Women in the Military

For the most part, Canadian women who served in the First World War were attached to the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).

Nurses were the first women to be welcomed into the Canadian military, and first served in the field during the North West Rebellion in 1885. In 1901, because of the work of Canadian nurses serving in the South Africa War, the Canadian Nursing Service was established as part of the armed forces.

During the First World War, more than 3,100 nursing sisters served in the medical corps, which also included doctors, orderlies, clerks and laboratory workers.

Those responsible for providing care to the wounded and sick also risked their lives. On May 19, 1918, the No. 1 Canadian General Hospital was bombed during a two-hour air raid at Etaples, France. Some of the buildings were levelled, while others caught fire. The casualties amounted to 66 people killed and 73 wounded. Most of the victims were hospital staff - three of the dead were nursing sisters. Ten days later, the No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital at Doullens, France, was hit by bombs and it, too, caught fire. Eleven patients, two medical officers, three nursing sisters, and 16 other ranks (including orderlies) were killed; 16 were wounded. Only weeks later, tragedy struck anew when the hospital ship Llandovery Castle, one of five ambulance transports assigned to the Canadian service, was sunk. It had finished delivering 644 patients to Halifax on June 17 and on June 27 was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. The toll was 234 lives lost including all 14 of the nursing sisters aboard and 77 other CAMC personnel. Only 24 of the ship's passengers survived.

Many members of the CAMC succumbed to the diseases to which they were frequently exposed. For example, in 1915, an epidemic of amoebic dysentery struck the Greek island of Lemnos, having been carried there from Gallipoli, Turkey, by sick and wounded soldiers. At one time, 17 of the 28 nursing sisters on strength at one of the Canadian stationary hospitals on the island fell ill. Two died, prompting an order for extra graves to be dug. No more would die of this disease, but none failed to notice the sign by the interment trench which read "For Sisters Only."

Dozens of gallantry awards were issued to members of the medical corps. Among the corps' recipients of the Military Medal, an award for bravery in the field, were eight nursing sisters. Six earned the medal during air raids.

Throughout the war, the Corps suffered 1,325 casualties, 631 of them fatal. Forty-six nursing sisters were lost, 18 of them taken by disease, and 15 as a result of enemy action at sea.

Approximately 50,000 women served in the Second World War, in the nursing services of the army, navy and air force; in the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC); in the Women's Division (WD) of the Royal Canadian Air Force; and in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS, or Wrens). Approximately 8,000 served overseas. Casualties included 73 killed: 6 navy, 25 army, 32 air force and 10 from the nursing services.

(from Canada's Nursing Sisters by GWL Nicholson, Samuel Stevens Hakkert & Company, Toronto, 1975)

In all, 3,656 members of the army's nursing service served in the war, more than two-thirds of whom went overseas. They served in hospitals in Canada, England and Europe, and in casualty clearing stations near the battlefields. Some were employed in field surgical units in operating theatres in forward areas. Nursing sisters treated Dieppe casualties, served in Sicily, mainland Italy, North Africa, Normandy, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Nursing sisters of the No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station were the first Canadian army nurses to land in France during the war -- July 9, 1944, near Caen, where heavy fighting was still in progress.

All personnel, including 99 female staff, of the No. 14 General Hospital were en route to Italy on the SS Santa Elena when it was attacked by German dive-bombers on November 6, 1943. The ship was hit twice, forcing all to abandon it. They were rescued 2-3 hours later.

Two nursing sisters of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) spent 21 months behind barbed wire in the Far East. Kathleen G. Christie of Toronto and Anna May Waters of Winnipeg had sailed from Vancouver on October 27, 1941, and were taken prisoner when Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas Day, 1941. Both were made associate members of the Royal Red Cross recognizing their service in these adverse conditions.

Some of the women at the casualty clearing stations were required to participate in military training, involving revolver practice, rifle firing on ranges, route marches, army manoeuvres. In one operation, they pitched/took down tents, set up wards and operating facilities...Some got their army driver's licence by learning to drive ambulances, trucks, motorcycles...

A total of 1,029 nursing sisters served in Canada only. Sixty military hospitals were in operation in Canada, with a total bed capacity of 13,057. As well, Canada operated two hospital ships.

The Nursing Service Branch of the Royal Canadian Naval Medical Services was established in the autumn of 1941. Membership grew to 343 by war's end.

"The only nursing sister of the three services to die as a result of enemy action during the war was the assistant matron of RCNH [naval hospital] Avalon, N/S Agnes W. Wilkie, of Carman, Manitoba. She was one of 137 passengers and crew members who were lost in October 1942 when the Newfoundland Ferry Ship Caribou, on which she was returning from leave, was torpedoed and sunk in the Cabot Strait. For more than two hours Miss Wilkie and her companion, Dietitian Margaret Brooke, clung to a raft, until the former lost consciousness in the chilling water. Finally, as the sea roughened, Miss Brooke could no longer hold on to her colleague, who slipped away from her benumbed grasp. The body of N/S Wilkie was recovered and interred with full naval honours in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, St. John's. Later her name was given to one of the nurses' residences in Halifax. For her heroic attempt to save the life of her comrade, Dietitian Brooke was awarded the MBE - the only naval nursing sister in the Second World War to receive this honour." (page 187)

In November 1940, the RCAF Nursing Service was authorized. A total of 481 would serve. Some were involved in air-sea rescue missions, and flights to pick up sick and injured service people from bases in Canada. About one in seven served overseas. Air Force mobile field hospitals gave early medical treatment before evacuating patients to base hospitals. One Air Force field hospital unit landed in Normandy on June 19, with two nursing sisters -- F/O Dabina Pitkethly of Ottawa and F/O Dorothy Mulholland of Georgetown, Ontario.

There were five branches of the nursing service: Nursing sisters, dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, home sisters. Some facilities also had lab technicians.

In April 1942, nurses from the nursing division of the St. John Ambulance Brigade and the nursing auxiliary of the Canadian Red Cross Corps were allowed to work in military hospitals. About 100 voluntary aid detachments served in Canada and overseas with British and Canadian military hospitals.

When the war ended, the various nursing services had recruited 4,480 nursing sisters and their professional associates. They staffed over 100 major hospital units; admitting more than 60,000 Canadian wounded, as well as Allied wounded. They won 386 awards of the Royal Red Cross, including four bars.

There were 28 Canadian general hospitals, five casualty clearing stations, two convalescent hospitals, a hospital in South Africa, and the RCN Hospital Niobe.

(from Greatcoats and Glamour Boots: Canadian Women at War (1939-1945) by Carolyn Gossage, Dundurn Press, Toronto, 1991)

Women staffed approximately 55 army jobs in the war, becoming military writers, drivers, messwomen, cooks, paymasters, telephone operators, typists, clerks, messengers, laundresses, supply assistants, artists, photographers, postal clerks, teletype operators, sick berth attendants... Some served in occupied Germany after VE-Day. By war's end, more than 22,000 women served in this branch.

The division would staff about 65 different jobs. By war's end more than 17,000 women served.

July 13, 1945, two months after Victory in Europe but before Victory in Japan, three servicewomen lost their lives, along with 11 men, when an RCAF Liberator aircraft crashed near Bamfield, B.C. The aircraft was on a mission to familiarize the craft's seven-member crew with various airfields. Seven passengers had been picked up along the way. (The women were Sergeant P.G. Bennett, Corporal N. Johnson, Ldg. Aircraftwoman M. Mann, all WD's)

About 40 naval trades were occupied by women. By war's end nearly 7,000 women had served.

Throughout the war 244 Canadian servicewomen were awarded military decorations, including the MBE.

Did you know:

1. That posters in Canada urged women to give their husbands and sons permission to join the Canadian Armed Forces?

2. That Canadian women walked the streets encouraging all men who were physically fit to enlist?

3. That the young women at the blind schools in Canada spent their time knitting and sewing? The finished items were sent to Canadian soldiers fighting overseas.

4. That over 30,000 Canadian women worked in factories making guns, bullets, bombs uniforms, ships, tanks and planes? They were also employed as welders, fitters, machinists, riveters and numerous other jobs that, before the war, were considered men's jobs.

5. That over 1,000 Canadian women were employed by the Royal Air Force as truck drivers, mechanics and ambulance drivers?

6. That over 2,000 women enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces as nurses?

7. That on September 20, 1917, women whose husbands, sons and brothers served in the war were given the right to vote?

8. That thousands of Canadian women spent their time raising money for the war effort?

9. That women who couldn't work in factories or other jobs spent much of their time knitting heavy scarves, balaclavas and socks to be sent to the soldiers who were fighting overseas? They also made pillows, sheets, and flannel shirts for the soldiers.

10. That women on the homefront (at home) were as valuable to the war effort as soldiers because they kept the Canadian economy going and took over men's jobs so the men could enlist to fight?

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During the war, many women took a wide variety of civilian jobs that had once been filled by men. Canada had its own version of "Rosie the Riveter," the symbolic working woman who laboured in factories to help the war effort. Women worked shoulder-to-shoulder with men in factories, on airfields, and on farms. They built parts for ships and aircraft and manufactured ammunition. They drove buses, taxis, and streetcars. This level of female participation in the workplace was a first for Canada - thousands of Canadian women proving they had the skills, strength, and ability to do the work that men did.

During the war, women extended their charitable work to the war effort. They knit socks, scarves, and mitts and prepared parcels for Canadians overseas, gathered materials for scrap collection drives, and helped people displaced by the war by providing clothes and setting up refugee centres. To deal with wartime shortages, women became experts at doing more with less. They made their own clothes (sometimes even using an old parachute to make a wedding dress) and planted Victory Gardens to supply much-needed fruits and vegetables to their families and communities. In short, women - acting in the traditional role of homemakers - gave, saved, and made do.

Many Canadian women wanted to play an active role in the war and lobbied the government to form military organizations for women. In 1941-42, the military was forever changed as it created its own women's forces. Women were now able, for the first time in our history, to serve Canada in uniform. More than 50,000 women served in the armed forces during the Second World War.

*This is not intended to be a definitive list of all the achievements or accomplishments of women throughout Canadian military history. This information was gotten from The Department of National Defense .

1885 Women serve as nurses for the first time in Canadian military history during the Northwest Rebellion.

1901 A permanent Canadian Nursing Service is created.

1898-1902 Female nurses support Canadian military forces with the Yukon Field Force in 1898 and with three Canadian contingents participating in the South African (Boer) War. During the South African War, women become a permanent part of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps.

1906 Female nurses are admitted to Canada's Regular Forces.

1914-1918 More than 2800 women serve with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during the First World War, on board hospital ships, and overseas in hospitals and with field ambulance units in combat zones.

The First World War also sees the first organization of women in a military capacity other than nursing. Canadian women form paramilitary groups, outfit themselves in military-style uniforms, and undertake training in small arms, drill, first aid and vehicle maintenance in case they are needed as home guards.

1939-1945 About 5000 female nurses serve in the Navy, Army, and Air Force Medical Corps during the Second World War. Women serve overseas in hospitals, at casualty stations near combat zones, and in mobile field hospitals – in many theatres of war. They are not, however, permitted to serve in warships, combat aircraft or combat arms units.

1941 The Canadian government decides to enrol more than 45 000 women for full-time military service other than nursing. The Navy, Army, and Air Force establish women's divisions, and over the course of the Second World War the range of roles open to women expands from the traditional trades—clerks, cooks, drivers and telephone operators—to mechanics, parachute riggers, and heavy mobile equipment drivers.

1950-1953 When Canada is called upon to participate in the Korean War, women are once again recruited for service. By 1955, more than 5000 are enroled.

1965 The government of Canada decides to continue to employ women in the Canadian armed forces. A ceiling of 1500, to include women in all three services, is established. The limit represents about 1.5% of the total force of the day.

1970 The Royal Commission on the Status of Women recommends changes necessary to provide a climate of equal opportunity for women in Canada. Recommendations aimed specifically at the CF call for:

1974 Medical doctor Major Wendy Clay qualifies for her pilot's wings six years before the pilot classification is opened to all women.

1978 Corporal Gail Toupin is the first female member of the SkyHawks, the Army's skydiving demonstration team.

1979-1985 Trials take place as part of the Servicewomen in Non-Traditional Environments and Roles (SWINTER) project.

1979 Military colleges open their doors to women.

1981 Second-Lieutenant Inge Plug is the first female CF helicopter pilot, and Lieutenant Karen McCrimmon is the Forces' first female air navigator.

1982 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is signed. It prohibits discrimination based on race, national/ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age and mental/physical disability.

Combat-Related Employment of Women (CREW) trials are announced for selected Army units and naval vessels. The Air Force announces that no further trials are required, and all areas of Air Force employment, including fighter pilot, are opened to women.

1986-1988 Following a discrimination complaint, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders the CF to:

1988 Colonel Sheila Hellstrom is the first woman to graduate from the National Defence College. She becomes the first female Regular Force member to achieve the rank of Brigadier-General.

As part of the CREW trials, the first female gunners in the Regular Force graduate from qualification 3 training and are posted to 5e Régiment d'artillerie légére du Canada (5 RALC) in Valcartier, Quebec.

Private Shannon Wills wins the Queen's Medal for Champion Shot of the Reserve Forces at Connaught Ranges in Ottawa.

1989 Pte Heather Erxleben is Canada's first female Regular Force infanteer.

Maj Dee Brasseur is the first female pilot of a CF-18 Hornet.

1990 The Minister of National Defence establishes the Ministers Advisory Board on Women in the Canadian Forces to monitor the progress of gender integration and employment equity in the CF.

1991 HMCS Nipigon is the first Canadian warship crewed by men and women to participate in exercises with NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic.

Lt Anne Reiffenstein (née Proctor), Lt Holly Brown and Captain Linda Shrum graduate from artillery training as the first female officers in combat arms.

Cpl Marlene Shillingford is the first woman selected to join the Air Force's aerobatic demonstration flying team, the Snowbirds. She serves as a technician during the 1993-94 show season.

1993 Lieutenant (Navy) Leanne Crowe is the first woman to qualify as a clearance diving officer, and to serve as Commanding Officer of the Experimental Diving Unit.

1994 Major-General Wendy Clay is the first woman promoted to that rank.

1995 Chief Warrant Officer Linda Smith is the first woman to be named Wing CWO in the CF, at 17 Wing Winnipeg.

1997 Col Marcia Quinn assumes command of 41 Canadian Brigade Group.

Col Patricia Samson is appointed CF Provost Marshall; she is later promoted Brigadier-General.

1998 Lieutenant-Colonel Karen McCrimmon is appointed Commander of 429 Transport Squadron in Trenton, Ont.

Chief Petty Officer, 2nd Class Holly Kisbee is the first woman Combat Chief of a major Canadian warship (HMCS Iroquois).

2000 The Chief of the Maritime Staff announces that women may serve in submarines.

Maj Micky Colton is the first female pilot to complete 10 000 flying hours in a CC-130 Hercules.

Lt Ruth-Ann Shamuhn of 5 Combat Engineer Regiment is the first female combat diver.

2001 Capt Maryse Carmichael is the first female Snowbird pilot.

2002 CWO Camille Tkacz is the first woman appointed to a Command Chief position as Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources – Military) CWO.

2003 Maj Anne Reiffenstein is the first woman to command a combat arms sub-unit. She is currently a Battery Commander at 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery at CFB Shilo.

Lieutenant-Commander Marta Mulkins is the first woman to serve as captain of a Canadian warship (HMCS Summerside).

Maj Jennie Carignan of 5 Combat Engineer Regiment (5 CER) is the first female Deputy Commanding Officer of a combat arms unit.

Leading Seaman Hayley John and LS Marketa Semik are the first female clearance divers

Master Seaman Colleen Beattie is the first woman to qualify as a submariner, followed shortly by MS Carey Ann Stewart.

The first all-female CF team to complete the four-day Nijmegen March in The Netherlands carrying the same weight as male teams comprises team leader Lt Debbie Scott, second-in-command Capt Lucie Mauger, Lt Jody Weathered, Cpl Elizabeth Mutch, Warrant Officer Nathalie Mercer, WO Jackie Revell, Master Corporal Denise Robert, Cpl Danette Frasz, LCol Teresa McNutt, Lt Donna Rogers, Cpl Melissa Cedilot and Cpl Anne MacDonald.

2004 Chief Petty Officer, 1st Class Jan Davis, appointed Coxswain of HMCS Regina, is the first female Coxswain of a major Canadian warship.