October is Women’s History Month in Canada. Proclaimed in 1992 by the Government of Canada, Women’s History Month provides an opportunity for Canadians to learn about the important contributions of women and girls to our society – and to the quality of our lives today. This year’s theme is Women in Canadian Military History.
Top 20 Facts about women in Canadian Military History.
Status of Women Canada, (2011). Top 20 Facts of Women in Canadian Military History. Women’s History Month. Retrieved from: http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/whm-mhf/index-eng.html
1. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women were behind-the-scenes in French and English military actions in Canada. They provided key support, protecting property from marauders, and preparing ammunition, food and medicines during times of conflict.
2. If not for Laura Secord, Canada might be part of the United States today. In 1813, Secord made a brave journey on foot during the War of 1812. She saved Canada by warning the British of an American attack.
3. Nurses were the first women in the Canadian military. Twelve women served in the Northwest Rebellion in 1885 as nurses in military hospitals.
4. News must get out, especially in times of conflict. In 1898, Canadian journalist Catherine Ferguson (known by her nom de plume Kit Coleman) became the world’s first woman war correspondent, covering the Spanish-American War.
5. Until well into the 20th century, women were mostly left out of military service. But they were ready to serve, organizing for the home defence of Canada from invasion during both World Wars. In 1941, women’s branches of military services were created as auxiliaries to the air force and the army. Many new recruits came from among the approximately 5,000 skilled home-defence members across Canada.
6. It took war to open doors for women in the military. In both World Wars, the growing wartime bureaucracy meant women became officially recognized members of the armed forces in areas beyond nursing. By the Second World War, the military had trained servicewomen in all three branches.
7. During First World War, more than 2,800 women served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
8. Death is a harsh reality of war and does not discriminate against gender. During First World War, 39 Canadian women military staff died in service.
9. Wartime military nurses were the first Canadian women to vote in a federal election. In 1917, some 2,000 military nurses were given the vote – a right they exercised in the federal election held that year.
10. Even in times of crisis, love is in the air! In January 1940, the first wartime marriage of the Second World War took place in England between a British woman and a Canadian serviceman. By the War’s end, some 48,000 such marriages followed and Canada gained a generation of “war brides.”
11. There was a woman behind a big warplane, the Hawker Hurricane! In the Second World War, Canadian engineer Elizabeth “Elsie” Gregory MacGill (1905-1980) oversaw the production of Hawker Hurricane fighter planes, used in the Battle of Britain. As a result, Elsie earned the nickname “Queen of the Hurricanes.”
12. During the Second World War, 72 Aboriginal women from Canada served overseas.
13. Women served with courage in both World Wars. But in 1946, after the Second World War ended, the women’s sections of all three Canadian armed service branches were disbanded. Luckily, officials had second thoughts. In 1951, all three services of the Canadian military begin to recruit women into the reserves. By 1955, more than 5,000 women were serving in the Canadian military.
14. In 1955, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Navy began to recruit women for regular services, not only the reserves.
15. In 1965, the Government of Canada decided to continue to employ women in the Canadian Armed Forces, but it established a ceiling of 1,500 women members across all three services.
16. In 1979, the Canadian military colleges opened their doors to women and the first group of female students enrolled in the college the following year.
17. Major Wendy Clay paved the way on August 19, 1974, when she qualified for her pilot’s wings – alas, before the pilot trade was open to all women. On February 13th, 1981, Canadian Air Force Captains Nora Bottomley, Dee Brasseur and Leah Mosher followed Major Clay’s lead, graduating as the first Canadian women military pilots.
18. In 1981, Second-Lieutenant Inge Plug became the first woman helicopter pilot in the Canadian Forces and Lieutenant Karen McCrimmon became the Canadian Forces’ first woman air navigator.
19. In 1987, the Air Force announced that all areas of Air Force employment, including fighter pilot, were open to women.
20. Today, women can enroll in all occupations of the Canadian Forces, including combat arms, and they can serve in any environment.
This article is a reproductionof an official work that is published by the Government of Canada. The original source can be accessed here.
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