2.6) Backing the Troops and Braving the Blitz
Cities were being bombed on a far greater scale than in the First World War - many shops were destroyed and many lives were lost.
NUDAW donated five mobile
canteens to the war effort
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Living under the threat of nightly bombings, it was not unusual to turn up for work and, before the day's work could begin, a bomb-damaged shop had to be cleared up.
If anyone were injured while working through an air raid 'alert' then, or eight weeks, payments due under the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme were made up to normal wages.
Members of the Union, male and female, were often compulsorily transferred into essential industries. A former grocer could find himself in a shipyard, or a milliner find herself in a tank factory.
During the war 2,047 NUDAW members lost their lives in the forces. In addition, 140 members were killed in aerial attacks on Britain.
NUDAW donated four mobile canteens, maintained by the YMCA, serving in Warwick, Oxford, Ripon and Glasgow. An additional canteen bearing the Union's name was donated soley for the use of overseas forces.
In a blitzed area people often had to queue for water from a fire hydrant and when supplies of water, food and fuel were disrupted, local committees helped in the distribution of essential supplies.
But life went on and cafes, cinemas and theatres all opened their doors unless the air raid sirens sounded.
Victory in 1945 marked the end of World War II and the same year Labour won its greatest-ever-victory.
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