Women in World War II

World War II was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 until 1945. This war pitted two different sects of countries together, the Allies and the Axis Powers. The Allies consisted of four main players, the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, and China. The Axis Powers were comprised of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Many other countries participated in this conflict than these ones mentioned, and they all had various ties and amounts of support to the two different sides. The war started in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland in a land grab attempt. This caused the UK and France to declare war. France was then invaded by Germany and quickly fell to the Nazi powers. The United States initially had an isolationist perspective of the war, but after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese forces in 1941, the country felt that they had to enter the war themselves. The battles were fought in a variety of theaters, in Europe, the Atlantic, the Pacific and North Africa.

After a series of Allied victories in 1944 and 1945, the European front of the Axis Powers fell, ending the war in Europe and the Atlantic. The Japanese front of the Axis Powers still held strong until the final assault on Japan took place in August of 1945 with the use of two atomic bombs of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is seen as the end of the Second World War.

Women engaged in every aspect of World War II, from the home front to the frontlines. When the men were called to war, women entered the workforce in the millions. These women worked in factories making the guns, ammunition, planes, tanks, and ships in order for the men to fight. Women were also tasked with sewing the men's uniforms as well as constructing their parachutes. Women also entered other jobs that were held by men, such as mail and milk deliveries. 

Women enlisted in the military as well. There were women's branches in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard, and the Marines. Women in other countries also joined the military. In England, women joined the Women's Royal Naval Service, or the WRNS as well as the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corp. Russian women joined their military forces, flying planes, driving tanks, and becoming snipers.

Women involved themselves in intelligence agencies, such as the Special Operations Executive in Britain and the Operation of Strategic Services in the United States. These women functioned as spies in occupied European countries, gathering vital information on the enemy.

Women acted in resistance movements, helping those persecuted in Europe have a safe place to hide until they were given forged documents so they could safely be gotten out of the country. Many women in occupied Europe functioned as safekeepers for Jewish individuals and families, risking their own lives in the process to make sure that others stayed safe.