![Women workers producing primers - AN19900075-081](/web/20061029132447im_/http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/newspapers/canadawar/images/women_war_homefront_min.gif)
Women workers producing primers
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Life on the Home Front: Women and the War on the Home Front
With so many men absent from home in the armed forces and with
industries pushing for more production, the Canadian government
actively urged women to work in the war effort.
In 1942 Ottawa registered all women born between 1918 and 1922,
those then ages 20 to 24, into the Selective Service
to meet possible labour shortages. In 1943-1944,
some 439,000 women were in the service sectors of the Canadian economy.
A further 373,000 had jobs in manufacturing, and of these about
261,000 worked directly in the munitions industries, a large number
doing tasks traditionally considered to belong to men. Women, for
example, worked in shipyards and in the smelter at Sudbury, and
made up 30% of the workforce in Canada's aircraft industry.
Many more women worked in the home or on farms, and often combined
this with volunteer work with the Red Cross or in military canteens.
They also organized salvage drives or helped to prepare packages
for the military overseas or for prisoners of war in the Axis countries.
The Department of National War Services coordinated many of these
voluntary activities at a national level.
Related Newspaper Articles
- Invaluable Help Given by Women of Eastern Star
The Hamilton Spectator, 13/12/1941
- Women in Industry
The Globe And Mail, 26/12/1941
- A Most Important Feature
The Toronto Daily Star, 26/03/1942
- More Day Nurseries
The Hamilton Spectator, 15/06/1942
- Great National Societies Convince in Achievement
The Globe And Mail, 12/07/1943
- Home, Business Women and Nurses Volunteer
The Globe And Mail, 14/07/1943
- C.P.R. Hiring Number of Girls
The Hamilton Spectator, 12/08/1943
- Another Call to Women
The Globe And Mail, 19/08/1942
- Women of Canada: Get Ready to Register
The Hamilton Spectator, 10/09/1942
- I.O.D.E to Supply Wedding Clothes
The Globe And Mail, 09/09/1944
- Chaloult Says Working Women Reduce Families
The Hamilton Spectator, 15/03/1945
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