Post Office Women at War, 1939-45: Gender, Conflict and Public Service Employment

The Post Office was central to Britain’s effort to win the Second World War. From sending mail to connecting telephone calls and processing war savings certificates, its functions united a nation in a sense of common purpose and camaraderie, but also connected Britain with the outside world. Yet, owing to the pressures of military conscription, these essential functions, required to maintain morale on both on the home and military front, were discharged by women workers, many of whom had not previously undertaken such important and complex work.

Drawing on a range of archival material, Mark J. Crowley highlights the role of the Post Office and public service in Britain’s Second World War home front experience, and examines the vital contribution of women in this area, which has, until now, received little attention from historians. While primarily focusing on the personnel practices affecting the position of women workers in the Post Office and public service, he also draws on the experiences of women workers through surviving oral history accounts, and the limited existing archival material recorded by women workers at the time. While this is not a social history of women’s employment in Britain, it will seek to place their experiences of work and duty to the public service in the wider context of the government’s expectations of women during the war effort.