This meant that it was easy to get information out through these channels and ensure that everyone knew what was going on. In the WI the government at the time found a group that was well-organised, with area representatives and local chairwomen for each individual group. Even those women whose husbands were too old to be called up had to step in to male roles, such as delivering the post or teaching at the school. But for women in the country it often meant taking over the running of the business or farm. For women in towns and cities this meant working in factories, hospitals, railways and even signing up to the women’s branches of the armed forces. As men were called up and sent to the Front it was up to women to step in to their places. This book gets all this background dealt with in one chapter, before moving on to the Second World War. Laundry was still a manual task for many, and fridges and freezers a luxury that few could afford. Many rural houses didn’t have electricity, some didn’t even have indoor plumbing. But getting out and about for regular visits was difficult, due to time constraints and transport. For those in rural farms they might chat to people on the weekly trip to the market, those in villages would know the women living in the houses around them. The social aspect was important as while the men of the villages could get together for a pint at the pub or the working man’s club, women were a bit more isolated. Speakers would talk about anything, from the history of China to the best way to get bread to rise. It originally came across from Canada, and was created as a way to help women in rural communities come together to develop a bit of a social life, and have the opportunity to learn about a broad range of topics and issues. The book starts off with the founding history of the Women’s Institute. So much so that when it had to go back to the library I promptly bought it off Amazon, and still reread it every so often. Perhaps it was because it was quite clearly about woman’s role in the war something which I think tends to be neglected and therefore is worth reading about.Įither way I took the book home with me and got thoroughly absorbed in it. Maybe it was the fact that it was about the Second World War, a part of history for which I only know basic dates and bits about the “Home Front” that I remember from Middle School history classes. But when I saw “ Jambusters” sitting on the shelf of my local library something made me pick it up. Like many I tend to view the WI as the whole “Jam and Jerusalem” thing, a bunch of middle-aged ladies singing hymns and churning out award-winning cakes.
Despite living in a small countryside village between the ages of 3 and 25, I never actually joined the local Women’s Institute.
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