British Women, Disability and the Second World War 1939-1946

This article examines the experience of disabled women during the Second World War. It details the ways in which women were disabled, how they were treated in the Services and the workplace, the processes of rehabilitation that were open to them and how they were catered for by central government. By looking at disabled women the article sheds light on one of the last understudied minorities in history, and seeks to add to the extensive historiography on women and war. The article concludes that disabled women had different wartime experiences to their male counterparts, but that they are a group that requires sustained future historical investigation.