How a group of ‘tank girls’ helped cut short the First World War
A hundred years ago during the First World War, the tank rolled into action for the very first time changing the face of modern warfare forever. This autumn, as well as remembering the centenary of the tank, around the world millions of people will once again mark the month of Remembrance so the sacrifices of those who served in times of conflict are never forgotten.
The little-known story of how these machines reached the battlefields of the Western Front is gripping, and is evidence of the crucial role women played during the First World War.
The introduction of the tank, and the roles of the men who crewed the machines during the Battle of the Somme, made for headline news in 1916. On the 22 November 1916 the Daily Mirror heartily described how the tank went ‘Gallumphant’ into action before lauding the tank as a ‘juggernaut’ and even a ‘Diplodocus’. Naming these machines as ‘tanks’ was comparatively modest compared to the imagination of headline writers of the day. But such was the mystery of the new weapon the name ‘tank’ actually came from attempts to ensure its secrecy under the guise of water tanks.
The concept of a vehicle to provide troops with protection and firepower might not have been a new one. For centuries people had dreamt up designs of armoured wagons containing cannon that could be fired through holes in their sides. But it was in the First World War where advancements in technology had combined to finally facilitate the tank’s production.
Mid-war, with a substantial proportion of men engaged in conflict, Britain found that labour was in short supply. In 1915, the Women’s War Register was set up mainly to provide women for work in the munitions factories. Women registered at labour exchanges by the thousands. These women, often known as ‘munitionettes’ were crucial in helping firms keep up with demand. Prime Minister David Lloyd George said: ‘Without women, victory will tarry’.
The factories of the city of Lincoln were no exception. But one particular factory, William Foster and Co Ltd, a small agricultural manufacturers, was given the vital task to produce the first ever tanks that would eventually roll into action on the Western Front.
As the photos show, many of the employees at Fosters’ were women. These women, some as young as 16 and who had never so much as picked up a spanner, were thrust into operating heavy industrial machines around the clock.
Production increased throughout the war and eventually factories across the UK began to produce tanks. To highlight the importance of Fosters’, King George V and the Queen Mother even visited the factory in 1917 and by the end of the war tanks were a common sight on the battlefield, with around 2,600 manufactured.
In the 1980s the memories of some of the women who worked at Foster and Co were recorded; the women were then in their 80s.
Dorothy Hare, interviewed in 1984, said:
“In 1915 I was 15 years old and I started work at Fosters. I started on a simple single drilling machine, but ended up on a double driller. I used to make the shoes that were underneath the chain on a tank track. I drilled holes in them and shaped them on a planer. They came as rough cast steel and you could cut yourself on them. One night the air raid siren went off, I’d stacked the shoes up and clean forgot. I switched off my machine and all the lights went off. I turned around and went straight into the pile of shoes! They had to come and dig me out, I got cut up a bit but it wasn’t hospital treatment. I once got my overall sleeve caught in the driller, it tore everything off me! Mr. Walker, the Charge Hand took the belts off the pulleys and stopped the machines, I wasn’t hurt.”
Ada Smith, interviewed in 1980, said:
“I was proud to do it, we were helping the war effort, doing our bit. We were worked all the hours God sent, but it was fun and we all got on very well together. I worked on several different machines, you couldn’t hear yourself think in the machine shop! My main job was shaping and drilling parts for the tank tracks. They needed hundreds of them, so it was a full time job working day and night. I was there the day the King and Queen visited, we cheered and waved paper flags. Really we were just keeping the work going until the men came home from the war, so in 1918, we were all out of a job.”
When the Armistice came the women lost their jobs to the returning soldiers. It wouldn’t be until the outbreak of the Second World War that such high levels of female employment would be seen again. As for the machines they helped build, tanks soon became a mainstay of ground forces across the globe.
Tanks today
Today women continue to play a key role in both the Armed Forces and in the production of the most innovative and formidable weapons of the battlefield. Furthermore, it was announced earlier this year that women would begin to serve on the front line in ground close combat roles, including tank crews, for the first time.
Some of the modern vehicles they will crew will have been manufactured and tested by women, including Samantha Chilton who works as a Senior System Engineer. After gaining a degree in Mechanical Engineering, she began working for General Dynamics UK taking the British Army’s latest Armoured Fighting Vehicle the AJAX, through various phases of testing in Spain and the UK. She said:
“I can empathise with the women during the First World War who were involved in building the first tanks for the Armed Forces in that I find this a challenging field to work in with some long hours and dirty work, but it’s ultimately very rewarding — there aren’t many people who can say they test tanks for a living.”
