A 100-YEAR-OLD woman has reflected upon how much life has changed for women in the last century in light of International Women’s Day.

Doris Prewitt, born in Jericho, Oxford, in 1920, said she has seen ‘many changes for women’ throughout her lifetime.

Ms Prewitt, who grew up above the Old Fire Station on George Street and attended St Bartholomew’s school, said: “Women have much more choice when it comes to getting married, having children, and going to work nowadays.”

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When World War Two broke out Ms Prewitt was only 19, but she decided to join the war effort by working for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).

The WAAF was established in 1939 as the female auxiliary of the Royal Airforce.

Ms Prewitt’s first role in the air force was as a clerk and later she became Leading Aircraft Woman.

This role included being responsible for ordering parts for planes, checking stocks, and helping maintain aircrafts.

Despite the work that these women were doing for the war-effort, however, they only received two-thirds pay compared with their male counterparts in the RAF.

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The war brought personal tragedy to Doris, as her polish finance was killed in an attack.

A few years later she met her husband-to-be Doug, who she married on January 8 1944 in Littlemore.

He had volunteered into the RAF as a young man and the two met through the RAF at Sutton Coldfield.

Doris said: “‘It’s only when I look back that I realise what I’ve been through.

“At the time we just got on with it.

“Life went back to normal after the war and we didn’t exactly know how terrible things had been back then.”

After the war ended Ms Prewitt worked as a florist and at Selfridge’s while looking after her two sons, called Bernard and Steven.

The centenarian said: “Motherhood was wonderful.

“I wanted to have a happy family.

“After everything that happened in my youth, I was very fortunate. “My greatest pride was being a mother and a housewife.”

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Ms Prewitt added that she sees coronavirus as an enemy we need to fight collectively – and she is pleased to see women in that fight.

She said: “I’m very impressed with all the women involved in science and helping to come up with the vaccine for the coronavirus.”

Ms Prewitt also said she was ‘delighted’ that the current vice president of America is a black woman.

She said: “Happiness comes in all sorts of forms

"I’ve had a very happy life.

"I consider myself very lucky."

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Ms Prewitt has two grandchildren called Fiona and Richard, as well as one great-grandson called Braden.

The 100-year-old now resides at Spencer Court in Woodstock, run by The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT).

This year’s International Women's Day theme is to 'choose to challenge'.

This challenge is to call out gender bias and inequality.