ABSTRACT
WHEN the Armistice came, suddenly, on November I Ith, 1gr8, women workers were dismissed by the thousand, in many cases between one day and the next. Most of them took their dismissal without protest. Relief and thankfulness for peace, after the long strain, were so intense that the hardships which peace actually brought to many were accepted and endured with striking fortitude. Here and there there were revolts. Twenty thousand women, abruptly paid off at Woolwich Arsenal, marched to Whitehall and succeeded in thoroughly frightening Mr. Lloyd George. The establishment of the out-of-work donation (later known as the dole) was in no small degree the outcome of their action. There were plenty of other hard cases. But the impulse that animated the gen~rality of women war-workers was not revolt. The war was over ; thank God, for that. They had done their bit. Some -perhaps the. larger number-. were glad to get back to their homes and their home tasks. Certainly for the vast majority the overwhelming thought was that, now, they would see their men again. Loyalty to those men indubitably came first. Even those who had most enjoyed their new personal freedom and the new experience of having money of their own earning to spend, cheerfully went back. For the duration they had worked hard and well. But they had been filling places which of right belonged to the returning soldiers.
