WWII at Home

WWII, at home and in backyards across America.

While the brunt of the war was taking place in foreign countries, the war did affect the regular american civilians. One key element was employment, as the United States was still suffering from the Great Depression, where many people went bankrupt, unemployment rates were as high as 25% and standard living was 60% LESS after the stock market crash of 1929. But when the war began, everything began to change, more people had to produce food and weapons for the military and as more and more men were pulled away to the front lines, women began to take over their jobs on the assembly lines. Before, women had been discouraged to work outside of their homes, but now they were doing jobs often thought of as “Mens Work”. Soon, .30 and .50 caliber machine gun ammo began coming of lines from a factory in Ankeny, Iowa, a facility with over 19,000 employees.

Many famous women warriors during the war were: Nancy Wake, a woman guerilla fighter, meaning she fought against an enemy, but wasn’t employed in the military. Wake joined the SOE, Special Operations Executive, a British Intelligence Agency.

Another famous woman in the war was Susan Travers, who escaped to London when France fell to Nazi Germany, and joined the Free French Forces. When she was besieged in Libya, she personally led 2,500 Allied troops to safety after breaking through enemy lines. After the break, her car was covered in bullet holes. These were just some of the many women warriors of the war. I think it’s amazing that just because there were many things considered “Man Jobs”, they still took it upon themselves to finish things themselves. I think it’s cool that while the war was horrifying in some places, it managed some positivity in America, as it helped employ thousands of people, and gave women more opportunities and freedom.