Women Clerks Wanted At Once’ , 1917 (colour litho)

Women Clerks Wanted At Once’. This poster was published by the Ministry of National Service in 1917. From August 1914 women’s groups campaigned for their own uniformed services to support the war effort. The unrelenting casualty rate on the Western Front finally persuaded the British government to raise a Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in December 1916 to release experienced soldiers from non-combatant roles. Recruitment was initially organised by the Ministry of National Service with women employed in a variety of roles, including secretaries, telephonists, cooks and waitresses. Although issued with a uniform and subject to the principles of military discipline, the WAAC had a different command structure to the regular army. Officers were called officials, while sergeants were referred to as forewomen and the other ranks as workers, thereby suggesting a workplace structure rather than a military formation. Most members of the WAAC were based in Britain, but about 7,000 served in France where there was an urgent need for clerks in the support areas, as indicated by this poster. According to a contemporary recruiting pamphlet, the ideal candidate for an overseas posting would be aged 25-35 ‘with a good education’ and ‘a little experience of clerical work’. To allay any fears of impropriety, potential recruits (and their parents) were informed that ‘acceptable candidates’ would be ‘housed in hostels…under the careful supervision of capable women appointed by the War Office.