The launch, held at the Bendigo Library, featured the Bendigo Youth Choir performing their song Women of the War, written by exhibition organiser Gail Godber.

Ms Godber said the inspiration for the exhibition came from documentaries she saw about women's roles during war. She was shocked to learn how much women did. 

"I knew they knitted socks for soldiers and that was about it," she said.

Ms Godber's mother and aunts worked as switchboard operators and were often the first to find out about the deaths of men they had grown up with. 

Other women were conscripted to work in munitions factories or the Land Army.

"You could've been working as a milliner and then receive a letter and be sent wherever this Manpower program told you to go to work for the next however many years," Ms Godber said.

She said it was important to record the stories of women's experiences in war.

"These women are now in their 90s and there is a sense of urgency about detailing these," she said.

Ms Godber said many of the stories had never been told.

"When they came back, it was about their husbands or fathers who had been in the war. It was a man's story that people wanted to hear, so they often didn't talk about what they did," she said.

Mandy Cooper's grandmother Margaret Henderson was one of the women who never spoke about her experiences during the war.

It wasn't until after Margaret's death that her family found out about her contribution.

"When I was preparing her eulogy, I found a certificate of appreciation for her efforts entertaining the troops," Ms Cooper said.

Margaret served as a firefighter in Ballarat and also as a member of the Australian Comfort Fund, entertaining air force and army troops as part of a performing arts group.

Margaret has been used as the face of the exhibition, with her image gracing posters around town. Ms Cooper said it was very emotional to see her grandmother being recognised for her work, particularly as her own daughter Carly is one of the members of the Bendigo Youth Choir which performed Women of the War. 

The exhibition is running at the Bendigo Library for two weeks.