‘Men’ who did not ‘get into the war literature’ such as ‘cleaners, launderers and the like’ were, in fact, usually women. The Grantham Labour Exchange worked out a scheme for washing garments by collecting them on Mondays and returning them on Fridays. Each woman was expected to take about twenty-four sets of washing per week, a set comprising four garments from each man; for this she would be paid 3½d per set which would entitle her to 7s per week. It was thought that the plan would benefit local washerwomen by a total of £218 per week …
Tag: voluntary work
Basque Children and their Seafaring ‘Aunties’ – An Evacuation
In world wars, women, almost always volunteers, escorted children – together with disoriented adult refugees – on British ships. Often they were not even being paid expenses. Some were captured, interned and even killed during their WW2 voyages.
Called ‘aunty’, many of the women were experienced travellers and lively independent types, at a time when women’s mobility was still limited and their solo travel problematic. Unsung and overlooked, these pioneers deserve recognition. They were members of a minority who cleverly utilised gendered conventions (‘women are suitable carers for little ones’) to do all the travelling they could, despite low incomes.