Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
August 4 marks the 100th anniversary of the day Britain entered World War I, which lasted until Nov. 11, 1918. While centenary commemorations and religious services memorialize the soldiers lost over those four years of wartime, it's also important to remember the legacy of the women who stepped up to plate and made sure their societies continued to function while men were shipped off the front lines.
This shift in the labor force meant that an unprecedented number of women were now tackling skilled industrial and military jobs that had been typically reserved for men. For example, in the image above, a woman worker shapes a steel knee splint at the supply depot in the Kensington War Hospital.
Continue below for a look at many of the other jobs that women took up during the war.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Members of the Women's Land Army feed lambs during a march through London.
Photo: Central Press/Getty Images
Women workers push loaded wheelbarrows in Coventry, England.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Women's Army recruits during drill routines.
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Women work as porters at Marylebone Station in London while men are away at war.
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A woman munitions worker wears goggles while welding on her workbench in an armaments factory.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Nurses set out to collect funds to help soldiers on the frontlines.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
The chief officer of the Women's Fire Brigade smiles for the camera.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Women sort waste paper to be recycled.
Photo: F J Mortimer/Getty Images
A portrait of a member of the women's Land Army carrying pails.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
A pair of workers smooth and polish lenses.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
A women worker leads a horse at Cross Farm in Shackleton, Surrey, England.
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A woman is hard at work in an armaments factory.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
A woman takes over as a dispatch rider during the war.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
American college students work as laborers on a farm as replacements for men who are serving as soldiers.
Photo: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Women of the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service wave flags on Armistice Day in London.
Related content on MNN:
-
Want to see more great photos? Check out MNN’s photo blog
