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Post by tom73 on Sept 11, 2019 15:29:01 GMT
Any particular reason for Maida Vale being chosen to temporarily become an all-female operation back in 1915? Does anyone have a link to further information?
<<Rincew1nd: thread title clarified. Our threads aren't clickbait>>
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Post by trt on Sept 11, 2019 17:39:12 GMT
... to temporarily become an all-female operation back in 1915? Does anyone have a link to further information? A link or reference to where you got THAT information from would be helpful. |
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Post by littlejohn on Sept 11, 2019 17:42:47 GMT
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Post by t697 on Sept 18, 2019 20:29:45 GMT
On why Maida Vale was chosen rather than some other station, it was then a nice new station on a new line extension so perhaps those who chose it were aiming to get a bit of free publicity for the new line in the style of newspaper headlines like 'Maids of Maida Vale'...
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Post by trt on Sept 19, 2019 9:36:18 GMT
On why Maida Vale was chosen rather than some other station, it was then a nice new station on a new line extension so perhaps those who chose it were aiming to get a bit of free publicity for the new line in the style of newspaper headlines like 'Maids of Maida Vale'... Was it actually chosen, or did it just happen to work out that way and someone noticed? |
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Post by littlejohn on Sept 19, 2019 12:54:58 GMT
I doubt if it was chosen specially. In 1915 before the horrors of trench warfare became apparent most men were volunteering. There are plenty of photos of daily queues at recruiting offices. It might just be that at Maida Vale there were none who were too old or unfit for military service and all the men joined up. It is though surprising that the remaining men on the system were apparently not redeployed to give a core of knowledge at each station - unless there were not enough to go round.
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Post by theblackferret on Sept 19, 2019 14:27:45 GMT
I doubt if it was chosen specially. In 1915 before the horrors of trench warfare became apparent most men were volunteering. There are plenty of photos of daily queues at recruiting offices. It might just be that at Maida Vale there were none who were too old or unfit for military service and all the men joined up. It is though surprising that the remaining men on the system were apparently not redeployed to give a core of knowledge at each station - unless there were not enough to go round. I suspect, given the predilection for women sending white feathers through the post to non-combatant males and the jingoism of the British press in that war, the authorities might have given very short shrift to the idea of redeploying existing men, not to mention the probably infirm men being of little use with the increased traffic. Speculation only, but 1-Maida Vale is and was then the sort of genteel middle-class suburb where the lady of the house might be inclined to practically aid the war effort by serving on the home front at the local station. 2-It was and remains a station on one line only with no other connections, so, by the social standards of 1915, not too taxing for the girls to deal with. After all, it would be another three years before some women would be allowed to do something as intellectually challenging as voting, so it would make sense to keep them away from anything as complicated as manning an interchange station  Sorry, but that's how things were in 1915, men in charge, war will be over by Christmas, only the men-in-charge didn't say which Christmas, hence the Armistice in November 1918. Most female efforts in WWI were in armaments manufacture, probably with a bigger chance of developing dangerous & cancerous symptoms than being blown to kingdom come by inappropriate handling of the shells they were putting together. Now you know why they delayed giving them the vote in the first place. |
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Post by littlejohn on Sept 19, 2019 15:11:32 GMT
tbf - all very true except that being unfit for military service does not necessarily equate to being infirm; unfit can be for a whole range of reasons.
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Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 19, 2019 15:12:25 GMT
It might just be that at Maida Vale there were none who were too old or unfit for military service and all the men joined up. There were no male staff at Maida Vale to be called up - the station ran with an all-female staff from its opening day on 6th June 1915, more than four months after the rest of the extension had opened. I seem to recall reading that there was a male supervisor allocated to the group of stations of which Maida Vale was a member. Apart from the stations on the Bakerloo extension, the only Underground station to open during WW1 that I can find mention of is North Harrow. |
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Post by littlejohn on Sept 19, 2019 15:20:32 GMT
That explains it although call-up wasn't a factor. Conscription didn't start until 1916.
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Post by tom73 on Sept 19, 2019 21:51:25 GMT
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Post by tom73 on Sept 19, 2019 21:53:24 GMT
Any particular reason for Maida Vale being chosen to temporarily become an all-female operation back in 1915? Does anyone have a link to further information?
<<Rincew1nd: thread title clarified. Our threads aren't clickbait>>Please explain. Are you accusing me of something? What was wrong with the original thread title? |
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Post by trt on Sept 20, 2019 14:19:46 GMT
None of those links say that it was a deliberate choice for all-female staffing, which is why I was wondering where you had got that impression from.
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rincew1nd
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Post by rincew1nd on Sept 20, 2019 23:40:25 GMT
Any particular reason for Maida Vale being chosen to temporarily become an all-female operation back in 1915? Does anyone have a link to further information?
<<Rincew1nd: thread title clarified. Our threads aren't clickbait>>Please explain. Are you accusing me of something? What was wrong with the original thread title? |
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