' of 1940, all that the 1 million unpaid, untrained part-timers of the Local Defence Volunteers (as the organisation was originally called) wanted was a service rifle for each man, but even that was too much for a country threatened by defeat to provide. Britain's Final Defence is the first book to explore the efforts made to arm the home defence force between 1940 and 1944 and describe the full range of weaponry available for Britain's last stand against invading Axis forces.
'Never have I felt so connected to the natural world than when trailing . . . The direction of the wind is noted almost subconsciously, the alarm calls of birds are obvious and the track and sign of all the other animals, even insects, crossing your trail reveal themselves. It's a strangely peaceful state where every sense seems to be stretched to the limit in a state of extreme concentration, and yet one feels completely relaxed and at peace. The whole of nature is revealed within an animal trail.' John Rhyder explores the world of British mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians through their tracks and other signs, including scat, feeding, damage to trees, dens, beds and nests, providing a fully explained and illustrated guide to the natural world around us. Following years of extensive research from one of the UK's leading wildlife trackers, Track and Sign is illustrated with line drawings and photographs, making identification in the field effective and accurate for both the complete beginner and the expert naturalist.
Sheila Mills's story is a unique perspective of the Second World War. She is a clever, middle-class Norfolk girl with a yen for adventure and joins the WRNS in 1940 to escape the shackles of secretarial work in London, her unhappy childhood and her social-climbing mother. From a first posting in Scotland in 1940, she progresses through the ranks, first to Egypt and later to a vanquished Germany. Extraordinary and fascinating encounters and personalities are seen through the eyes of a young Wren officer: Admiral Ramsay, the Invasion of Sicily and Operation Mincemeat that triggered it, The Flap, the sinking of the Medway, the surrender of the Italian fleet and the Belsen Trials. These observations are peppered with humorous insights into the humdrum preoccupations of a typical Wren – boys, appearance and having fun, while worrying about home and family. This treasure trove of hundreds of letters, along with scrapbooks and memorabilia, some of which are reproduced here, was discovered in bin liners shortly after Sheila died. Her daughter, Vicky, has pieced together a fascinating and unusual record of the Second World War from a woman's perspective.
They were told to hold the fort. They did far more than that. When the Second World War broke out, the task of keeping society afloat fell on the shoulders of the women left behind. Women the world over stepped into boots they'd never worn before – becoming engineers, labourers and intelligence experts. Their houses were razed to the ground, they fled their enemy-occupied countries and they picked up guns to defend their homes, but their stories are rarely told. Remarkable Women of the Second World War is a collection of twelve of these stories, all carefully gathered and retold by Victoria Panton Bacon. These are the stories of Galina Russian navigator who flew on the front line for the Red Army alongside the feared Night Witches; Ena, an ATA engineer who didn't think much of the Spitfires and Hurricanes she worked on; and Lee, a Jewish girl who fled Frankfurt and arrived in Coventry on a Kindertransport train. These women weren't remarkable because of high rank or status, but because of their grit, resilience and determination. These are the tales of ordinary women who did extraordinary things.
A true story of the female lumberjacks who helped save Great Britain's war effort. In World War II, Great Britain needed lumber to make planes, ships, and even newspapers—but there weren't enough men to cut down the trees. Enter the fearless Lumber Jills! These young women may not have had much woodcutting experience, but they each had two hands willing to work and one stout heart, and they came together to do their part. Discover this lyrical story of home front heroism and female friendship.