Cricket Witness No 4 - Women at the WIcket

10 Introduction ‘It gradually got that you were free’ adapted to the sport.’7 Public opinion had changed little between The Old Man’s claim in 1899 and the start of the First World War, but the egalitarian and levelling climate of war work presented women with chances to break cultural norms. New employment opportunities were not limited to the armed services, and cricket was also played and enjoyed by women in a variety of previously alien or non-existent roles. While 90,000 may have served in women’s divisions, a total of 1.66 million extra women entered paid employment during the First World War as they replaced soldiers in jobs historically performed by men. Many of these employers believed allowing their new workers access to sports and social facilities – previously reserved solely for men – would improve their morale, health, productivity and esprit de corps, and encourage better cooperation between managers and workers. 8 Like the women’s armed services, developments in employment arrived later in the war after the toppling of Herbert Asquith’s government in May 1915, and Asquith himself in December 1916. It was Lloyd George’s role as Minister of Munitions and later Prime Minister that galvanised the country towards ‘total war’ and with it the mass mobilisation of its men and women. Roughly one million women were employed in munitions factories during the conflict, and numbers working in the metal, chemical, mining and building trades also rose, as well as an influx into the Civil Service. Work for ‘munitionettes’ was tiresome and very dangerous. Women operated heavy equipment with little training, often resulting in accidents and fatalities. Factories were usually noisy, dirty, and poorly lit, and health risks from working in such conditions included memory loss, loss of consciousness, convulsions and rashes. TNT poisoning could cause jaundice, and the discolouration of hair and skin lent the nickname of ‘Canary Girls.’ The very nature of this work challenged previous notions of what women’s minds and bodies were capable of, and in doing so contested ‘traditional’ depictions of the helpless, submissive and eternally-wounded woman. For many middle- and upper-class women these conditions were unbearable, but for working-class girls the promise of higher wages and a less demeaning atmosphere was an unmitigated attraction. Greater recreational opportunities emerged as a result of pressure from below and recognition of the benefits from above. Single, young and sometimes living away from home, munitionettes usually found themselves with spare change at the end of the week, and unsurprisingly looked for inventive new ways of spending it. Like Beatrice, munitions employees recognised wartime work offered them a chance to create their own fun and enjoy new opportunities. Meanwhile, employers and the government recognised the power of workplace welfare and recreation to improve the physical and mental condition of workers and increase output through ‘scientific management’. At Gretna, the largest munitions factory in Britain with over 11,000 women employed, the company provided a reading room, library, lounge, games room, gramophone and piano, as well as regular games of football and hockey.