Poppies at the Tower – Remembering World War I

Photography: Robin R. Joyce

Revisiting Home Fronts: Gender, War and Conflict

Women’s History Network Annual Conference, 2014

Introduction

‘Revisiting Home Fronts: Gender, War & Conflict’ was the title and theme of the Women’s History Network Conference 2014, held in September at Worcester University. A large group of historians – independent scholars, affiliated with universities, holding posts in or associated with various institutions, students – undergraduate and post-graduate, spent three days presenting, debating, discussing and pondering on the role women played, primarily but not only in Britain during the First World War. Albeit – taking into account the 100 year anniversary of the beginning of the ‘Great War’ – this was the major focus, some papers reflected not only on the First World War but on other major conflicts, including the Second World War.

Abstracts of papers by Jane Adams, Phillida Bunkle, Susan Cohen and Jo Ann Curtis presented at the Conference illustrate the breadth of topics. These papers are the second series of abstracts related to Britain and the First World War to be published on the blog. They raise questions that provided stimulating sessions at the Conference and that may engender further exchanges through the Blog.  Comments and discussion on the issues are invited from readers.

Robin R. Joyce (c) November 2014

 Poppies at the Tower – Remembering World War I

Photography: Robin R. Joyce

Herbs, herbalists and the home front

Within a few months of the outbreak of war in 1914 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries issued a leaflet, The cultivation and collection of medicinal plants to encourage the growing of herbs in wartime. Commercial production had declined in Britain over the course of the nineteenth century and by 1914 demand by the pharmaceutical industry was met by supplies from German and Austrian territories. Women’s role of women in responding to the call to increase domestic production and their experiences on the home front had a profound impact in shaping British herbalism in the interwar period. The wartime campaign capitalised on the growing popularity of herb gardening in the early twentieth century, a pastime popular with female gardeners (Northcote, ‘The book of herbs’, 1912). Its leading campaigners included Ada Teetgen who published guidance for growers (Teetgen, ‘Profitable herb growing and collecting’, 1919) and Maude Grieve, who provided practical advice and tuition.

While the British state supported herb production, it discouraged the practice of medical herbalists and opposed the bill for their registration in 1923. However efforts to marginalise herbalists were undermined by the effects of the wartime campaign, including increased popular interest in growing and using herbs and better commercial networks, as well as the entrepreneurial flair of a new generation of practitioners, spearheaded by female herbalists. The Herb Society, established in 1927 by Hilda Leyel, offered members access to specialist advice while the concept ‘Culpepper’ shops offered medicinal, culinary and beauty products in modern retail settings. These initiatives reshaped the practice of British herbalists in the first half of the twentieth century.

Jane Adams, The Open University © September 2014

  Poppies at the Tower – Remembering World War I

Photography: Robin R. Joyce

Sustaining British Women’s Hospitals for Women in War and Peace

By 1914, 13 British hospitals providing medical services for women were staffed exclusively by women. Of these, six were specialist and seven were general hospitals. Together, they represented one of the most substantial and visible achievements of the Women’s Movement. The role of women doctors and nurses was widely legitimated by their high profile contribution to the WW1 war effort. But only one new women’s hospital for women was established after 1918 and the growth of the existing women’s hospitals largely stagnated. 30 years later, when these hospitals were absorbed into the NHS, they had ceased to be a significant force in women’s health.

Historians have argued that war, despite dividing the Women’s Movement, dramatically enhanced the status and options available to women. One example of attempts to maintain the momentum of feminism through war and depression can be found through examining the responses of the Elizabeth Garret Anderson Hospital, the largest and oldest women’s hospital for women, to the WW1, WW2 and the inter and post war periods of austerity. Why this relative stagnation might have occurred requires exploration, together with adaptations both to war and austerity of the management structure of the institutions and the women who worked in the hospital, especially the nursing staff.

Through a set of management accounts, attempts by the hospital to maintain the momentum of the women’s community by continuing to mobilise philanthropic support for separatist women’s institutions can be evaluated. The conclusion is that, by 1948, the hospital was, because of reliance on female funding, particularly vulnerable to the financial restraints affecting the voluntary hospitals. As well, ideological shifts created tensions in the acceptance of all woman institutions. In what ways did this affected the impact of the welfare state on women? The perception of widely shared deprivation and the high level of civilian mobilisation, commensurate with that of serving soldiers, evidenced in the example of this institution, provides an insight into the high level of acceptance of the NHS, despite meagre provision for the needs of women staff and patients.

Phillida Bunkle, Kings College London © September, 2014

  Poppies at the Tower – Remembering World War I

Photography: Robin R. Joyce

‘Angels’ or citizens: caring for the wounded on the home front

What role did women play as nurses on the Home Front, and what impact did this work have on their lives? Apart from the hundreds of qualified nurses who remained in Britain, mostly with the Territorial Force, many more women from all walks of life joined the VADs and undertook Red Cross training in basic nursing. Questions include what made the women join, what did they expect and how did they cope with the shock of the unprecedented injuries and disabilities from which the returning soldiers suffered? Accompanied by illustrations, “‘Angels’ or citizens … ” draws on the first-hand accounts of women working in the medical arena from 1914-1918, including Drs Louisa Garrett Anderson and Flora Murray, the doctors who ran the Endell Street military hospital in London. 

Susan Cohen, Independent Scholar © September, 2014

  Poppies at the Tower – Remembering World War I

Photography: Robin R. Joyce

Birmingham Women Remember: War-Work and the Home Front during the First World War

In 1981 Birmingham Museums conducted an oral history project in which participants were interviewed about their experiences of the ‘Great War’. The collection consists of over 30 interviews including 13 oral testimonies by women. The project broadly reflected the participants’ memories of daily life on the Home Front as well as the experiences of Birmingham men and women who served overseas, specifically on the Western Front. Drawing upon a selection of oral testimonies by Birmingham women, and exploring their perspectives on war-work and the Home Front during the First World War provides important insights into ‘women on the home front’.

Hence, the range of war-time work available to Birmingham women at this time highlights not only the dominance of munitions and ordnance production in the city, but also the role it played as a centre for military medicine and rehabilitation. The collection represents women who worked as munitions workers, in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), as nurses in Birmingham hospitals, as well as women who volunteered for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and saw service overseas. To a lesser extent the project explored their perspectives on motherhood, poverty, food shortages and rationing.

Oral testimonies are a prominent feature in ‘Birmingham Museum’s history galleries: Birmingham, its people and its history’, which opened in October 2012. Approaches to the use of oral testimonies particularly in relation to issues associated with memory, remembering and interpretation within the context of Birmingham’s First and Second World War narratives are vital to exploring women’s history.

Jo-Ann Curtis, Birmingham Museums Trust © September, 2014

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