At Home and Overseas

Women at War

Conscription (again!)

Women at Home and at WarAt first, men didn’t want women working

in the factoriesBefore long, women put their brains

AND muscles to workThey turned raw materials into tanks,

planes, and ships14-year-olds built life rafts for the Navy

(my Mom! )

What Changed in the Factories1,000,000 women in factories by 1943Daycare centres set up so moms could

workWorkers DONATED time to build arms!Men often outnumbered by womenWOMEN wolf-whistled at MEN!

Rosie the Riveter

Women in UniformSociety had wanted to keep women out

of factories – that didn’t workThen they wanted to keep women out of

the Armed Forces

Guess what?!?That didn’t work either!

By the end of the war, there were 45,000 Canadian service women

Served in a variety of non-combat roles: radar operators, truck and ambulance drivers, nurses, secretaries, mechanics

Often found themselves in battle anyway

Women in Uniform

Women on Landing Craft

Air Craft Mechanics

Flyers

Results?Women gained new respect and

freedom Knew the satisfaction of earning their own

money Knew the unfairness of getting paid less for

doing the same work as men Pants became fashionable due to the type

of work they did

Department of Munitions message:“Please don’t stare at my pants. Would you like

to know why I wear trousers like the men when I go about the streets? Because I’m doing a man’s job for my country’s sake. My coveralls are my working clothes. I wear them for my safety’s sake. They are less likely to become entangled in the machinery. I work in a munitions plant. Every piece of war material I help to produce helps to keep the enemy away from our shores.”

Conscription - AgainShould a person be forced to fight

during war?

Conscription In 1940, Parliament approved

conscription for home defence onlyMen who were drafted into this army

were jeered at and called “zombies” by people who thought every young man should volunteer to fight

“Conscription if necessary…

… but not necessarily conscription”- Prime Minister King

King used this slogan during a campaign for a vote on conscription in 1942

Ontario, Manitoba and BC voted 80% in favour of conscription

Quebec voted 72% AGAINST

King Votes

King’s Conscription Crisis

1944Up until 1944, most Canadians had not

seen much action in the war Invasions of Italy and Normandy

changed that – losses were highKing ordered 16,000 Home Defence

soldiers to go overseasThere was an uproar but most Quebec

leaders stood by King

End of WarFortunately for everyone, the war ended

soon afterwardsOnly 2,500 conscripted soldiers fought

ResultCanadian French/English unity was

strained but not broken