BEING scalped was just one of the occupational hazards faced daily by the Scotswomen who worked in the munitions factories during WWI.

Another burden they had to bear was being paid less than men for the same work.

Yet, with most of the men at the front, their families depended on their meagre pay and if they died or suffered horrific injuries the blow was tremendous for their dependents, financially as well as emotionally.

However there was little official sympathy or support for the mothers or children of the women that died and indeed being scalped appears to have been dismissed as the workers’ fault.

One account of an accident in Bridgeton in 1917 states: “Accidents in engineering shops, it is said, are usually the fault of the workers.

“They drop shells on their feet, they put their fingers in machinery which they have no business to touch and lose a finger-tip in doing so, they go too near it and injure an arm, they neglect to wear their caps or wear them so that most of their hair is visible and get partially scalped in consequence. And partial scalping, the writer was informed by a welfare supervisor in one of the factories she visited, is less dreaded among the girls than one might suppose because they have discovered that it ultimately improves the growth of the hair.”

Now as the commemorations of WWI draw to a close, the stories of the women who suffered are finally being told.

WHERE CAN WE HEAR THEM?

As part of Scotland’s Local Storytelling Campaign there’s a storytelling event and exhibition at the National Library of Scotland on November 10.

Called Motherhood, Loss and the First World War it focuses on the stories of women’s experiences of losing children during the First World War.

It’s a lesser known tale that is needing to be told, according to storyteller Jan Bee Brown who has unearthed stories, photographs and letters from women of that time.

“I am fascinated by the whole idea of commemorating the mothers,” said Brown, whose great uncle died during the war. “It was said that when the guns went silent, the men went silent. Men did not speak about their experiences but the women did - they needed to - and I felt it was important to find out about their legacy.

“The power of storytelling lets us hear the voices of these women because ‘herstory’ is not usually written down.”

AND THE SCALPING?

One mother whose story Brown has uncovered was a woman who lost her daughter in an accident at a munitions factory in Port Glasgow.

“She was scalped as the women were not allowed hairpins so the only protection they had for their long hair was a scarf or mobcap,” she explained.

As they worked their 12-hour shifts, it would have been a constant battle to keep their – usually – long hair from getting caught in the machines. Many were seriously injured or killed, including Isabella Crouthers’ daughter.

The only record of her death is a letter from her grief-stricken mother buried in the archives of the Imperial War Museum.

It states: “Dear Sir or Madam, this is the photo of my Dear Daughter, this is the only sort of Photo that I have to send, the loss of her has been very great to us and for ever will I never will get over her Death, she was so Good and never was absent from her work and was at her work when she was killed, my Dear Girl it is with Deep regret I write this, Yours with kind regards, Isabella Crouthers Sen.”

“She probably got no compensation and maybe sending her letter and photo was the only way to draw attention to her loss,” said Brown.

WHAT ELSE HAS SHE FOUND?

Mothers often wanted every detail of their boys’ death.

“A common thread is wanting information on where, when and how they died,” said Brown. “They needed something to hold on to as well – maybe a button from their uniform, anything to remember them by.”

The stories to be told at the National Library will feature Elizabeth Muncaster, whose son Roy is the only American soldier buried on Islay after losing his life when the troopship Tuscania was torpedoed just off the island in 1918.

“I will be looking at way the people of Islay rescued and tended the shipwrecked,” said Brown. “There is quite a well-known story about four women who spent the night sewing an American flag for the mass funeral. The island women could not bury their own boys but they could bury these ones with dignity. Having a body to bury was an important thing but many mothers did not have that opportunity. Roy was buried on February 8 but was still listed as missing on March 15 so his mother had no idea her boy was lying under the soil of Islay.

“There are also letters in Islay museum from other mothers asking whether their boys had been given dry clothes before their burial. It was important for them to know they had been taken care of, as they were not able to do it themselves.”

LEST WE FORGET

Brown said it had been a privilege to research the stories.

“I think the commemorations have been really important because we have saved so many stories that might otherwise have been lost,” she said.

The event at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh is on November 10 from 2-4pm and the organisers hope others will come and share their stories.

Motherhood, Loss and the First World War is part of Remember Together 2018 a centenary commemoration programme led by Big Ideas and funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Big Lottery Fund.

Tickets are available via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/motherhood-loss-and-the-first-world-war-tickets-49951483231

The National Library of Scotland event is part of Scotland’s Local Storytelling Campaign, a creative outreach initiative organised by Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland (TRACS) that is running across Scotland to November 30.

Community groups can apply for a £75 subsidy towards the booking of a professional storyteller from The Storytelling Forum’s directory of storytellers. For more information, contact National Storytelling Co-ordinator, Miriam Morris miriam@tracscotland.org Find out more about Remember Together 2018: https://www.big-ideas.org/