Unsung Heroes: Women of World War II

Royal Mail released a special issue on May 5 entitled Unsung Heroes: Women of World War II.

Almost seven million women in Britain overcame prejudice about their gender, and sometimes about the their social class or the colour of their skin, to make a huge contribution to the war effort in 1939-45.

While much of their war work was considered temporary, for the duration of the conflict, it helped to drive post-war social changes that eventually led to equal opportunities and equal pay legislation.

The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) were established at the outset of the war as branches of the military services. The women they recruited were barred from serving in battle, but their support roles expanded as the war went on.

Over one million women, including many from the British colonies and dominions, also volunteered with the Women’s Voluntary Service. Its original aim was to train women to help with air-raid precautions, but it evolved into running emergency centres for bombed-out civilians, distributing food and clothing, assisting with the evacuation of children from city centres and darning socks for soldiers.

Unmarried women between the ages of 20 and 30 were subject to conscription from December 1941, working not only in the auxiliary services but also in industry, agriculture, medicine, transport and the secret services.

Ten counter sheet stamps illustrate some of the jobs undertaken by women for various services, while a miniature sheet of four stamps celebrates the so-called ‘Spitfire Women’, the female pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary who ferried aircraft between factories and airfields.

A total of 168 women volunteered for the ATA, a civilian organisation founded in 1939, and two of its 14 ferry pools had only female pilots.

Designed by Supple Studio, based on monochrome photographs given a uniform sepia tint, the issue was printed in litho by International Security Printers (Cartor). The counter sheet stamps are available in se-tenant strips of five.

1st class PROTECTING CIVILIANS
Many women became Air Raid Precaution (ARP) wardens through the Women’s Voluntary Service, and found themselves on the front line during the Blitz. The volunteer organisation was incorporated into the Civil Defence Service in 1941.

1st class NURSING ON THE FRONT LINE
Established in 1902, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) served in both world wars. In 1944 its personnel were the first women to arrive in Normandy after D-Day, to set up a field hospital.

1st class REPAIRING ARMY VEHICLES
The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) was the women’s branch of the British Army, established in 1938. Servicewomen carried out many tasks, many training as mechanics to maintain military vehicles.

1st class ARMING THE FLEET
Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) was the women’s branch of the Royal Navy, established in 1939. ‘Wrens’ served as weapons analysts and mechanics, as well as wireless telegraphers and radar plotters.

1st class POWERING THE WAR EFFORT
With so many factory workers called up into the armed forces, millions of women took up jobs which had traditionally been a male preserve. Amongst other things, they manufactured military vehicles, weapons and ammunition.

1st class DECIPHERING ENEMY MESSAGES
Women made up the majority of the code-breaking workforce, and the top-secret work of cracking Germany’s Enigma codes at Bletchley Park is claimed to have shortened the war by two years.

1st class SUPPLYING MILITARY PRODUCTION
Although it was founded in 1938 to provide air-raid wardens, the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) also assisted in collecting and distributing materials required for the war effort, and educating people not to waste valuable resopurces such as scrap metal.

1st class LIGHTING THE WAY TO VICTORY
From 1941, ATS members increasingly replaced male personnel in operating the searchlights which scanned the skies for enemy bombers. They also served in anti-aircraft gun crews.

1st class MAINTAINING RAF AIRCRAFT
The Women’s Auxiliary Airforce (WAAF) was the women’s branch of the Royal Air Force, established in 1939. Servicewomen were employed as aircraft mechanics, as well as radar operators, telegraphers, meteorologists and plotters in operations rooms.

1st class MEETING BRITAIN’S DEMAND
Like factories, farms lost much of their workforce to the armed services. The Women’s Land Army (WLA) was created in 1939 to fill these roles with women, commonly known as ‘Land Girls’. A forestry branch set up in 1942 was officially known as the Women’s Timber Corps, and colloquially as ‘Lumber Jills’.

MINIATURE SHEET

1st class
Female pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) meet in their ferry pool’s briefing room.

1st class
A female pilot climbing into the cockpit of a Supermarine Spitfire fighter plane to deliver it to the airfield where it was need.

£1.85
A pilot completing her post-flight paperwork in the cockpit of a Lockheed Hudson, an American-built light bomber and transport plane.

£1.85
Pilots of No5 Ferry Pool, which included the first women recruited for the job in January 1940, disembarking from an Avro Anson training aircraft.

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS

The presentation pack was written by Professor Lucy Noakes of the University of Essex, and studies the evolution of the jobs women did in wartime, both in the UK and across the world.

The miniature sheet comes with its own carrier, containing information about the female ATA ferry pilots. Stamp cards and first day covers are available, as is a press sheet of 14 unguillotined miniature sheets, in a limited edition of 200.

PRICES
Set of 10 stamps £9.50
Miniature sheet £5.60
Press sheet £78.40
Presentation pack £16.00
Stamp cards £6.75
First day cover (stamps) £12.05
First day cover (mini sheet) £7.40

VERDICT
COMMEMORATIVE WORTH 4/5
The vital role women played in the war effort is often underrated, and this issue seeks to put that right

QUALITY OF DESIGN 3/5
A good selection of period photographs illustrates the range of jobs involved very well

WOW FACTOR 2/5
Stamps from this set are unlikely to stand out and make a splash if used in the post

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