Between 1914 and 1918, factories in countries at war, specially in Britain, altered their functions to make munitions, as it was difficult to produce the big amount of weapons and ammunitions needed to supply the armed forces.The women that worked in munitions factories were popularly known as munitionettes.
After the Shell Crisis in 1915, when a shotage of artillery shells caused a political crisis in Britain, a Ministry of Munitions was created to oversee all aspects of production and supply of munitions. It also forced the factories to admit women as employees.
By the end of the War, more than 700,000 women had become munitionettes and around 80% of weapons and ammunition used by the British Army during the War was made by women.