LAST weekend a new memorial was unveiled in Victoria Square to honour women's contributions at times of war, writes Stephen Wainwright.
The Mayor of St Helens, Councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron MBE, has been the driving force behind the project with support from St Helens Soroptimists and the St Helens Inner Wheel.
Made of Portland stone, the 'Women of War' monument has been installed on the grassy area to the right of the main entrance to the Town Hall.
The memorial honours females who have supported war efforts in roles ranging from munitions production and engineering to nursing, transport, agriculture, communications and civil defence.
One difficulty in identifying women's work in factories during both world conflicts was the level of secrecy that was imposed on munitions production so as not to aid the enemy.
During WW1 some insights were provided in the reporting on a huge parade to Victoria Square that took place in April 1918.
The St Helens Reporter said the procession comprised over 5,000 female munitions workers.
"And what girls they were!" gushed the paper.
"Such a gathering of healthy, handsome and helpful young womanhood has probably never been seen in Lancashire, and they were all in high spirits, and entered heartily into the day's events."
Assembled were women from Pilks' Cowley Hill Works; 350 female munitions workers from Forster's Glass; the Hardshaw Brook Chemical Works and T. Davies.
Another procession came from the Sutton Bond munitions plant in Lancots Lane.
The Reporter described the Sutton procession as "one of the prettiest and most impressive sights" with over 2,500 employees taking part.
In Charles Forman's book Industrial Town, a female munitions worker tells how she'd organised a trade union at Sutton Bond as a consequence of the dire working conditions.
These included women being forced to work outside in the rain stacking heavy 24" steel shells.
Similar heavy lifting work took place elsewhere in St Helens.
In December 1918 the St Helens Reporter wrote: "Bit by bit our local war secrets are leaking out", as they described how the women at the number 34 munitions store in Pocket Nook had stacked and loaded 680 pound shells during the war.
During WW2 women made shells at Forsters in Atlas Street and at Ashdowns they manufactured empty shell cases for stick bombs and clams that were stuck on tanks.
Although Pilkingtons were involved in munitions work during both world conflicts, they continued to make glass.
Women had long been employed in the glass industry undertaking light jobs, such as glass polishing.
But World War I created an enormous demand for glass and with many men in the forces, women took over the heavier jobs of cutting and carrying of glass and even the shovelling of limestone.
At Pilks' Sheet Works in Watson Street in 1940 they began manufacturing glass for spectacles and ended up supplying the whole country's needs.
Prior to the war, glass for lenses had been brought in from Europe, mainly Germany.
And when imports stopped, St Helens stepped in and 24 million lenses were produced there annually with women undertaking the bulk of the work.
And so if you had a relative that obtained glasses during the 1940s, it's a certainty that the glass for the specs was made in St Helens, mainly by women.
One other lesser-known contribution by St Helens females in WW2 was their 'Make Do and Mend' service.
Spares for all sorts of appliances were then in short supply and women found ways to fix items or offer advice on how repairs could be made from their base in Ormskirk Street.
Sadly, some women were killed or injured while undertaking traditional male roles in wartime, such as Martha Huxley in September 1918.
She was employed as a crane driver at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton, where locomotives were built but was fatally injured in an accident when jammed between a crane and a wall.
In another example in August 1917, a female tram conductor identified only as Mrs Phillips from Haydock Old Lane was thrown from her vehicle into the road and knocking her unconscious.
Just a few days earlier, she had learnt her husband had been killed in action.
Despite her own personal grief, Mrs Phillips had carried on performing her vital community service on the home front.
Although women's war work in transport transcended both world conflicts, their service in the police was only permitted in St Helens during WW2.
Liverpool was proud of being the first city in the country to hire women as police officers in WW1 but the St Helens Chief Constable was firmly against having female bobbies.
In May 1918 Arthur Ellerington referred to them as an "expensive luxury" that did "nothing but gossip and obstruct the footpath"!
It was not until about 1942 that women entered St Helens police but they soon made a highly favourable impression.
In March 1945 St Helens magistrates commended WPC Gladys Buck and WPC Birks for their bravery in dealing with men who had smashed one of Woolworth's windows in Church Street.
Stephen Wainwright's books The Hidden History Of St Helens Vols 1 to 5 are available from the St Helens Book Stop and The World of Glass and online from Amazon and eBay with free delivery. Price £12 each.
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