Children During Wartime
It was not just adults that faced huge changes throughout their daily lives during the war, children were affected, too. Kids were encouraged by their government, parents, and other organizations to contribute in ways they could to the war effort. Many had parents overseas or working in war industries, and the kids also wanted to do their part.
One of the most common ways that the lives of children changed during the war was the adjustments to their home life. Many had fathers on the front lines and mothers working in new positions outside the home. These new roles for their parents meant that kids had to take on more of the household chores. Young people were also used as labour for farms across the country. With less adults available to help with the harvest, young people stepped up. Some schools even waived attendance or put off starting new material until the harvest was over!
Kids also contributed to the war effort by participating in fundraising. Children learned how to knit, even the boys, and made items for the soldiers overseas. Kids wrote letters for the troops, and helped put together red cross packages that were sent overseas. They also collected goods for rubber and metal salvage drives. Additionally, children were encouraged to buy Victory Bonds. They didn’t have the same access to capital as their parents, and often bought their bonds in installments until they could send in for the full amount.
Children’s popular culture was also impacted by the war. Canada blocked the import of certain goods from the United States to save vital American dollars. As a result, children’s comic books were not being imported to Canada. Canadian publishers began to fill the gap, and soon children were reading new comic books. However, the Canadian publishers did not have the resources to print their comics in colour, so they were only available in black and white. These wartime comic books were nicknamed “Canadian Whites.” A Vancouver based publisher, Maple Leaf Publishing, was one of the largest producers of Canadian Whites. The Second World War years also saw the first appearance of Johnny Canuck, a Canadian Nazi-fighter.
Finally, some children even experienced war on the front lines. Young men lied about their ages to enlist in the Canadian military. Boys as young as 13 tried to enlist. Of these volunteers, young men that looked older were accepted into service. Many soldiers turned sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen in uniform. Many of the rejected volunteers served in the Merchant Navy, supporting the war effort in the way they could.
Transitioning to a war economy changed the roles of civilians. Some new industries were created for the sole purpose of serving the war effort, and in other cases existing industries ramped up production to meet new wartime demands. In this blog series learn about how civilians, including men, women, and children, were put to work in new ways.