Weekly Review No 138 - Women Truck Drivers

While World War II caused heartbreak and economic pain for New Zealand, there was a positive effect for Kiwi women — more job opportunities. Thousands of women moved from homemaker to factory worker, truck driver and weapon maker, filling job vacancies left by the 200,000+ men serving in the armed forces. In this National Film unit report, women "do their bit" driving large trucks, as well as shifting bags of mail. The narrator reflects stereotypes of the time when he says: "They work like men but they’re women still when it comes to knocking back a cup of chatter-water.”

Despite other wartime deficiencies, our mail service has never been seriously interrupted thanks to these women who are doing a man-size job.

– The narrator, on Kiwi women working in roles usually reserved for men