IW meant Inland Waterways, despite jokes that recast the initials as 'idle women.' Their work was the opposite: small crews moved heavy cargo over long routes and encountered different communities, air raids, and wartime hazards along the way. Their national organization resembled the Women's Land Army, while their mobile viewpoint offers a revealing way to understand home-front logistics.
Notable Point · 2:23:59-2:29:05
The Inland Waterways women as a national war workforce
The women marked IW for Inland Waterways endured an unfair nickname while performing hard, mobile work that linked factories and cities across Britain.