Design

The Volunteer British Mapmakers of World War II

In this short doc, the Women’s Voluntary Service stitches a map of the British countryside.
British Pathe

When World War II broke out in September 1939, some 165,000 British women joined the Women’s Voluntary Service. For no pay (save for a few administrative staffers), they lent their time and skills to the war effort, mainly aiding with air-raid precautions on the homefront. They led massive evacuations for urban residents, fed, clothed, nursed and sheltered bomb victims and war refugees, and set up canteens for firemen and rescue workers.