Before the First World War, employment opportunities for women were limited. This was partly because many men (and women too) believed that certain types of work were impossible for women to do well, and partly because some men would not give women the opportunity.

However, between 1914 and 1918, over 5 million men at one point or another served in the armed forces. In their absence somebody had to fill their places. Many people believe that women proved during the First World War that they could do "male jobs" just as well as the men and sometimes better.

Women got the chance to do all sorts of men's jobs, such as making rubber tyres, grave digging, chimney sweeping, working on the railways, working in breweries, delivering coal, plumbing, timber work, making weapons and shipbuilding. Some women even went with the men to the war zones as nurses. However, of all the jobs, one of the most important for the war effort was working in the munitions factories, producing the bullets and shells that the army and navy needed so urgently.