When war began to look unavoidable in the late 1930s, Canadian women felt obligated to help the fight. In October 1938, the Women’s Volunteer Service was established in Victoria, BC. Soon, all the provinces and territories followed suit and similar volunteer groups were emerged. “Husbands, brothers, fathers, boyfriends were all joining up, doing something to help win the war. Surely women could help as well!” [16] In addition to the Red Cross, several volunteer corps had designed themselves after auxiliary groups from Britain. These corps had uniforms, marching drills and a few had rifle training. It soon was clear, that a unified governing system would be beneficial to the corps. The volunteers in British Columbia donated two dollars each to pay the expenses so a representative could talk to politicians in Ottawa. Although all of the politicians appeared sympathetic to the cause, it remained ‘premature’ in terms of national necessity.[16]
In June 1941, the Canadian Women’s Army Corps was established. The women who enlisted would take over
Drivers of light mechanical transport vehicles
Cooks in hospitals and messes
Clerks, typists, and stenographers at camps and training centres
Telephone operators and messengers
Canteen helpers[16]
On July 2, 1942 women were given permission to enlist in what would be known as the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. Lastly the Royal Canadian Navy created the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service or the WRENS.[16] The WRENS were the only corps that were officially a part of their sanctioning body as a women’s division. This led to bureaucratic issues that would be solved most easily by absorbing the civilian corps governed by military organizations, into women’s divisions as soldiers. According to the RCAF the following are the requirements of an enlisted woman:
Must be at least 18 years of age, and younger than 41 years of age
Must be of medical category A4B (equivalent of A1)
Must be equal to or over 5 feet (152 cm), and fall within the appropriate weight for her height, not being too far above or below the standard
Must have a minimum education of entrance into high school
Be able to pass the appropriate trades test
Be of good character with no record of conviction for an indictable offence[16]
Women would not be considered for enlistment if they were married and had children dependent on them. Training centres were required for all of the new recruits. They could not be sent to the existing centres as it was necessary that they be separated from male recruits. The Canadian Women’s Army Corps set up centres in Vermilion, Alberta and Kitchener, Ontario. Ottawa and Toronto were the locations of the training centres for the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. The WRENS were outfitted in Galt, Ontario.[16] Each service had to come up with the best possible appeal to the women joining, for they all wanted them. In reality, the women went where their fathers, brothers and boyfriends were.[16] Women had numerous reasons for wanting to join the effort; whether they had a father, husband, or brother in the forces, or simply felt the patriotic duty to help. One woman blatantly exclaimed that she could not wait to turn eighteen to enlist, because she had fantasies of assassinating Hitler. Many women aged 16 or 17 lied about their age in order to enlist. The United States would only allow women to join that were at least twenty-one. For their young female citizens, Canada was the logical option. Recruitment for the different branches of the Canadian Forces was set up in places like Boston and New York. Modifications were made to girls with US citizenship, having their records marked, “Oath of allegiance not taken by virtue of being a citizen of The United States of America.” [16]
Women had to adhere to medical examinations, and fitness requirements as well as training in certain trades depending on the aspect of the armed forces they wanted to be a part of. Enlisted women were issued entire uniforms minus the undergarments, which they would receive a quarterly allowance for.[16]
To be an enlisted woman during the creation stages was not easy. Besides the fact that everyone was learning as they went, they did not receive the support they needed from the male recruits. To begin with, women were initially paid two-thirds of what a man at the same level would make.[17] As the war progressed the military leaders began to see the substantial impact the women could make. This was taken into account and the women received a raise to four-fifths of the wages of a man.[17] A female doctor however, would receive equal financial compensation to her male counterpart. The negative reaction of men towards the female recruits was addressed in propaganda films. Proudly She Marches and Wings on Her Shoulder were made to show the acceptance of female recruits, while showing the men that although they were taking jobs traditionally intended for men, they would be able to retain their femininity. .[16]
Other problems faced early on for these women were that of a more racial stature. An officer of the CWAC had to write to her superiors regarding whether or not a girl of “Indian nationality” would be objected for enlistment. Because of Canada’s large population of immigrants, German women also enlisted creating great animosity between recruits.[16] The biggest difficulty was however the French-Canadian population. In a document dated 25 November 1941, it was declared that enlisted women should ‘unofficially’ speak English. However, seeing the large number of capable women that this left out, a School of English was stabled for recruits in mid-1942. .[16] In 1942, Mary Greyeyes-Reid became the first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Forces.[18] She was featured in photographs to represent native people in the forces, yet at the same time was not welcome in the barracks due to discrimination.[19]
Once in training, some women felt that they had made a mistake. Several women cracked under the pressure and were hospitalized. Other women felt the need to escape, and simply ran away. The easiest and fastest ticket home however was pregnancy. Women who found out that they were expecting were given a special, quickly executed, discharge.[16]
The women who successfully graduated from training had to find ways to entertain themselves to keep morale up. Softball, badminton, tennis, and hockey were among popular pastimes for recruits. .[16]
Religion was of a personal matter to the recruits. A minister of sorts was usually on site for services. For Jewish girls, it was custom that they were able to get back to their barracks by sundown on Sabbath and holidays; a Rabbi would be made available if possible. .[16]
At the beginning of the war 600,000 women in Canada held permanent jobs in the private sector, by the peak in 1943 1.2 million women had jobs.[20] Women quickly gained a good reputation for their mechanical dexterity and fine precision due to their smaller stature.[20] At home a woman could work as: