Irene Rathbone (1892–1980)

Abstract

When the Great War began, Rathbone was a young actress. She volunteered for war service, working at two YMCA camps in France and as a VAD in London. Her novel, We That Were Young (1932), draws upon those experiences as well as upon those of her close friend, Ruby Wyld, who worked in a munitions factory. The following excerpt, while not, strictly speaking, autobiographical, nevertheless provides a convincing account of the life of women munitions workers.