During the Second World War, as hundreds of thousands of men left to serve overseas, women across the West Midlands and Shropshire stepped into vital roles to keep the country moving.
From factory floors and railway sidings to farms, air-raid observation posts and munitions workshops, women took on jobs that had once been largely the preserve of men. They operated heavy machinery, helped build aircraft, transported goods and worked the land, playing a crucial part in the war effort.
This collection of pictures captures the determination, hard work and contribution of local women on the home front, showing how they helped keep industry, agriculture and communities going through some of the most challenging years in the nation's history.
Have stories been passed down through your family about women who played their part in the war effort? We’d love to hear them, so please share your memories in the comments below.
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29. Stepping out in unison: The Women’s Junior Air Corps on parade in Bridgnorth
Heads held high and arms swinging in crisp synchronisation, a smart contingent of the Women’s Junior Air Corps marches past brick cottages along a Bridgnorth street in 1943. Behind the camera was local grocer, Special Constable, and keen photographer Walter Roden, documenting his fifteen-year-old daughter Sylvia (seen fourth from right, marching in the centre of the second rank) alongside her fellow young recruits. Established to provide teenage girls with rigorous pre-service training in aviation theory, radio communications, first aid, and discipline, the WJAC prepared a rising generation of young women to step directly into technical auxiliary roles, factory floors, and civil defence as men across the nation were mobilised for service overseas | Picture courtesy of Jonathan Stubbs