2-618-695 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Girl munition workers at their lathes in a Scottish mill, c1914. By June 1917, roughly 80% of the weaponry and ammunition used by the British army during World War I was being made by munitionettes. With men recruited for the armed forces, the industrial workforce changed. Over 600,000 women took on previously male-dominated roles in industry during the war, working alongside men in reserved occupations. Women in the industry were paid on average less that half of what the men were paid. From 'The Manchester Guardian: History of the War', Vol. II.-1914-15., 1915.