During the First World War, a large number of men were away at the war front, particularly once conscription was introduced. As a result, women were often in charge of fundraising events on the home front, to collect donations from the public and use it to support men on the Read more…
In conjunction with Egham Museum’s ‘Women: Wives, Workers & War’ exhibition which ran from November 2018 – June 2019, Museum volunteer and researcher Geoff Meddelton explores some of the exhibition’s themes in more depth. Egham was home to a Red Cross Hospital, the Princess Christian’s Military Hospital in Englefield Green, Read more…
For the middle and upper class women, who had very few career options, the temptation of actually working to help the country appealed greatly. Many of Britain’s women worked in munitions, as clerks, or were lured into nursing by posters such as “The Greatest Mother in the World” (fig. f). Read more…
In conjunction with Egham Museum’s ‘Women: Wives, Workers & War’ exhibition running from November 2018 – June 2019, Museum volunteer and researcher Geoff Meddelton explores some of the exhibition’s themes in more depth. It has become a consensus view that the First World War was a significant turning point in Read more…
The National Egg Collection for Wounded Soldiers began in November 1914, after proposals by the editor of the magazine Poultry World, Frederick Carl. At first, the scheme had a target of sending 20,000 freshly-laid eggs per week to a hospital in Boulogne, and wanted to later achieve 200,000 eggs per Read more…
The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) continued campaigning for equality throughout the war. President of the NUWSS, Millicent Garret Fawcett, appealed to members to join the war effort as a means of proving themselves worthy of the vote, although had been in favour of a peaceful solution to Read more…
Read part one here If the “Daddy, what did you do in the Great War?” poster did not encourage, or in fact, shame, enough men to enlist, then other ways of persuasion were used, and soon, women began to appear in recruitment posters. E.V Kealey’s painting for the PRC, “Women Read more…
Prior to the outbreak of World War One, posters were a commercial luxury, with approximately £125 million being spent annually on advertising in Great Britain to influence people’s buying habits.[1] However, when the Great War was declared, the poster tripled in its importance and became a national necessity.[2] More so Read more…
In the years before World War One, there were great power rivalries in Europe. Increasing concerns over countries developing military forces large enough to attack empires and imperialism, created mistrust and anxiety. In response, countries formed alliances to help keep this power in balance. There were two key alliances: in Read more…
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