I've just finished this book about the Women's Institute's wartime endeavours in Britain. I was drawn to it firstly by the title, and then by the photo of the women in their flowered dresses and pinnies, but it's proved to be a fascinating insight into the work of country women during the war. Far from being only 'jam and Jerusalem" they were a force to be reckoned with. Allied to the Land Army and the Ministry of Food they were an integral part of the Dig for Victory campaign. They did manufacture an astonishing 12 million pounds (that's lb not sterling) of jam, using up fruit that would otherwise have gone to waste. As so many 'non-essential' industries closed during the war, the WI stepped up and produced all sorts of consumer items, many to be sent to the troops, but also for domestic use. Potato baskets, camouflage nets and knitwear by the ton. But the WI was also a great comfort to women during the hard time of war, offering sisterhood and support to women isolated on country farms, left to cope with men's work as well as their own. Those women worked HARD. Most farms had no fridges and often no running water in the house. Everything, everything, had to be done by hand; they couldn' t just pop out to the supermarket or down to the café for a coffee and croissant.
And the book offered what I consider to be the final comment on the Second World War. One woman wrote of her thoughts: "All this, because a handful of men wanted world domination".
I will hunt this one down - thank you. I read 'How the Girl Guides Won the War' by Janie Hampton which made me feel very similar emotions. No childish play there. Real, and often dangerous work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this - I will look for the Girl guides one too.
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