The Year Episode 11: FFion the Fireworm

September 1919 / The Great War grants Ffion the firewoman a new life

 

The great war marked a great upheaval for British women. Two million of them were drafted in to do jobs that previously had been the exclusive preserve of men. At the end of the war most of these women were sacked without severance pay, and expected to return to being wives and homemakers. Many wouldn’t as there were 1.8 million more women than men in the 18 to 30 age group, and those that did often had to deal with husbands severely haunted and damaged by the war. This month’s podcast is the uplifting story of one woman journey through the challenges in the post-war world.