Women Workers in the Aycliffe Royal Ordnance Factory during World War Two, 1939-1945

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This study is available via the UK Data Service QualiBank, an online tool for browsing, searching and citing the content of selected qualitative data collections held at the UK Data Service. This is a qualitative data collection. The primary aim of the project was to record the experiences of some of the women who worked in the Aycliffe munitions factory during World War Two. This collection consists of 68 semi-structured interviews, conducted during 1988-89, with women wartime workers from a wide range of occupations and grades within the munitions factory. The interviews were structured around a set of topics which included early life and family situation at the time of starting work at Aycliffe, recruitment to the factory, relations with fellow workers (including male workers and supervisors), trade union activity, social life at the factory, and leaving the factory. The interview tapes were transcribed, corrected by the interviewee and retyped into a clean copy. Hard copies of the transcripts are available through the Imperial War Museum. This project tried to highlight to different threads: 1) to take an account of women’s experiences which acknowledged their contribution to the war effort and 2) show how people from very different backgrounds adapted to the unaccustomed demands of manufacturing industry under wartime conditions. It was also hoped that this project could contribute to the continuing debates about the changing position of women in British society by highlighting the extraordinary experiences and demands of the Second World War period on subsequent changes in women’s situation. Main Topics:Main topics include: women; women's employment; employment (work); gender; factories; factory workers; war; military service; wages; industrial injuries; industrial safety; everyday life; sexual behaviour; transport; working conditions; family life; and friendship