D-Day: Women At War

Wartime Roles

Women were conscripted into war work beginning in December 1941, when the National Service Act was passed by Parliament. In the early days, this act only applied to unmarried women between 20 and 30; however, by 1944, conscription of women was extended to include those aged 19 to 43. Wartime occupations for women were largely confined to non-combatant roles, but they still filled many vital and diverse positions to support the war effort.

The Auxiliary Territorial Service, or ATS, was the women’s branch of the Army. This included AA Command, the anti-aircraft division tasked with shooting down enemy planes. The  Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRENS) was the equivalent of the Royal Navy. And, for the Royal Air Force, there was the WAAF.

Many more women were conscripted into civilian jobs previously performed by men - almost a million went to work in munitions factories, making bullets and shells. The job was well-paid but demanded long hours in dangerous environments. At a factory in Liverpool, women worked with toxic chemicals that turned their hair and skin a bright yellow colour. They became known as Canary Girls. Then there was the Land Army. These women laboured on farms. Their sisters in the Timber Corps felled trees and drove logs to sawmills; they were nicknamed the Lumber Jills.

It's important to remember that D-Day was not a wholly male business. Many of the vital functions that made D-Day happen couldn't have operated without women.

Clare Mulley, author of the women who flew for hitler

Cabinet War Rooms

The brain of Operation Overlord, also known as D-Day, lay deep underground beneath the streets of Westminster. These were the Cabinet War Rooms, where the most crucial strategic decisions of the day were made. The women who worked there, often as switchboard operators, clerks and typists, required the highest level of security clearance.

The single most secure location was the inner sanctum of the Map Room. It was manned 24 hours a day by five officers known as the Glamour Boys - one from each of the three military branches, one from the cabinet, and a duty officer. This is where Winston Churchill spent the whole day on June 6th, 1944—D-Day itself. 

The WRENS updated the ever-changing maps that gave the room its name, showing the British military's movements on land, sea, and air. They also provided a broad overview of the current state of affairs on the front lines. 

Bletchley Park

Similar high-security clearance was required for staff at Bletchley Park, the code-breaking centre located at a country house 50 miles northwest of London. Some 7,500 women worked here during World War II. The majority were middle-class women who were able to get degrees in mathematics, physics, and engineering because universities had spare places left by men who were away fighting. They helped construct the early computers that broke secret codes used by the Germans to encrypt their messages. Bletchley women also came from the WAAF or ATS and worked as translators, analysts, admin staff and motorcycle dispatch riders. 

If you’d like to know more about the women of D-Day, like the super-secret job Fanny Hughill had under Dover Castle, or how choosing not to wear a helmet saved a female pilot’s life, listen to the episode below.