Women Workers Aka Women's Heavy Duties Issue Title - Way Of The World (1944)

Second World War. Story about women working in wartime. Good shots of women at work as part of the war effort "carrying on with the jobs their menfolk had to leave".



"The way of the world in wartime is very strange, but it might be said that the ways of women are strange too" states the commentator. L/S of women in workwear leaving a pit or factory. C/U of a woman powdering her face looking into a compact mirror outside the factory. The LNER (London North Eastern Railway) works on Tyneside is featured. Montage of shots of men at work in the foundry. Commentator suggests that some viewers may think that this heavy work would be too much for women to tackle. We then see a female "blacksmith striker." C/U of the woman using a 7lb hammer to flatten a piece of metal on an anvil. Various shots of women doing "a man size job".



C/U of one of the women wiping her brow then smiling at the camera. L/S of women concrete workers. They push heavy bags of cement on trolleys and feed mixers with sand, cement and gravel. Various shots of the women at work. 53 year old Mrs Dawson is featured. Before the war she had rarely used anything heavier than a household broom but we see her pouring concrete. "She is typical of the fine spirit of our women generally in wartime." L/S of women pushing bags of cement on barrows.
FILM ID:1580.12

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