Fascinating colourised photographs show women fixing planes, mending guns and making black-out lamps during the World War II effort
FASCINATING photographs highlight the contributions made by women during World War II.
The colourised images, which show women working in industrial positions previously closed to them, such as aviation and munition, have been unveiled ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2017.
The pictures have been released at a poignant time - the United Nations has chosen ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030’ as the theme for this year’s event.
It was reported that by 1943 there were some 475,000 women working in aircraft factories - a workforce represented by the U.S. government’s ‘Rosie the Riveter’ propaganda campaign.
Bandanna-clad Rosie – supposedly based on a real-life military worker – became a successful recruitment tool.
The iconic cartoon image, which shows the character posed with a flexed arm, came to represent working women during World War II.
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These photographs show females fulfilling a number of roles, including engine installation, checking aircraft electrical assemblies, filing gun parts and making black-out lamps.
In 1944, Glenn Martin, a co-founder of aerospace company Martin Marietta, told a reporter: "We have women helping design our planes in the Engineering Departments, building them on the production line, and operating almost every conceivable type of machinery, from rivet guns to giant stamp presses".
International Women’s Day is a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements and calls for gender equality.
The day has been observed since the early 1900s and aims to bring together governments, women’s organisations and charities.
The event can be traced back to 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City rallying for voting rights, shorter working hours and better pay.
On 8 March 1914, there was a march from Bow to Trafalgar Square in support of women’s suffrage.
Suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst was famously arrested in front of Charing Cross station, on her way to speak in the central London square.
In the following years, a form of women’s day was held on varying dates in different countries, but by 1913 it was decided that 8 March would officially be International Women’s Day – and it has been that way ever since.
Women are being urged to take annual leave to mark International Women’s Day tomorrow in a bid to demonstrate how valuable women are to the economy.
The initiative ‘General Strike: A Day Without a Woman’ is being promoted by the group behind the Anti-Trump Women’s March.
The group are encouraging women not to take on any paid or unpaid work for the day and even request that ladies abstain from spending money with any business that isn’t owned by a woman or a minority.
It is hoped that a day without women in the workforce will demonstrate how much of a contribution the female population make.
Those who aren’t able to take the day off without suffering repercussions can show their support by wearing a red hat in solidarity for the day.
The Women’s March website says: “In the same spirit of love and liberation that inspired the Women’s March, we join together in making March 8 A Day Without a Woman.
“Recognising the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system – while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerability to discrimination, sexual harassment, and job insecurity.”
