This thesis explores the relationship between age, class and gender among female munitions workers at the government explosives factory at Gretna in south-west Scotland during World War I. The Ministry of Munitions not only organised the construction of a factory nine miles in length, but also built two new townships to house a migrant workforce, which was drawn from all parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Teenage girls comprised a considerable proportion of this workforce. Significantly, welfare provision at Gretna, both inside and outside the factory, was far more extensive than at many other munitions establishments. This thesis focuses on the relationship between welfare supervisors, women police, social reformers and the female workers. While some middle and upper-class women attempted to claim new areas of social space during World War I, by embracing industrial welfare work or police work, their authority was often defined by their relationship with young, working-class females. Class was important in this relationship. However, welfare workers, for example, not only claimed authority because of their superior social standing, but also because they were often significantly older than much of the female workforce. The thesis concludes that the youthfulness of Gretna munitions workers was a significant component of their wartime identities and experience.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:544548 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Brader, Christopher |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/36426/ |
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