Women in the Military
Even though women were not allowed to participate in combat during WWII, thousands of women joined the Canadian Armed Forces in other roles. Women in the military served as nurses and in all three branches of the Armed Forces.
Women have served as nursing sisters during conflicts in Canada since the 1885 North-West Rebellion. They were called nursing sisters because they originally were drawn from religious organizations. During WWII approximately 4500 women served as nurses attached to all three branches of the Canadian military. More than two-thirds of these nurses served overseas and wore a military uniform paired with a white veil. Canadian nursing sisters were commissioned officers, and Canada was the first Allied country to give their nursing sisters this rank.
The Second World War was the first major conflict that saw women serving in the military in roles outside nursing. The first women’s division of a Canadian military branch was the Royal Canadian Air Force – Women’s Division (RCAF-WD) on July 2, 1941. The RCAF-WD was designed to alleviate some of the pressure of administrative duties on male RCAF members. Women filled support roles; the motto of the RCAF-WD was “We serve that men may fly.” Initially women received two-thirds the pay of their male counterparts, but by mid-1943 this increased to four-fifths. Women were not allowed to be married or have dependents, like children. Women in the RCAF-WD were demobilized and discharged by 1947; women serving as RCAF nurses continued to serve. Women could join the RCAF again in 1951. In total, about 17,000 women served with in the RCAF-WD during the Second World War.
A MEMBER OF THE CWAC ANSWERING THE TELEPHONE. IMAGE FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.
In August 1941, the Canadian government created the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC) designed to allow women to enlist in support roles in the Canadian military. However, the CWAC was not officially part of the army when it was first created. Women in the CWAC were trained as drivers, cooks, clerks, typists, stenographers, telephone operators, messengers, and quartermasters. Like women serving in other branches of the Canadian military, members of the CWAC were paid a portion of their male counterparts. Initially women received about two-thirds of what men were paid, and it was increased to four-fifths in 1943. In March 1942, the CWAC was finally integrated into the Canadian Army and adopted army rank structures and insignia; buttons on CWAC uniforms featured the face of Minerva, goddess of war (also called Athena in Greek). Women serving in traditionally male roles also created some social tensions. The morals of women in the CWAC were often called into question and they were considered ‘cheap’ or ‘loose.’ Nevertheless, thousands of women still joined the CWAC because they felt it was their patriotic duty and a way to help the war effort. In total around 21,000 women served in the CWAC during the Second World War, many serving overseas.
Along with the air force and army, the Canadian Navy also created a women’s division called the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service in July 1942. These women were nicknamed WRENS, after the name for women serving in the British Navy. Like the RCAF-WD, WRENS were primarily designed to take on administrative and clerical roles to free up more men for active service. As the war progressed, WRENS took on expanded roles, like on-shore radar operators and coding technicians. Approximately 7000 women served in the Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Most of the women were stationed in either Halifax, Nova Scotia or Esquimalt, British Columbia.
Large scale conflict often entails social, political, and economic upheaval. The Canadian Home Front during WWII experienced its own struggles and changes as the war progressed. This blog series will look at some controversies and uprisings that occurred on Canadian soil during the war, like conscription and conscientious objectors. This series will also address new roles for women and social changes that occurred as women filled new roles within Canadian society and the Canadian Armed Forces.