A considerable amount of further research has been carried out since the Parish at War articles were first published several years ago.The updated research is now published in the book A Parish at War launched on 11.11.11 and obtainable via Deddington Library or email Rob Forsyth
Inland Waterways
By Michael Allbrook
'Idle Women'
One of the smaller wartime organisations was the “Inland Waterways.” This select band worked on the canals and waterways but do they impinge on our Parish? Well, slightly because the Oxford Canal runs along part of our eastern boundary and it was operational during the war transporting essential supplies and secondly because a lady in Kings Sutton, Olga Kevelos was one of their number. Olga later became landlady of one of the pubs in the village. She died in October 2009 and it was her obituary which drew this organisation to our attention.
The so-called 'Idle Women' each answered an advertisement in the national press in the early Forties and found themselves, after six weeks' training, operating the boats which each carried up to 50 tons of essential supplies. The nickname was derived from the initials IW on their badges. This stood for Inland Waterways, but the territorially jealous boat people - born and bred to the canal system - called them ‘idle women’. Between 1943 -1946 some 45 women, aged from 18 to about 35, worked on the canals and waterways replacing men who had joined the services. The Idle Women transported aircraft parts and machinery from the London Docks to Birmingham; then collected coal and took it to London. After a round trip of some three weeks transporting these and other vital supplies, they had the option of a week's unpaid leave.
Teams of three women managed a pair of boats and, unlike the Land Girls, they didn't get any extra rations. They lived on cocoa with condensed milk, national loaf and peanut butter and, when possible, they scavenged swedes and potatoes from the fields as they passed. It was essential to be able to accept living rough. Many women weren't used to it, and it was very hard . . . lighting fires, using buckets for loos, cooking on black ranges, sharing a tiny back cabin. In addition to living in very cramped conditions, the girls had to load and unload the cargo, repair the engine, navigate locks and tunnels, empty the bilges, scrub hatches, chop firewood, prepare meals.
Emma Smith wrote about her experiences in 'Maiden's Trip' and Susan Woolfitt wrote her book, Idle Women.