The Role Of Canadian Women During World War II

The Canadian men who served in World War II are well known and respected for their efforts, something many Canadians today fondly remember and are proud of. However one must not forget that without women forming the backbone of Canada and other allied countries, the outcome of the war could have been drastically different. Simply put, they were just as essential as men in the war effort. Canadian women in the second world war changed from their previous roles of just being a good wife and mother to fighting in the Canadian Armed Forces. Even those who were not on the frontlines, served in the industries by taking male jobs which in turn freed more men to go overseas. Lastly, women were doing unpaid volunteer work back home (Mothers of the Home

Front During WWII), as well as creating organizations to benefit Canada, it’s citizens and those in the war all of which ensured a thriving economy (Chenier, 2006). Without the hard work of Canadian women, Canada might not have been in the same situation during and post-war.

During World War II, the government had it’s priority on recruiting as many people as possible whether male or female (The Impact of WWII on Women’s Work, n.d.). Therefore it’s no surprise that more than one million men and women served for the armed forces during the second world war (Stacey, 2013). While the majority of the armed forces were male, females were still placed in all 3 sections of the Canadian Armed Forces, with more than 6500 women in the navy (Stacey, 2013), over 17,000 women in the Royal Canadian Air Force (Stacey, 2013), and more than half of the 50,00 women who enlisted entered the Canadian Army (Wood, 2015). Women’s divisions were even created as early as 1941 as the government tried encouraging more women to join the Armed Forces (The Canadian Women's Army Corp, 2014). These were quickly established near the beginning of the war and were hiring women as young as 18 years old all the way to women who were 45 (The Canadian Women's Army Corp, 2014). The qualifications to enter were strict and women like men had to be put through vigorous training in camps at Vermilion, Alberta or Kitchener, Ontario (The Canadian Women's Army Corp, 2014). Women such as Juanita McKay and Vera Storey who both trained in Vermilion remember enduring tough physical training, tear gas, being paid very little, driving jeeps, and reading maps (Kozicka, P., Clark, L., 2013). Although the conditions were tough, they too pushed through it just like the Canadian men of the second World War. Through the vigorous training, women became more independent, disciplined, and cooperative. The majority of the men in the Army Corps were on the front lines but women too played crucial roles. Originally assigned simpler tasks such as cooking, sewing, and laundry but later worked in administrative/clerical tasks and health and communication roles (The Canadian Women's Army Corp, 2014) (Chenier, 2006). Some women even became medical assistant, radar operators and took on previously male only roles such as driving vehicles, or working as mechanics or radar operators (The Canadian Women's Army Corp, 2014) (Chenier, 2006). More specific examples include those in the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division, where women started in clerical and administrative roles but later worked as parachute riggers, laboratory assistants and in the metal and electrical trades (Chenier, 2006). On the other hand those in the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service were able to be employed as stenographers, secretaries, and switchboard operators (Chenier, 2006). Furthermore some women from the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service and the Canadian Women’s Armed Corps assisted in espionage and often did work involving spying and codebreaking (Chenier, 2006). Many of these women worked in Canadian provinces as well as Camp X, something that greatly aided in communications and subversion (Stafford, 2006). While these jobs all assisted the allies one way or another in the war, the female nurses who served with the military were truly the ones who kept Canadian soldiers fighting. In the second world war they were distributed to all 3 sections of the Armed Forces with about 4500 of them by the end of the war (The Nursing Sisters of Canada, 2014). An organization called The Nursing Service of the Royal Canadian Air Force was created during 1940 and many women had to serve in Canada at over a hundred different station hospitals (The Nursing Sisters of Canada, 2014). These brave women also travelled globally, going to the Dieppe Raid, Italy, Algeria, France, Belgium, and Hong Kong where they followed the front and were often within range of guns of shells (The Nursing Sisters of Canada, 2014). Some were even captured and had to endure terrible conditions for years until the war’s end (The Nursing Sisters of Canada, 2014). Even after the war, nurses still remained on duty to care for thousands of injured veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs’ hospitals. Without their spirit and assistance or any of the other females for that matter, many more would have died as they all contributed as supporting roles for men. This allowed men to focus more on their duties and in reality made their job slightly easier and more bearable.
Not only did women play a significant role in the military but they greatly backed up Canada’s economy and made it boom from 1939-1945. Their work in the industry provided the ammunitions, marine craft, aircraft, weaponry and much more for the men and women going over sea to fight. In fact Canada’s Gross Domestic Product doubled during the war and this was partly thanks to women. Women had already worked in factories in World War I, with 35,000 of them in munitions factories (Chenier, 2006). However this number rose to a staggering 261,000 in World War II, more than a 7 fold increase. (Chenier, 2006). Furthermore, the work of women accounted for 30 percent of the aircraft industry, 50 percent in gun plants, and more than 50 percent in ammunition inspection (Chenier, 2006). While women did not seem to provide as much as men, the majority of these women were inexperienced and had only taken upon these roles because of the dire situation at hand. Women were so deeply involved and committed to their position as more than 46% of women aged 14 to 59 were working by the end of 1943 and over 90% of all able-bodied single females aged 18-40 were also engaged in some form of work towards the end of 1943 (The Impact of WWII on Women’s Work, n.d.). Throughout the war, the number of women who were being employed increased over time as well from 5.1 million in 1939 to 7.25 million in 1943 (The Impact of WWII on Women’s Work, n.d.). Unfortunately women were paid far less by employers as they didn’t believe women were as capable and didn’t want to pay them for their hard work. They were paid less than men at about 53% for the same job (The Impact of WWII on Women’s Work, n.d.)yet they still took time away from their traditional lives and children for work. However there was advocation on a local level, showing the strong will and desire of women to work and agreements were added where both sexes would be paid the same (The Impact of WWII on Women’s Work, n.d.). Trade unions, campaigners and women debated with the government leading to equal rates starting April 1943 (The Impact of WWII on Women’s Work, n.d.). However, both the government and women were trying to get women into the workforce as possible and the government even provided state funding which allowed 1345 nurseries to be built during the war, a dramatic increase from only 14 in 1940 (The Impact of WWII on Women’s Work, n.d.). Thanks to this, more women entered the workforce and a small amount of them (more than WWI) remained there after as there more more jobs in the service industry (Connelly, 2006). Therefore, not only did women greatly assist in the industries during the war, but they benefited from it as they was more opportunity for employment after the war.

Third argument, women supported canada’s war effort.
While the roles of women in the military and industry were crucial, others played different roles which still contributed towards the war effort.

Women played many roles on Canadian home soil such as producing food, raising money for the war, and routinely volunteering. Since so many men were away, women had to take over and learn basic skills such as repairing cars and managing finances (Canadian Women During World War II, n.d.). They also became agricultural farmers (Canadian Women During World War II, n.d.) and learned how to drive tractors pick fruit, raised garden, and produced poultry and eggs (Pierson, 2008). Furthermore women were to left to run communities and in their job was to raise money to support Canadians on the frontline (Canadian Women During World War II, n.d.). One such story was when the city of Mission exceeded their quota for their war services fund as they rasied 2900 dollars while what was required was 2000 (Canadian Women During World War II, n.d.). While members of this community were not in the battle, they were doing their part by supporting their fellow Canadians on the front line. Public organizations were put into action such as the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada, the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, the Canadian Red Cross Society, and the Young Women's Christian Association (Pierson, 2008). These organizations were dedicated to informing citizens of events, initiating programs, increasing Canada’s power and influence, increasing employment, giving more educational opportunities, and supporting those in the war (Chenier, 2006). These organizations were grouped under the Women’s Voluntary Services (WVS) in 1942 by the government so they could be better directed and coordinated (Pierson, 2008). In addition, The federal WVS created a Block Plan where house to house canvassing and collecting would take place to help those in the community (Pierson, 2008). They also helped organize programs where they distributed ration

cards, recruited and trained staff, promoted war bond sales, and advised others to create ditty bags for those over seas (Pierson, 2008). These small actions that took place in Canada accumulated largely accumulated to Canada’s economy and kept not only those overseas in good condition but the Canadian citizens in Canada as well.
As one might see, it wasn’t just men who served greatly for their country as women played many necessary roles too. Whether those roles be overseas near the frontlines, in factories, or in community centres and organizations, it is clear that women were needed. Had there been no help from women during those times, the outcome of the war could have been much different. A famous motto at the time that many women followed was “we serve that men may fly, we serve that men may fight, we are the woman behind the men behind the guns” (Pierson, 2008). This motto truly represents World War II because the reality is without the support of women, the men would not have been successful in their positions at all as women were just as important. The women of World War II changed both their time and the various movements of the future and it is a fact that they contributed to the position Canada is in today.