Women on the Railway in WWII

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It was during World War One that women on the railway had achieved their biggest breakthrough. Pioneering figures became employed in a variety of roles previously dominated by men. However, as men returned from war, they were re-instated in their jobs, meaning women were forced to return to the home.

World War Two gave a new generation of women another chance to “break away from traditional notions of female weakness, and the idea women could not somehow cope with machinery”. As the workload trebled during the war, thousands of women were urgently employed by the railways on a temporary basis. They undertook strenuous manual tasks for the first time in addition to administration and clerical jobs. At the beginning of World War Two, 635 women had roles in railway workshops but by the end of the war, 10,899 women worked as welders, mechanics, fitters, blacksmiths and steam hammer operators. These women had a key role in building locomotives, carriages and wagons. For many women working on the railway offered an opportunity for advancement. Fathers encouraged daughters to join the railway rather than risk them being conscripted and sent away from home. As a result, on the Southern Railway 8,000 women took the place of 9,000 men during the war.