Ontario Women's History
Ontario in World War II: Women in the War
Table of Contents
IntroductionIndigenous Women in Ontario Indigenous Women in Ontario: Pauline JohnsonSettler Women in Ontario Settler Women in Ontario: Laura Secord Settler Women in Ontario: Mary Ann Shadd Cary Settler Women in Ontario: Emily Stowe and Augusta Stowe Gullen Settling Children in Ontario: Women's RolesWomen in 20th Century Ontario The Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario Ontario in World War I: "Women's Years" Agnes Macphail, Member of Parliament Eliza Padginton, PostmistressOntario in World War II Ontario in World War II: Women in the War Ontario in World War II: Women on the Home FrontAfter The War Oral Histories of VaughanMore ResourcesThe Progression of Settler Women's Roles in Ontario From 1800s to 1960sOntario has so many heroic stories about our women in battle and near the front lines in World War Two. We also have wonderful successes and achievements by women overseas in administrative and clerical positions. Many of these stories made newspapers, radio, and TV broadcasts; countless more were only shared amongst family and friends.
The following stories speak for themselves. Ontario women were given their first experiences of military training and discipline, shipping around the country to work in different contexts. Many sent to other provinces and overseas were travelling for the first time away from their homes.
Clipping about overseas nurse Lieutenant Gladys Simpson of Kinmount. Courtesy the Kawartha Lakes Public Library Digital Archive. [Learn More]
Private Ruth Finley with her CWAC comrades, posing with a totem pole. Courtesy the Kawartha Lakes Public Library Digital Archive. [Learn More]
Private Jean Thacker on the day of her enlistment with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps on 28 January 1943, at the Longue Pointe Barracks in Montreal. Courtesy the Kawartha Lakes Public Library Digital Archive. [Learn More]
Canadian Women's Army Corps marching in a Victory Loan Parade, 2 May 1943, Montreal. Courtesy the Oakville Museum. [Learn More]
Laura Nadine Hunziger, Thelma Earnshaw, & Marian Kathleen Kosowan, in 1940. Courtesy the Rosseau Historical Society. [Learn More]
Sgt. Green served with the Women’s Army and saw action in England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Courtesy the Kawartha Lakes Public Library Digital Archive. [Learn More]
"Pte. Vivian Geach says she likes England fine" from the Lindsay Post, August 14 1944. Courtesy the Kawartha Lakes Public Library Digital Archive. [Learn More]
Civil Defence Ambulance Drivers in England, in 1942. Courtesy the Oakville Museum. [Learn More]
Courtesy the Kawartha Lakes Public Library. [Learn More]
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