In Filton the first orders for 50 Bristol Fighters came in August 1916. Further orders for 600 were requested by July 1917 following its successes in the air over the battlefront. Herbert Thomas's employment headache was thus relieved by the decision to employ women.
Because women were segregated from men in the workplace, in July 1916 a new, separate, canteen and restroom was built for them. The War Office also contributed £30,000 towards the cost of erecting a new assembly hall with fabric and dope shops for the large number of women employees.
Working patterns were not easy. Women worked long hours, often under poor conditions on lathes and other unfamiliar machinery; or they built up wings and fuselages and got "high as a kite" on the volatile fabric dope.
While the men were away fighting in the trenches these women found that working in industry was a liberating experience. For some, it gave them independence, as they were able to earn a decent wage. It is said that one woman dared not tell her husband while he was away that she had "gone to work"; while living with her parents she was able to save enough to buy a house.
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