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In addition to factory work and other home front jobs, some 350,000 women joined the Armed Services, serving at home and abroad.

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South Australian Women Working in Munitions Factory during World War II (5).jpg

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In December 1941, the government conscripted single women aged 20-30 as auxiliaries to the Armed Forces, Civil Defence, or war industries. Propaganda leaflets urged women to participate in the war effort.

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With the increased employment of women during WWII, the need to meet working mothers’ caring responsibilities had to be addressed.  State funding was provided to establish about 1345 wartime nurseries, a huge increase from the 14 such nurseries which existed in 1940

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In movies, newspapers, posters, photographs, articles and even a Norman Rockwell-painted Saturday Evening Post cover, the Rosie the riveter campaign stressed the patriotic need for women to enter the work force—and they did, in huge numbers.

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On March 10, 2010, nearly 70 years after they were disbanded, the Women Airforce Service Pilots received the Congressional Gold Medal.

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Some limited agreement on equal pay was reached that allowed equal pay for women where they performed the same job as men had ‘without assistance or supervision'.

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South Australian Women Working in Munitions Factory during World War II (1).jpg

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Women received 7 shillings less than the 21 shillings a week that men received. Women were actively deployed in civil defence schemes as overnight fire watchers in factories, ambulance drivers, air raid wardens, members of first aid parties and messengers. Such women were at risk from bombing but were entitled to lower compensation for injuries compared to men.

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Government figures show that women’s employment  increased during the Second World War from about 5.1 million in 1939 (26%) to just over 7.25 million in 1943 (36%  of all women of working age).

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The level of employment could have been higher as domestic servants were excluded from these figures. Many domestic servants would have been redeployed to national service, but no exact figures exist.

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Girls at a South Eastern Command munitions factory preparing shells for use.jpeg

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These women, each of whom had already obtained their pilot’s license prior to service, became the first women to fly American military aircraft.