World War 1: Previously unseen photographs of female munitions workers in Manchester armaments factory

Women munitions workers began making shells and fuses for the first time in this factory in Oldham, Greater Manchester, in 1915

One electrical engineering firm that diversified and began to employ women in 1915 was owned by Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti

One electrical engineering firm that diversified and began to employ women in 1915 was owned by Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti

Hard work: Many companies converted to start making munitions during the war, with women now working alongside men in these jobs

Getting involved: Britain was facing a huge shortage of munitions on the front lines in 1915, leading to what became known as the Shells Crisis

Diversifying: The company had previously made meters and transformers, but switched production to fuzes and 18-pounder shells in 1915

In what was Britain’s first industrial war, huge amounts of munitions were needed - but the men who dominated manufacturing jobs had left to fight.

According to Britain's daily mail,  it was down to more than 600,000 women to take on roles in mills, laboratories and factories to help the First World War effort on the Home Front.
And these photographs show women munitions workers making shells and fuses for the first time in a Greater Manchester factory in 1915.

Many firms in the North West and elsewhere converted to start making munitions in the war, with women now working alongside men in these jobs.

And one electrical engineering firm that diversified and began to employ women in 1915 was owned by Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti in Oldham.
The company had previously made meters and transformers, but switched production to fuses and 18-pounder shells in 1915.

In the same year, Mr de Ferranti hired the first female supervisor - family friend Olivia Forbes, who ended up working for the firm for 40 years.

It was her job to recruit new female workers at the factory, where there were more than 1,000 women working by the end of the war in 1918.
Katie Belshaw, curator of an exhibition on Manchester’s war effort, said: ‘It was something that had to be done because the men were going off to fight.

But instead of the women coming in and doing the same job that a male skilled worker would do, they broke down the job into smaller pieces.'

She told MailOnline: ‘They would have worked on turning the shells and finishing them - making them smoother once they had been manufactured.
‘They even were driving trucks around the factory, operating lifts - they really were doing what the men were doing.’
Britain was facing a huge shortage of munitions on the front lines of the war in 1915, leading to what became known as the Shells Crisis.
The Government appointed David Lloyd George as munitions minister, which prompted the construction of new shell factories across Britain.
The exhibition at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry features diaries, company archives, sketches and letters written by Mr de Ferranti.