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Story: Public service

Women in the public service: Second World War

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Women in the public service: Second World War

Anthea Abercrombie, a technician at the Dominion Physical Laboratory in Gracefield, Lower Hutt, measures screw gauges in the meterology room in this 1943 photo. The number of women public servants increased sharply during the Second World War, and continued to increase for some years afterwards, to cope with a rising population and heavy demand for public services.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, War Effort Collection

Reference: 1/4-000431-F

by John Dobrée Pascoe

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Richard Shaw, Public service – Reform, 1912 to 1962, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/33022/women-in-the-public-service-second-world-war (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Richard Shaw, published 31 May 2012.