First World War

Topic 8: First World War

Unlike previous wars, the opening of the First World War had a profound and immediate effect on the civilian population.

As a result of the Government’s decision to close the banks for the first week of the war, many businesses found themselves unable to pay staff and many people were laid off, including the majority of women. This situation would slowly resolve itself as men left to join the army, companies switched to war work, re-employing women in a variety of roles.

Women working at the logistically important Tickler’s Jam factory in Grimsby in the First World War. (Photo: Grimsby Library)