To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re taking part in a month-long celebration of women using items from our collections alongside other heritage sites/organisations across Scotland! If you want to join in visit Go Industrial for more info. This week, to demonstrate that #ThisGirlCan, we’re sharing a photo from our collection that shows a woman who was a pioneer in taking on a new challenge.
The above image shows one of the munition workers at H. M. Factory Gretna operating the powerhouse switchboard. During WW1, women took on a wider variety of work roles as more and more men were being called up to fight. Women worked with complex machinery, acids and chemicals, and performed arduously heavy labour. Many of these works had previously been considered unsuitable for women.
