Part time woman worker from WWII

During WWI and WWII, there were labor shortages that had to be filled in order to supply soldiers on the frontline with guns, ammunition, and other necessities. To fill the void, armories around the United States hired women. This national trend can be observed in Springfield, Massachusetts. During both wars, the Armory’s women workers proved vital to the war efforts. Without these women’s contributions, the wars could have been lost. Despite these contributions, many women did not always receive the credit they deserved.

Women Hand-Loading Machine Gun Belts, 1918
(Experimental Ammunition - Belt Loading Room)

In both wars, the need for male soldiers resulted in massive worker shortages. Armories looked to women to fill the void left by the enlistees.  In 1918, there had been 748 women working at the armory.1 It took at least six to twenty workers to adequately equip an American soldier and women had been needed to fill the gap.2 Women workers became even more important to the war effort in World War II. Over 40 % of 13,500 Armory employees were female.3 These women helped to manufacture the M-1 rifles that were used on D-day. In July of 1943, these women helped to output over 2,100 rifles a day, in order to maintain the quotas given by the United States War Department.4

In addition to their role as producers for the War Effort, the women of the Springfield Armory also represented a source of morale for the “boys” overseas. For example, at the armory women employed in the payroll department created a message published in the Armorer, the Armory newspaper, entitled “Don’t Lose A Day.” 5 It encouraged the soldiers to report each day and reaffirmed the women’s confidence in the soldiers to do their ‘bit.’

Woman worker training to use the milling machine

The Armory also worked to boost the women’s morale while working at the Armory. The Springfield Armory hosted several dances after drills for the Second Infantry .  The Armory also held many football games, which allowed for a large gathering of6 officers and guests as well.7 These events helped sustain the morale of soliders and workers alike.

At the end of  both World Wars, women became the first to be given notice of discharge. After World War I, approximately 1,000 employees had been fired in January of 1919.8 Basically, most women had been fired at the end of both wars to make way for returning soldiers.9 However, some women did not want to return to their to more traditional roles of homemaker and mother. Some of these women used their job experience working at the Armory to obtain other positions, challenging the convention that women were not able to work in the defense industry. 10These women leave a tremendous legacy.