Glimpses of The Great War, the women who joined the effort.

According to records held in the UK National Archives, more than 1.6 million women had joined the workforce by the time the WW1 ended in 1918, a staggering 950,000 were employed making munitions. They produced more than 80% of the UK's shell and bullet supply by the end of the war.

Known as 'Munitionettes' or canaries, thanks to the yellowing effect exposure to sulphur has on the skin, the women worked long, arduous hours in extremely dangerous conditions.
Poor working conditions and inadequate safety equipment resulted in approximately 400 deaths by the end of the war, as a result of explosions and from exposure to dangerous chemicals such as nitric and sulfuric acid.

Women munition workers finish small arms cartridges in Small Arms Cartridge Factory No.3 at Woolwich Arsenal, London.