Description
Object description
A short film, intended for theatrical distribution, paying tribute to the work of British women for the war effort, Second World War, with particular emphasis on the work of the WVS.
Full description
The first section of the film deals briefly with the work of women in the Services beginning with a shot of an ATS bugler, followed by ATS personnel cooking, typing and marching in the open air with their tented camp in the background. This section continues with of shots of WRNS on parade, a WAAF band leading a group of WAAF's on the march through an unidentified town and brief shots of women members of the ATA (women Ferry Pilots). The commentary states "the object of women's enrolment in the Services is to enable more men to be spared for the sterner duties of war". The films then shows brief shots of women in other uniformed services, women civil defence ambulance drivers, women ARP personnel, women Auxiliary Fire Service personnel and members of the "picturesque" Women's Land Army at work (brief shots of Land Girls driving tractors, spreading hay and manure? and harvesting turnips? by hand). The role of women in munitions, aircraft production and factory work are briefly mentioned with stock shots and a short sequence showing HM King George V visiting an unidentified aircraft factory during "his tour of the West Country". The commentary emphasises the important role of all working women "there are few industries nowadays in which women have no share, while in wartime every industry becomes national in it's importance as trade, commerce and finance are seen as vital forces in the struggle". The work of the Women's Voluntary Service is covered in some details with shots inside the WVS headquarters, a brief portrait shot of their chairman Lady Reading and a shot at the entrance to their headquarters at Queens Annes Chambers (?) London. Various shots of volunteer women working in halls, country houses, the Royal Hospital Chelsea sewing "comforts for the troops". Brief shots of East End women knitting and a group of children sitting outside a school (?) also producing "comforts for the troops". The film then briefly covers the role of nurses both in military and civilian service with shots of their various duties and film of the training of volunteer nurses and a sequence showing volunteer nurses providing blankets and hot drinks to shipwreck survivors. The film then returns to the work of the Womens' Voluntary Service (WVS), dealing with the evacuation of children, (shots of evacuee children in large country houses and in a small family home), communal dining rooms providing evacuee children with meals, a make-shift hospital for the care of evacuee children with "normal childhood diseases", Sunday Clubs organised to provide refreshment and a comfortable environment for parents visiting their evacuee children and WVS mobile canteens. The film concludes with brief shots of HM Queen Elizabeth inspecting a WVS mobile canteen parked in Buckingham Palace yard, noting her role as the patron of the WVS and concluding with her spoken tribute over a montage of shots of women working for the war effort, "The task that we have undertaken, whether at home or in distant lands covers every field of national service and I would like to pay my tribute to all of you who are giving such splendid and useful help in this time of trouble."
Physical description
35mm