Our member Cheryl Jewitt and Ian Barbeary produced a fine double act on the ‘Triangle Girls’ of Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in the First World War.
Who?
Following the extension of male conscription in 1916 women workers were conscripted and took over the jobs and responsibilities of the men of Portsmouth Dockyard as the men were drawn into the fighting.
The women demonstrated an impressive resilience and commitment to duty.
Before the war over 15,000 men but only 15 women were employed in the dockyard. By the end there were 22,509 men and 1,786 women. They were identified by a distinctive triangular shaped badge bearing the inscription “On War Service”, hence the title ‘Triangle Girls’.
Preference was given to war widows and those who had relatives already in the dockyard. Employed at first on clerical and lighter work deemed suitable for the ‘weaker sex’ they quickly proved themselves capable of operating the heaviest machinery and releasing men for the services. At the end of the war, they were made redundant with no notice or compensation as mass demobilisation released the survivors wanting their old jobs back. Nonetheless, the principle had been set and in the Second World War Portsmouth Dockyard absorbed even greater numbers of women.
The short, merry life of a pirate
Most of us remember and miss our friend Peter Webberley, who died in 2022. He was determined almost to the end to give a presentation on the history of piracy and left a draft slide pack (along with some research material) among his effects. Derek Nudd had the privilege of working up his draft into a memorial talk which looked at the history of piracy from Roman times to its so-called ‘golden age’, the derivation of the notorious ‘skull and crossbones’, what drew men to the short, merry life of a pirate and finally the modern practitioners of the trade.
Please see our Events page for details of forthcoming attractions.