Younger women entered the forces or war work, or joined the Women's Voluntary Services. However, when war was declared, membership actually fell. For the Women's Institute had the largest grass-roots membership of any women's organisation in the country and was bigger than all but the largest of men's trade unions. The country had to adapt and women were central to organising that adjustment. With the outbreak of war the population of the countryside almost doubled, with evacuees, military camps, key workers moved to the countryside away from the bombs, etc. Using records, archives, letters, diaries and interviews, the author tells the story of women who rose to the challenge and of how important the Women's Institute was, not only to the country, but to the women themselves - many of whom lived in remote areas and would have been isolated without the support and friendship of other women.

It tells of the remarkable role played by ordinary women in rural Britain during the war and how the government looked to them to organise evacuees, organise collections and, in effect, feed the nation. Indeed, the women of the WI during the Second World War were 'Jambusters' and this is their story. To begin with, this book must get some kind of credit for having the best title I have seen in some time. Making jam, making do and mending, gathering rosehips, keeping pigs and rabbits, housing evacuees, setting up canteens for the troops, knitting, singing and campaigning for a better Britain after the war: all these activities played a crucial role in war time. Big pictures and bravery are fashionable and exciting but it was the behind-the-scenes, nitty-gritty approach to the daily problems presented by the war that were at the heart of what the WI did to make a difference. Jambusters tells the story of the minute and idiosyncratic details of everyday life during the Second World War for the 5,546 Women's Institutes and how they helped to improve the lot of millions of their fellow Britons. With all the vigour, energy and enthusiasm at their disposal, a third of a million country women set out to make their lives and the lives of those around them more bearable in what they described as 'a period of insanity'. The whole of its previous history - two decades of educating, entertaining and supporting women and campaigning on women's issues - culminated in the enormous collective responsibility felt by the members to 'do their bit' for Britain.

He Second World War was the WI's finest hour.

Jambusters by julie summers