Museum of Fashion Malvern presents Heroic Handicrafts: Covert Weapons of War Speaker: Esther Dobson (Associate Lecturer in History, University of Worcester) Forget the cliché of women making-do-and-mending quietly at home while men were away on the fighting front. Handicrafts, in fact, became ingenious tools of espionage, morale, sabotage, and propaganda during the Second World War. Esther uncovers the hidden tales of how women used domestic craft skills to assemble spy disguises for SOE operatives, smuggle secrets, and turn needlecraft into a covert weapon of war. Her fascinating talk blends life history with social history, using a wide variety of primary sources to tell a hitherto unsung story of the war effort. Esther Dobson is an Associate Lecturer in History, and Research and Knowledge Exchange Facilitator at the University of Worcester. Her research centres around modern women’s history, with specific interests in the value of needlecraft and clothing to women in Britain during World War Two. Esther’s teaching interests echo her research into women’s history, with experience in leading an undergraduate module on transnational women’s suffrage. This talk will take place in Studio One.

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