THESE six feisty young ladies, showing off their munitions workers’ uniforms, have struck up the pose of a musical comedy chorus-line in Bruce Johnston’s photographic studio.
Five hundred such women applied for jobs even before Keighley’s National Shell Factory opened in 1915. Women formed the bulk of its workforce, which by the Armistice would have produced some 714,000 high-explosive shells.
This photograph suggests the camaraderie enjoyed by women together doing work previously thought exclusive to men. Two of them seem to be deliberately displaying wrist-watches. They would be earning steady wages at increased wartime rates, so were able to treat themselves to such luxuries.
The Great War brought women out into many fields, resulting in their greater freedom and winning their right to vote.
The photograph has been supplied by Mr Kevin Seaton, of Shann Lane, Keighley.
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