With the fall of France imminent, Hitler had the bulk of Western Europe either directly under his control, neutral or allied to him. For the first time since the Napoleonic Wars, Britain faced both isolation in Europe and the prospect of invasion. On May 14th, barely two weeks before the evacuation of Read more…
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…