Women During WW1
In Service:
 Canadian women were sent overseas as nurses,
ambulance drivers and staff officers.
 Two thousand women worked as nursing sisters during
the Great War, another six thousand worked in the civil
service.
 Nursing sisters, like male doctors, witnessed the
devastation or war on a regular basis, and put their lives
at risk, working in casualty clearing stations close to the
front lines and on hospital ships.
 They served on the Western front in France. Forty six
nursing sisters gave their lives during the Great War.
On the Home front:
 The Canadian war effort at home was fuelled by
volunteers and the wives and family members left
behind.
 The Military Hospital Commission cared for the sick and
wounded. Churches and women’s groups, such as the
Daughters of the Empire, the Red Cross and the Dorcas
Club, rallied to support husbands, family and friends.
 Women sewed pyjamas and socks and sent care
packages to troops overseas. Aboriginal women, like
other Canadian women, formed patriotic leagues and
joined Red Cross societies and other charitable groups.
 Canadian women also went to work and took over
those occupations previously considered “men’s work.”
In this way, the Great War offered an unprecedented
opportunity for women to prove their abilities.
 Women worked on farms assisting with the harvest, and
up to 30 000 Canadian women found work as labourers
in the new munitions factories.
Although the opportunities were new and exciting,
women would have a long battle ahead of them for equal
rights. Women were often paid less for the same position
previously held by men and often faced hostile working
conditions.
When the war ended in 1919, women were expected to
leave their jobs and return to the home, and in many
cases, they were actually fired to open up employment
for the returning soldiers. Clearly, the fight for equality
was far from over, yet the contribution of Canadian
women during the war was a key component to Canada’s
growth during the Great War, and Canada’s role in the
war itself.