The Changing Roles of Women in WWII
Womens roles rapidly began to change during the Wars. They first began to change in World War I, when they were required to get jobs in order to pay for their family while the men were away, and to pay for food to send to their sons/brothers/husbands. In the second war, many women demanded to be more directly involved in the War effort. they learnt new skills that would be helpful if the war reached them in Australia, and they were trained in air-raid precautions, first-aid and military drill and skills such as shooting, signalling driving and mechanical work. In the second war, there was again a huge increase in the employment of women. Women were needed in traditional male jobs in order to replace the men who had elnlisted for war, but even though the women were doing the same work, they were paid remarkebly less, being paid about half as much as men. Women took on many different jobs, such asworking in factories, steel mills, shearing, dairying, crop planting and harvesting. In World War I, hardly any women were allowed to go to war, and the only people allowed were nurses. However, in World War II, around 78 000 women were allowed to enlist, thanks to the pressure from voluntary organisations, and they were allowed to work in various services, including the Land Army, and around 4000 of them served overseas.