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Boatwomen’s Training Scheme
The boatwomen's training scheme was an initiative in the United Kingdom during the Second World War to attract women to work on Britain's canal network. Initiated by the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company (GUCCC) in 1942 the scheme was taken over by the Ministry of War Transport in 1944. The scheme closed after the end of hostilities in 1945. Nicknamed the ''Idle Women,'' due to the capital letters IW on the Inland Waterways badge they wore in lieu of a uniform, it is estimated that approximately 100 women joined the scheme but only about 45 completed the training and only six are recorded as having participated throughout the length of the scheme. Background In the early part of the Second world war Britain's canals suffered from a labour shortage, caused mostly by military service (although until 1942 being a waterways boatman was a reserved occupation) and the higher wages available in other employment. A recruiting drive in 1941 did attract some men to the waterways but the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leeds And Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branches, and in the early 21st century a new link was constructed into the Port of Liverpool, Liverpool docks system. History Background In the mid-18th century the growing towns of Yorkshire, including Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford, were trading increasingly. While the Aire and Calder Navigation improved links to the east for Leeds, links to the west were limited. Bradford merchants wanted to increase the supply of limestone to make lime for mortar and agriculture using coal from Bradford's collieries and to transport textiles to the Port of Liverpool. On the west coast, traders in the busy port of Liverpool wanted a cheap supply of coal for their shipping and manufacturing businesses and to tap the output from the industrial regions of Lanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Women In World War II
Women took on many different roles during World War II, including as combatants and workers on the home front. The war involved global conflict on an unprecedented scale; the absolute urgency of mobilizing the entire population made the expansion of the role of women inevitable, although the particular roles varied from country. Millions of women of various ages were injured or died as a result of the war. Several hundred thousand women served in combat roles, especially in anti-aircraft units. The Soviet Union integrated women directly into their army units; approximately one million served in the Red Army, including about at least 50,000 on the frontlines; Bob Moore noted that "the Soviet Union was the only major power to use women in front-line roles," The United States, by comparison, elected not to use women in combat because public opinion would not tolerate it. Instead, as in other nations, about 350,000 women served as uniformed auxiliaries in non-combat roles in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Women's Organisations Based In The United Kingdom
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses are capable of pregnancy and giving birth from puberty until menopause. More generally, sex differentiation of the female fetus is governed by the lack of a present, or functioning, '' SRY'' gene on either one of the respective sex chromosomes. Female anatomy is distinguished from male anatomy by the female reproductive system, which includes the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina, and vulva. An adult woman generally has a wider pelvis, broader hips, and larger breasts than an adult man. These characteristics facilitate childbirth and breastfeeding. Women typically have less facial and other body hair, have a higher body fat composition, and are on average shorter and less muscular than men. Throughout human history, traditional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1945 Disestablishments In The United Kingdom
1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events World War II will be abbreviated as “WWII” January * January 1 – WWII: ** Nazi Germany, Germany begins Operation Bodenplatte, an attempt by the ''Luftwaffe'' to cripple Allies of World War II, Allied air forces in the Low Countries. ** Chenogne massacre: German prisoners are allegedly killed by American forces near the village of Chenogne, Belgium. * January 6 – WWII: A German offensive recaptures Esztergom, Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Hungary from the Soviets. * January 9 – WWII: American and Australian troops land at Lingayen Gulf on western coast of the largest Philippine island of Luzon, occupied by Japan since 1942. * January 12 – WWII: The Soviet Union begins the Vis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1942 Establishments In The United Kingdom
Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 194 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Caesar became a Roman Consul. * Battle of Issus: Septimius Severus marches with his army (12 legions) to Cilicia, and defeats Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria. Pescennius retreats to Antioch, and is executed by Severus' troops. * Septimius Severus besieges Byzantium (194–196); the city walls suffer extensive damage. Asia * Battle of Yan Province: Warlords Cao Cao and Lü Bu fight for control over Yan Province; the battle lasts for over 100 days. * First year of the ''Xingping'' era during the Han Dynasty in C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emma Smith (author)
Emma Smith (21 August 1923 – 24 April 2018) was an English novelist, who also wrote for children and published two volumes of autobiography. She gave encouragement to Laurie Lee while he was writing his bestselling memoir of his childhood, ''Cider with Rosie''. Early life and fame Smith was born as Elspeth Hallsmith in Cornwall, daughter of a bank clerk, Guthrie Hallsmith, Distinguished Service Order, D.S.O. and his wife Janet, a nurse. Her father suffered a nervous breakdown and left the family, after which Smith only saw him three more times in his life. She received a "negligible" private education up to the age of 16, when she decided to take up a job at the War Office. During the Second World War, she volunteered to work on the canals as a boatswoman. Later on, her experiences as a trainee boatswoman on the Grand Union Canal would become the basis for her debut novel, ''Maidens' Trip''. In September 1946, Smith, still only 23, went off to India with a team of documentary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonia Rolt
Sonia Rolt OBE (; 15 April 1919 – 22 October 2014) was a campaigner for the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) of Great Britain and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 for her services to industrial archaeology and heritage. At the beginning of World War II she volunteered to work on the canals. After the war she became active on the council of the new Inland Waterways Association campaigning for the retention of the canals. Subsequently she married one of the founders, Tom Rolt, and after his death became a vice-president of the Association. Early life Born Sonia South in New York to British parents, she trained as an actress at the London Theatre Studio. During the Second World War, she volunteered to work on the canals and joined the tough life of the boatmen, mainly carrying coal and steel between Midlands factories and coal pits. Because of the "IW" badge the women who worked on the canals wore, they were named the '' Idle Women'' by the canal m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olga Kevelos
Olga Kevelos (6 November 1923 – 28 October 2009) was an English Motorcycle trials and enduro rider who won a Gold Medal at the International Six-Day Trial.Obituary for Olga Kevelos '''', 26 November 2009. Early life Olga Kevelos was born on 6 November 1923 in , to a Greek Father and English mother. Her father worked in the Birmingham Stock Exchange. She was educated at |
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire to the south and Warwickshire to the west. Northampton is the largest settlement and the county town. The county has an area of and a population of 747,622. The latter is concentrated in the centre of the county, which contains the county's largest towns: Northampton (249,093), Corby (75,571), Kettering (63,150), and Wellingborough (56,564). The northeast and southwest are rural. The county contains two local government Non-metropolitan district, districts, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire, which are both Unitary authority, unitary authority areas. The Historic counties of England, historic county included the Soke of Peterborough. The county is characterised by low, undulating hills, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stoke Bruerne
Stoke Bruerne is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, about north of Milton Keynes and south of Northampton. The civil parish population at the 2011 Census was 373. History Stoke Bruerne is mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as "Stoche" meaning "an outlying farmstead or hamlet". The form "Stokbruer" is used in 1254 being a suffix by the "Briwere" family of the Manor House. The village contains many traditional stone and thatched cottages. It is situated on the Grand Union Canal. The parish is currently governed as part of West Northamptonshire. Before 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England#Northamptonshire, local government changes in 2021 it was part of Tove Ward, named after the River Tove, of the district council of South Northamptonshire. The nearby country estate of Stoke Park along Shutlanger Road is occasionally open to the public in August, but all that remains of the main house are the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Canal Museum
The Canal Museum, formerly known as the National Waterways Museum at Stoke Bruerne and The Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne, is a canal museum located next to the Grand Union Canal just south of the Blisworth Tunnel, near the village of Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire. It is about north of Milton Keynes and south of Northampton near junction 15 of the M1 motorway. History The museum was established in 1963, as "The Canal Museum". It was founded by two canal workers and enthusiasts, Charles N. Hadlow, the first curator, and Jack James, its first caretaker, whose personal collections formed the main part of its initial exhibits. It was subsequently known as the "National Waterways Museum Stoke Bruerne", one of three museums operated by The Waterways Trust that focused on the history of canals in Britain. After the creation of the Canal & River Trust in 2010, the Stoke Bruerne museum was rebranded to its original name. Museum The museum is housed in a restored Grade II liste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
