Ladies or Loose Women: The Canadian Women`s Army Corps in

Ladies or Loose Women:
The Canadian Women's Army Corps
in World War II
by Ruth Roach Pierson
ABSTRACT/RESUME
Cette itude est la continuiti et
1' ilargissement
de mes recherches d
long-tevme sur I'histoire des femmes
canadiennes au cours de la Deuxieme
Guerre Mondtale et au cours de la
piriode d'apr£s-guerre. J'examine ici
certains aspects du Corps fiminin de
1 'Armie canadienne de 1941 d 1946.
Les femmes n'ont servi qu'd titre
d 'infirmi^res au sein de 1 'Armie canadienne avant la Deuxie>ne Guerre.
L'admission des femmes dans les trois
Forces armies pendant la Deuxieme
Guerre Mondiale a iti un nouveau dipart.
Laissant de coti les histoires
accessoires du Service fiminin de la Marine
royale du Canada et de la Division du
personnel fiminin de 1 'Aviation
royale
du Canada, cette itude se concentrera
sur le Corps fiminin de I'Armie canadienne. Tout comme la Marine et
I 'Aviation, I'Armie itait
I'institution masculine par excellence.
La
seule entrie des femmes dans ses range
difiait
les conventions fondies sur la
nature des femmes et leur place dans
la sociiti.
Le manque de main d'oeuvre
forga I 'Armie d prendre la dicision
d'y admettre des femmes. Ce n'itait
qu'd titre
expirimental.
Bien que formi en 1941, le Corps fiminin
de I'Armie canadienne n'a pas fait
partie officiellement
des Forces armies
avant le mois de mars 1942. Au-deld
de I 'admission des femmes au statut
militaire,
1'Armie ne s 'est pas aventurie tr§8 loin dans la contestation
de la division sexuelle du travail et
de I'autoriti ou des architypes concernant I'homme et la femme d 1'oeuvre
dans la sociiti
civile
canadienne. En
fait, non settlement les valeurs de la
sociiti
englobante n'ont pas eti
transportees dans le domaine
militaire,
mais elles y ont ete renforcees. La
transmission des valeuvs de la societe civile d la sociite
militaire
ne devrait pas surprendre, etant donni
la nature de cette demi^re,
agissant
non pas comme une institution
rivolutionnaire mais comme une
institution
bien itablie.
Le renforcissement joue
favoriser
le recrutement, le besoin de
se conformer aux attitudes
existantes
dans la sociiti
et le besoin de compenser pour la violation
de ces attitudes, accomplie du seul fait de I'admission des femmes au sein d'une institution
masculine.
J'examinerai dans cette presentation la
riflexion
et le renforcissement par la
sociiti
militaire
des attitudes
sociales
vis-d-vis de la sexualiti
chez les femmes dans deux domaines touchant la
santi des femmes: soit le controle des
maladies viniriennes
dans le Corps
fiminin de I 'Armie canadienne et le
traitement des grossesses
"illegitimes"
dan* le C.F.A.C.
With tne exception o f the Nursing S i s ters of the Royal Canadian Army Medical
Corps,(1)women were not admitted into
the Armed Forces o f Canada u n t i l World
War II was well into i t s second year.
At that time, e f f i c i e n t prosecution o f
Courtesy, Public
Archives of Canada
Negative 2-3814-2
the war necessitated putting women into
uniform and under service d i s c i p l i n e .
But the admission of women into the
Army, Navy and A i r Force, masculine
i n s t i t u t i o n s par excellence, severely
challenged conventions respecting
women's nature and the place of women
i n Canadian society. There was thus
a tension inherent i n the opening up
of the Armed Services to women: the
tension between the Canadian state's
wartime need for female labour within
those pre-eminently masculine i n s t i t u tions and Canadian society's longerterm commitment to a masculinefeminine dichotomy of t r a i t s and
separation of tasks.
Recruitment propaganda, promotional
newspaper s t o r i e s and p a t r i o t i c advert i s i n g reveal a deep ambivalence toward women joining the armed forces.
On the one hand was the celebration
of the t r a i l blazing and achievement
of women i n the services and, on the
other, the assurance that j o i n i n g the
forces changed nothing i n women's
nature and place i n Canadian society.
In 1943 the ambivalence i n t e n s i f i e d as
more and more women were needed but
recruitment met resistance and monthly
enlistment figures dropped.(2) Concerned about the increasing opposition
to women's recruitment, the National
Campaign Committee granted authorizat i o n to two opinion surveys i n the
f i r s t h a l f of 1943.(3) One was a
general public opinion survey conducted
by Elliott-Haynes Limited of Montreal
and Toronto, 4 commercial agency. Completed i n A p r i l 1943, the r e s u l t s
appeared under the t i t l e Report - An
Enquiry into the Attitude of the Canadian C i v i l i a n Public Towards the
Women's Armed Forces.(4) The second
survey s p e c i f i c a l l y studied the opinion
of the Canadian Women's Army Corps
(CWAC). The c o n f i d e n t i a l report o f
that enquiry, "Canadian Women's Army
Corps: Why Women Join and How They Like
I t , " was ready for limited d i s t r i b u t i o n i n July.(5)
Both surveys documented the ambivalence
i n Canadian society toward women j o i n ing the armed forces i n that both surveys revealed widespread disapproval.
What I should l i k e to present here i s
one of the main expressions of Canadian society's ambivalence toward
women i n the forces: the fear/suspicion
that the women who so did would lose
her sexual respectability.(6)
The public opinion survey disclosed
that few Canadians i n the spring of
1943 gave high p r i o r i t y to enlistment
i n the armed forces as a way for women
to contribute to the prosecution of
the war.
In answer to the question,
"How can women best serve Canada's war
e f f o r t ? " only 7% r e p l i e d , "by j o i n i n g
the women's forces." Five other categories of work took precedence i n the
mind of the Canadian p u b l i c . "Maintaining home l i f e " ranked f i r s t i n importance for the highest proportion of
Canadians (26%), followed second by
"doing war work i n f a c t o r i e s " (23%),
t h i r d "part-time voluntary r e l i e f work"
(13%), fourth "conserving food,
rationing" (11%) and f i f t h "buying war
bonds, stamps" (8%).(7)
Since the
t h i r d , fourth and f i f t h categories,
that i s , "part-time voluntary r e l i e f
work," "conserving food, rationing,"
and "buying war bonds, stamps" were a l l
compatible with "maintaining home
l i f e , " the inescapable conclusion i s
that an overwhelming majority of Canadians i n 1943 saw women's place to be
i n the home, wartime or not.
Given the extent of that sentiment, i t
i s no wonder that those i n charge of
recruitment for the three services saw
t h e i r task as e s s e n t i a l l y one of educating the p u b l i c . In August 1943 the
Combined Services Committee observed
that "overcoming established t r a d i t i o n
and developing acceptance o f a new
idea i s obviously a long-term educat i o n a l proposition" and defined as the
primary object o f i t s campaign to rec r u i t women for the armed forces:
"overcoming the t r a d i t i o n that women's
place i s exclusively i n the home. . .
or at l e a s t not i n m i l i t a r y uniform."(8)
In actual fact the armed forces were
"breaking down" the t r a d i t i o n that
women's place was i n the home to only
a limited extent. They were not, f o r
instance, taking mothers of young
children away from t h e i r families.
Married women were e l i g i b l e to j o i n
the Canadian Women's Army Corps(9)but
mothers of dependent children (age 16
i f male, 17 i f female) were not.(10)
The armed services were, however,
taking unmarried daughters out of the
family c i r c l e . This was r e s i s t e d i n
part because the daughters' services
were needed to "maintain home l i f e . "
But more serious resistance was rooted
i n the concern that out of the family
c i r c l e daughters would be away from
parental surveillance. The assumption
that daughters needed more surveillance
than sons, that i s , were minors longer
than t h e i r brothers, was shared by
Army a u t h o r i t i e s . CWAC Regulations
defined dependency i n children d i f f e r ently f o r male and female: sons ceased
being regarded as dependent a f t e r age
16, daughters a f t e r age 17. The assumption that young women were l e s s
adult than young men and i n need,
therefore, of more protection underlay
Army p o l i c i e s a f f e c t i n g the despatch
of CWACs overseas: the age l i m i t for
CWACs was 21,(11)for men i n the Canadian Army ( A c t i v e ) , 1 8 .
In the spring
and summer of 1945 Army headquarters
established a p o l i c y of l i m i t i n g the
tour of overseas duty for CWAC personnel to two years because the Minister
(Colonel Ralston) and the AdjutantGeneral (Major-General A.E. Walford)
f e l t strongly that " i t i s inadvisable
to have women serve too long away from
[ t h e i r ] homeland."(12) These and
other protective p o l i c i e s sprang i n
large measure, I would argue, from
s o c i a l attitudes towards female sexua l i t y and society's double standard of
sexual morality. I f there was widespread fear that women j o i n i n g the
forces would r e s u l t i n t h e i r loss o f
femininity, a deeper fear/suspicion
was that women i n the forces might
lose t h e i r r e s p e c t a b i l i t y .
By 1943, women i n the services were
the object of a "whispering campaign"
causing alarm among m i l i t a r y authorit i e s . (13) Those i n charge of women's
recruitment were gravely concerned
that the ugly rumours were having an
adverse e f f e c t on enlistment and
morale. The 29 A p r i l 1943 progress
report o f the Combined Services Committee boldly observed that:
The need for r e c r u i t s w i l l not be
met unless we beat down the negat i v e factors at present retarding
r e c r u i t i n g , the malicious rumours
and gossip. . . .(14)
The Wartime Information Board c o l l e c t e d
several examples o f these rumours,
among them are the following:
I was thinking o f renting my spare
room when I was warned not to rent
to a member o f the CWAC because
they a l l had s y p h i l i s . (Dec, '42,
Westmount, Quebec)
Conditions i n camps where g i r l s
are stationed are bad and men are
allowed to mix with the g i r l s . An
Inspector of Camps said that i n
camps east of Winnipeg, when the
l i g h t s were turned on, g i r l s were
not only on the bed but under the
beds with s o l d i e r s and airmen.
(Dec, '42, Winnipeg) (15)
Both the general public opinion survey
and the s p e c i f i c CWAC survey of 1943
were designed i n part to gauge the extent of the damage. The results were
not comforting: suspicion existed i n
the public mind that j o i n i n g the forces
would embark a young woman on a l i f e
of promiscuity. According to the publ i c opinion survey, a s i g n i f i c a n t proportion o f the parents and young men
who disapproved of women joining the
forces gave as t h e i r reason that " i t
was an unladylike occupation" i n which
the young woman "would lose" her
"self-respect." ("Unladylike, lose
self-respect" was the survey's code
language for female sexual l i c e n s e , i n dicating the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of l a d y l i k e
behaviour (gentility) with female
sexual decorum.)(16) The CWAC report
stated straightforwardly that "the
general public f e l t that young women
avoided e n r o l l i n g i n the women's services because of the fear of associat i o n with women o f poor moral
standards."(17) Such a high proportion
of French Canadian parents and young
men objected to women's enlistment on
moral grounds that, the Elliott-Haynes
tabulators concluded, " t h e i r opinion
unduly influenced the national t o t a l s . "
S t i l l the highest proportion of English
Canadian parents and young men object i n g also gave "unladylike, lose
self-respect" as t h e i r grounds for
disapproval.(18)
The Elliott-Haynes
report also showed that, as between
parents and young men, a higher proport i o n o f the l a t t e r , that i s of the
brothers and boy friends of e l i g i b l e
young women, " c r i t i c i z e d service women
on moral grounds."(19) From i t s analys i s of the "Type of Advice CWAC Women
Obtained From Their Relatives and
Friends," the CWAC report concluded
that "members of the men's forces and
boy friends were the most antagonistic
towards the women's forces,"(20)and
linked that antagonism to the b e l i e f
"that women i n uniform are immoral."
(21) In general, then, both reports
concluded that whether i n the case of
the part of the country with the highest
opposition to women's joining the forces—French Canada—or i n the case of
the sex and age group of the population
with the highest opposition—young
men,
p a r t i c u l a r l y servicemen—the opposition
was related to the bad reputation attaching to servicewomen.
Within the terms of the p r e v a i l i n g
moral climate, there was some basis i n
fact for what r e c r u i t i n g o f f i c e r s
wanted to dismiss as "baseless goss i p . " (22) As early as December 1941
medical o f f i c e r s of a l l three services
were meeting to discuss "the methods of
handling and disposition of cases of
venereal disease discovered i n female
personnel enrolled i n the three services." (23) In the spring of 1942
pregnancy i n unmarried servicewomen
joined venereal infection as a serious
problem of medical treatment, welfare
and "wastage" of armed forces female
personnel.(24)
The two sources of the
problem came to be treated l i k e
Siamese twins, t h e i r common l i n k being
promiscuity. For as opprobrium began
to dog the heels of the servicewomen's
sturdy Oxfords, the incidence of " i l legitimate" pregnancy and of VD became
problems as much moral as medical. Indeed, i n the late spring and summer of
1943, the o f f i c e of the Director General
of Medical Services was compiling
alarming data on the r e l a t i v e l y high
incidence of "pregnancy among unmarr i e d personnel of the CWAC" and of VD
within the corps at more or less the
same time as the Directorate of Army
Recruiting and the Combined Services
Committee began seeing as one of t h e i r
most important tasks the need to spike
rumours which were giving servicewomen
t h e i r bad name.(25)
Although the incidence of VD among male
soldiers was higher than that among
members of the CWAC, and although i n
one study servicemen made up 86.3% of
the putative fathers named by CWACs
discharged for " i l l e g i t i m a t e " pregnancy, (26) the male Army, by virtue of
the double standard of sexual morality,
was not made the object of a vicious
"whispering campaign" to d i s c r e d i t i t
on moral grounds. I t was almost expected of men i n the forces to have a
f l i n g : any consequent " i l l e g i t i m a t e "
pregnancies were unfortunate, but
primarily the woman's r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ;
any consequent VD i n f e c t i o n was s o c i a l l y
undesirable and, when the rate got high,
cause for alarm and a massive campaign
to control i t s spread. But men did not
r i s k acquiring a bad reputation by
joining the forces.
Even i f one regarded unmarried pregnancy or contracting VD as evidence of
promiscuity and therefore, by d e f i n i t i o n , of immorality, most of society
undoubtedly did, only a small percentage o f servicewomen were thus affected.
Yet the rumour-mongers tarred the ent i r e CWAC (and womens' units of the A i r
Force and Navy) with the same brush.
Imputing low moral character to servicewomen generally was an expression of
the assumption that women who broke with
convention i n one way must have broken
with convention i n most other ways as
w e l l . According to t h i s reasoning, i f
a woman defied t r a d i t i o n by donning a
uniform and joining the forces, she had
to be a loose woman. The p o s s i b i l i t y
of such a suspicion explains i n part
the connection i n tradition-bound
French Canadian opinion between opposit i o n to women joining the forces and
the b e l i e f that women i n uniform were
immoral. I t also explains i n part why
servicemen expressed t h e i r opposition
i n the form of jokes at the expense of
the moral character of servicewomen.
This point of view was taken by some
observers at the time, such as one
c i v i l i a n member of the Combined Services Committee whose explanation f o r
the "whispering campaign" was that
"there has always been c r i t i c i s m of
anything new and r a d i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t "
and i n whose opinion "our rumourmongers" belonged " i n a witch-hunting
category."(27)
But there were other contemporary explanations for why servicemen i n part i c u l a r so vehemently opposed the entrance of women into the services.
The o f f i c e of the Director of Army
Recruiting commented:
Men friends d i s l i k e endorsing a
career for a woman i n uniform
mainly because they f e e l i t i s
another male job on which women
have encroached.(28)
As an expression of opposition to
women's admission into the m i l i t a r y ,
servicemen's part i n the spreading o f
lewd s t o r i e s about servicewomen bears
comparison with the reaction of some
male medical students and lecturers
i n the 1880s to women's admission to
medical school.(29) Servicemen's
salacious jibes a t servicewomen also
had an aspect of dodging g u i l t by
blaming and slandering the victim,
since i n the overwhelming majority o f
cases servicemen were the fathers of
the " i l l e g i t i m a t e " children with whom
unmarried servicewomen were pregnant
and the lovers of the servicewomen
who became infected with VD.
I t i s clear from the counteraction they
took that the top brass a t National
Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) were convinced that male other ranks (and also
lower-ranking o f f i c e r s and Noncommissioned Officers) were g u i l t y of
spreading ugly rumours about servicewomen. Assurance was given a t a
meeting of the Combined Services Committee on 9 June 1943 that "a direct i v e was going forward from Ottawa to
Commanding O f f i c e r s at a l l Stations
advising them to inform. . . t h e i r
O f f i c e r s and Men that any word or
action on t h e i r part that might be
found to r e f l e c t upon the character of
g i r l s i n uniform w i l l be punishable."
(30) The Adjutant General's actual
c i r c u l a r l e t t e r (31 May 1943) warned
that o f f i c e r s and other ranks who " d i s couraged prospective r e c r u i t s to the
Women's Services of the Armed Forces
by c i r c u l a t i n g s t o r i e s which have no
foundation i n f a c t " were g u i l t y of
" d i r e c t l y v i o l a t i n g Regulation 39 o i
the Defence of Canada Regulations."
I t further directed D i s t r i c t O f f i c e r s
Commanding to "take immediate steps to
curb t h i s tendency and to take drastic
action against such offenders under
t h e i r Command."(31) There i s strong
evidence that the counter-action of
the high command was i n e f f e c t i v e and
that the rumours continued. The
Adjutant-General f e l t constrained to
issue another c i r c u l a r l e t t e r a year
l a t e r . In steeply escalated rhetoric,
i t spoke of the continuation of " i n sinuating rumours against members of
the CWAC," and the necessity to make
"every e f f o r t . . . to counteract this
malicious slander." O f f i c e r s Commanding were instructed:
. . . to investigate any derogatory
reports and to stamp these out at
the source, rather than that they
should be allowed to spread and
become distorted and exaggerated.
I t ended with the order that "an a l l
out e f f o r t be made to stamp out these
f a l s e rumours."(32)
The rumours were a matter of grave
concern to high Army O f f i c e r s because
of t h e i r adverse e f f e c t on women's
recruitment and morale within the
Corps. Because the CWAC survey had
revealed that a large percentage of
the CWACs had been informed and
p o s i t i v e l y influenced about the Corps
by women already i n the forces (32% of
those responding to the question "How
did you f i r s t learn of the CWAC?"),(33)
the Director of Army Recruiting had
concluded that t h i s , "the only goodw i l l group," should be more f u l l y exp l o i t e d . (34) One means h i t upon was
for CWAC women to write l e t t e r s to
t h e i r c i v i l i a n g i r l friends. Set i n
motion i n the summer of 1944, this
so-called "in-service r e c r u i t i n g
drive" was not t e r r i b l y successful,(35)
indeed at times i t actually backfired.
In August 1944 the D i s t r i c t Recruiting
O f f i c e r of M.D. No. 13 (Calgary, A l berta) forwarded to the Directorate of
Army Recruiting, Ottawa, a venomous
reply to such an "in-service r e c r u i t i n g
l e t t e r . " As i f i n response to a deep
i n s u l t the correspondent had angrily
written:
I resent your bringing into the
subject of me joining up, my
brothers. Have you ever heard a
serviceman speak well of the W.D.'s,
Army, A i r Force, or Navy? Nine
out of every ten resent having
g i r l s i n uniform and my brothers,
S t e r l i n g included, said they would
disown me i f I ever j o i n with such
scruff.(36)
A CWAC O f f i c e r at the Directorate of
Army Recruiting (Lieutenant Colonel
Mary Dover) ruled that the angry reply
should be preserved to "be included i n
the h i s t o r y of r e c r u i t i n g , to show how
d i f f i c u l t their job has often been."
The l e t t e r also serves to document the
connection between the bad-mouthing of
women i n uniform by servicemen and
t h e i r resentment of women encroaching
on a formerly male preserve.
In the f i g h t against the "whispering
campaign," Army authorities p u b l i c l y
spoke of the rumours* groundlessness,
f a l s i t y or at least d i s t o r t i o n and
exaggeration. Not to add f u e l to the
f i r e , Defence Headquarters O f f i c i a l s
i n t h e i r attempts to explain the
rumour-mongering passed over the
v e r i f i a b l e evidence of VD i n f e c t i o n
and " i l l e g i t i m a t e " pregnancy among
servicewomen. M i l i t a r y authorities
could not, of course, deny to themselves the hard evidence f o r what appeared to most of them to be the f a l l
of some CWACs into promiscuity. And
i n t h e i r secret deliberations they
sought explanations and possible
remedies. These reveal class as well
as sexual bias and dominant conceptions of femininity.(37)
For many CWAC o f f i c e r s the explanation
was to be found i n the p o l i c y of
"mass r e c r u i t i n g " and the consequent
"influx of undesirable types" into
the CWAC.(38) According to this i n terpretation, the Director of Army
Recruiting, faced with increasing
demands f o r CWAC personnel "to release
soldiers for the defence of B r i t a i n , "
inaugurated a p o l i c y of "wholesale enlistment" i n the summer of 1942.
E a r l i e r i n A p r i l 1942 the age l i m i t
for other ranks had been broadened
from 21-40 to 18-45. The wholesale
r e c r u i t i n g meant throwing open the
doors to women without c i v i l i a n trades
training and with poor education and
low i n t e l l i g e n c e . The f r u i t s of the
"indiscriminate enlistments," apparent
by the spring of 1943, were lowered m
morale i n the CWAC, an increasing number of discharges and a bad name f o r
the Corps. CWAC o f f i c e r s , a l l univers i t y graduates or with equivalent
"training and q u a l i f i c a t i o n s , " equated
unskilled and poorly educated women and
those low i n i n t e l l i g e n c e with "bad
type" and blamed these "lower-grade
women" for the problems of " d i s c i p l i n e ,
unhappiness, discharges and ugly
rumours" plaguing the Corps. In Capt a i n Ruth Crealock's estimation, " i f
t h i s number of lower-grade women can
be decreased, many of our present
problems w i l l automatically disappear."
Male Army o f f i c e r s were also given to
explaining high rates of VD i n f e c t i o n
or " i l l e g i t i m a t e " pregnancy i n terms
of the "quality of r e c r u i t s " having
been " s a c r i f i c e d i n the interests of
quantity."(39) Although the results of
some studies purported to show that
there was a correlation between low
l e v e l o f s k i l l , education and i n t e l l i gence and high incidence of VD and " i l legitimate" pregnancy, they could
hardly be adduced as incontrovertible
evidence.(40) Furthermore, there was
evidence which pointed away from that
conclusion. As early as July 1943,
authorities at Defence Headquarters
began discussing introduction of a
p o l i c y o f "selective recruiting,"(41)
by which was meant "discrimination a t
the recruitment l e v e l between low
c a l i b r e , poor character women and
women [who] have good character,
trades experience o r trainable q u a l i t i e s . " (42)
When i t was introduced i n
February 1944 i t s stated aim was to
r e s t r i c t acceptability for enlistment
to "tradeswomen or potential tradeswomen." (43)
In practice a quota was
established which "demanded that 67% o f
e n l i s t e d personnel be tradeswomen
material" (by August the quota had
dropped to 62% and by November to 55%).
(44)
clusion of women pregnant before enlistment," however, d i d "not appear
to have lowered the incidence o f i l legitimate pregnancy."(46)
Calculated
at 32.1 per thousand unmarried women
i n the CWAC per year on the basis o f
figures for 1 January 1943 through 30
A p r i l 1943, i t had r i s e n to 33 per
thousand per annum based on the
figures f o r A p r i l , May, June and July.
Nor d i d the "selective r e c r u i t i n g "
introduced i n February have a reducing
e f f e c t . At the end o f 1944 i t was
reported that "the incidence o f i l legitimate pregnancies has remained
consistent at approximately 35 per
thousand strength per annum" f o r the
past two years.(47)
Meanwhile another kind of screening
had been introduced, that o f c a r e f u l l y
examining a l l potential r e c r u i t s for
pregnancy. A study o f 95 women d i s charged from the CWAC for " i l l e g i t i mate" pregnancy between 1 January and
31 May 1943 had disclosed that 31.5%
of them had been pregnant before enlistment. (45)
After 1 June that percentage was reduced, presumably because medical boards were checking f o r
pregnancy more c a r e f u l l y . "The ex-
The assumption that "an i n f l u x of bad
types" explained the "excessively high"
rates o f VD and " i l l e g i t i m a t e " pregnancy i n the CWAC was c l e a r l y rooted
i n class bias but i s also an example
of the s u r v i v a l into World War II o f
the sexual double standard's d i v i s i o n
of women into two r i g i d l y separated
categories, the pure and the impure,
the v i r g i n and the whore. By that
dichotomization i f a CWAC was pregnant
out of wedlock or infected with VD,
Meanwhile when the incidence o f VD i n
the CWAC was reduced i n the l a s t
three quarters o f 1944 "to h a l f i t s
former figure," the lowering was not
credited to a higher c a l i b r e o f recent
r e c r u i t but rather to "the campaign o f
education undertaken by the Venereal
Disease Control Section."
she was ipso facto a "bad type."
Blaming high rates of VD and pregnancy
among unmarried CWACs on a superf l u i t y of "lower-grade women" i n the
Corps was also c l e a r l y rooted i n class
b i a s . With the "selective r e c r u i t i n g
p o l i c y appealing for enlistment of
s k i l l e d and well-educated women,"(48)
the Army hoped to a t t r a c t a higher
grade of woman. "University women"
were regarded as "generally of a
superior t y p e — i n many instances belonging to prominent f a m i l i e s . . ."(49)
Ads began to speak of the CWAC's
urgent need for university graduates.
(50)
Another way i n which Army o f f i c e r s explained to themselves the CWACs high
rate of VD and " i l l e g i t i m a t e " pregnancy involved conceding one o f the
grounds objectors gave for disapproving of women i n the armed forces: that
the l i f e was unsuitable f o r women. According to this explanation, the i n compatibility of the masculine armed
forces with femininity lowered the
morale of servicewomen and i n that
state of low morale they entered into
l i a i s o n s which risked t h e i r respectab i l i t y . In this explanation as
developed by the Director of Army Rec r u i t i n g (DAR), women's exclusion
(exemption) from combat was c r u c i a l :
The Army i s a male society developed by men over centuries around
the role o f the f i g h t i n g s o l d i e r .
This society i s t r a d i t i o n a l and
imposes r i g i d d i s c i p l i n e and harsh
l i v i n g conditions on the i n d i v i d u a l
i n order to b u i l d up and maintain
the type of physical and mental
fitness required for e f f e c t i v e a
action i n the f i e l d . Upon entering the Army the modern c i v i l i a n
male soon learns to subordinate
his own personality to h i s new
role i n the Army, for, he finds
out, his l i f e w i l l eventually depend upon i t . He becomes a s o l d i e r
f i r s t and an i n d i v i d u a l second.(51)
Women, the DAR continued, had been i n corporated into modern armies, but i n
the Canadian Army, exclusively to perform non-combatant jobs. Women of
the CWAC "do not and are not expected
to f i g h t . " Canadian society had made
"this r e s t r i c t i o n i n r o l e " for "a good
reason": because i t recognized "that
women are p h y s i o l o g i c a l l y and temperamentally d i f f e r e n t from men—they are
feminine."
He then went on to l i s t
what he considered to be the four
basic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of femininity.
(And only with the second did he
grant i t was a matter o f nurture
rather than nature.)
1)
Women "do not possess the
same strength and endurance."
2) Canadian society had "encouraged them to have more
delicate feelings, more
s p i r i t u a l values and more
romantic attitudes."
3) "Their natural role i s i n
marriage and that of a home
maker."
The fourth was a concomitant o f the
t h i r d : the temporariness of "their
role i n business and industry," a job
i n the paid labour force being only
"a preliminary step to marriage."
The DAR's further argument was that,
aside from excluding (exempting)
women from combat, the Army had not
otherwise taken these c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
of femininity into consideration. Instead i t had indiscriminately applied
masculine standards, had imposed "the
t r a d i t i o n a l Army system," to no good
purpose since servicewomen were not
needed as f i g h t i n g s o l d i e r s . Hence
the DAR proposed a new approach, not
just to recruitment but to treatment
of women i n the services i n general:
that l i f e for members of the CWAC,
"both on the job and i n the barracks,
be approached completely and t o t a l l y
from the point-of-view that women are
d i f f e r e n t . " Since they had r e s i s t e d
becoming soldiers f i r s t and individuals
second, l e t them "remain women f i r s t
and soldiers second."
Underpinning the DAR's remarks lay ai.
assumption which others shared: that
regimentation i n the sense of the enforced anonymity and uniformity of
m i l i t a r y l i f e was a n t i t h e t i c a l to
femininity and womanliness. Doing her
b i t once again to d i s p e l the public's
fears that army l i f e was harmful to
women, j o u r n a l i s t Lotta Dempsey wrote
i n her feature a r t i c l e for the t h i r d
of Mayfair's special 1943 supplements
on "Women at War:"
Even the younger soldiers who have
no t r a d i t i o n s of man-only wars are
astonished a t the adaptability of
g i r l s to precision d r i l l and
physical t r a i n i n g .
Her next sentence went on to r e g i s t e r
astonishment that feminine i n d i v i d u a l i t y was not obliterated by m i l i t a r y
regimentation, only temporarily submerged :
[Women's] a b i l i t y to weld into a
composite for t r a i n i n g and d i s c i p l i n a r i a n purposes, and to
emerge as d e f i n i t e l y d i s t i n c t i v e
as only women can be, has been a
discovery as s i g n i f i c a n t i n i t s
way as any of the s c i e n t i f i c facts
of wartime research.(52)
Whether i n Dempsey's rosy picture f o r
public consumption or i n the secret
deliberations within the Directorate
of Army Recruiting, the assumption
remained the same: the femininity of
a platoon of servicewomen lay not i n
t h e i r a b i l i t y to perform a f a u l t l e s s
march past or close order d r i l l but i n
t h e i r "distinctiveness," " t h e i r personal freedom and i n d i v i d u a l i t y . "
Although those ringing words c a l l to
mind l o f t y proclamations o f i n a l i e n able rights of man, neither Dempsey
nor the r e c r u i t i n g o f f i c e r s had anything so l o f t y i n mind. When the
DAR suggested that such slogans as "a
man i s doing your job" or "there are
jobs for women i n the Army" would
"put across the i n d i v i d u a l i t y of [the]
contribution which women can make,"
a l l he r e a l l y meant by " i n d i v i d u a l i t y "
was femininity i n the sense of a job
being done appropriately by a woman i n
contrast to inappropriately by a man.
(53) And indeed similar slogans were
used i n the campaign to present ser-
vice i n the CWAC as not masculinizing.
Most often women's i n d i v i d u a l i t y was
equated with creating the realm o f the
personal, the homey: the l i t t l e
"feminine touches" that brighten up a
room, such as curtains on windows,
flowers i n a vase. On close examinat i o n what women's alleged penchant f o r
personal freedom turns out to have
meant i s nothing more than s e l f expression through choice o f clothes
and s t y l e o f external appearance.
So as a means o f r a i s i n g morale and
lowering the " i l l e g i t i m a t e " pregnancy
and VD rates, Brigadier Chisholm,
Director General o f Medical Services,
stressed the importance not only o f
developing and increasing recreational
f a c i l i t i e s and organized sports but
the " d e s i r a b i l i t y o f introducing the
minor appurtenances women usually surround themselves with" into servicewomen's l i v i n g quarters and recreation
rooms. As a t the time these rooms
were being maintained as "regimental
Barracks," women were seeking "an outl e t f o r t h e i r feminine c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
elsewhere."(54) Other Medical Corps
o f f i c e r s made s i m i l a r recommendations.
In order to r a i s e the morale o f the
CWAC, one wrote,
. . . the question o f curtains and
book shelves and such l i k e and cupboards f o r personal belongings i n
C.W.A.C. barracks should be thoroughly considered.(55
I t was recommended that the recreation
rooms "be furnished i n a home-like
manner," that single beds be s u b s t i tuted f o r double decker bunks i n barrack rooms "to produce a more home-like
atmosphere."
I t was also urged that
CWAC personnel required more "privacy"
than Army men, especially i n the rooms
containing bathing and t o i l e t f a c i l i ties.
Some o f these recommendations were implemented. A 1944 r e c r u i t i n g booklet
pictured curtains on the windows o f
CWAC sleeping quarters, spoke o f "barracks partitioned into cubicles," four
" g i r l s " to a cubicle, and promised
"mirrors and bureaux" and "attractive
recreation rooms."(56) S t i l l the CWAC
D i s t r i c t O f f i c e r s at t h e i r February
1945 conference f e l t the deregimentat i o n had not proceeded far enough and
therefore recommended that: "regimentation o f CWAC personnel be considered
from a l l aspects i n an endeavour to
reduce same wherever feasible."(57)
And i n August 1946, just before the
dissolution o f the CWAC, the then
Senior S t a f f O f f i c e r , CWAC, i n her report on the Corps and recommendations
for the future should such a women's
service be formed again, pointed out
areas where deregimentation had f a l l e n
short. Showers and baths had not
been partitioned. The p a r t i t i o n i n g of
sleeping quarters was incomplete: the
p a r t i t i o n s had not reached from f l o o r
to c e i l i n g nor been provided with
doors. Greater "latitude i n decorat i o n of sleeping quarters" should have
Courtesy, P r o v i n c i a l Archives of Manitoba
been allowed: "the p r o v i s i o n o f bedspreads as w e l l as the c u r t a i n s , a l ready on i s s u e , would do much to
c r e a t e a p l e a s a n t , homelike atmosphere.'
A l s o i n t h e f u t u r e a l l Mess H a l l s used
by servicewomen s h o u l d be " b r i g h t " and
" a t t r a c t i v e " and f u r n i s h e d w i t h " c h a i r s
r a t h e r than benches t o s i t on," f o r
"women e s p e c i a l l y need a homey atmosphere i n t h e i r d i n i n g h a l l . " ( 5 8 )
Throughout t h e d i s c u s s i o n an i d e n t i f i c a t i o n was made between women and t h e
p r i v a t e sphere: home and t h e comforts
o f home. The armed f o r c e s had wrenched
women o u t o f t h a t feminine realm and
plunged them i n t o an i m p l a c a b l y mascul i n e one: no wonder some o f them had
broken down.
Despite the doubts expressed among
themselves, however, r e c r u i t i n g and
promotion o f f i c e r s worked hard to d i s p e l from the public mind any notion o f
immorality t a i n t i n g women i n uniform.
In enlistment appeals emphasis was put
on the high c a l i b r e of women drawn to
the Canadian Women's Army Corps. "The
C.W.A.C. . . . A Cross Section of
Canada's Finest Womanhood" proclaimed
the CWAC r e c r u i t i n g pamphlet from the
second h a l f of 1943. I t went on to
assure prospective recruits that the
"standards of conduct" of CWAC women
were no d i f f e r e n t from:
. . . those of representative Canadian women, for putting on a uniform does not change them, except
insofar as they are imbued with
pride i n that uniform and would not
do anything to bring i t into d i s repute . (59)
When a CWAC i n uniform did do something
to d i s c r e d i t the Corps, immediate
action was taken. Reports of unmarried
CWACs en route to Depot Companies f o r
discharge who had been seen t r a v e l i n g
i n uniform i n advanced stages of pregnancy (and i n one case, with a baby i n
arms) reached Defence Headquarters i n
February 1944. As soon as the m i l i tary machinery could be set i n motion,
i t was arranged f o r servicewomen i n
such condition to t r a v e l i n c i v i l i a n
clothes. (60)
Despite such occurrences the Army
sought to persuade the public that the
" g i r l s " i n uniform were well looked
a f t e r . The O f f i c e r Commanding a CWAC
unit was to be thought of as "trying to
take the place of [a g i r l ' s ] parents. "(61) The public was t o l d that
service policewomen were "uniformed
guardians of the morals and manners of
the Women's Army and A i r Force," t h e i r
job "to play b i g s i s t e r to g i r l s i n
uniform."(62)
Another tack taken i n advertising the
propriety of the Corps was to stress
parental pride i n a daughter "joining
up."
"I'm proud of you, Daughter"
was scrawled i n large writing across
the top of one ad for the Canadian
Women's Army Corps. Below appeared
the drawing of a father with h i s arm
around a sweet-faced and smiling young
woman i n uniform.(63)
MAKE YOUR
FAMILY P R O U D !" urged the heading
of another ad which i n smaller p r i n t
carried the coaxing message:
If you have any least thought that
Dad or Mother might even s i l e n t l y
hesitate to approve your becoming
a member of the C-W.A.C.—banish
that thought by looking ahead to
the day when they w i l l see you i n
your f i r s t "March Past." Then
they w i l l nudge each other. "There
goes our g i r l " they w i l l want to
t e l l by-standers. Their hearts
w i l l leap with approval of your
d e c i s i o n — t h e i r eyes w i l l sparkle
with joy and pride.(64)
The Combined Services Committee realized
that one of the most e f f e c t i v e means to
combat the "whispering campaign" would
be to get endorsement of the women's
services from the eminently respectable
National Council of Women. One member
of the Committee wrote i n June 1943:
. . . i f we can ever reach a stage
where the women's organizations
look upon the Women's Forces as one
of their p a r t i c u l a r war jobs, I
think we w i l l do a great deal to
break down the rumour situation,
which i s now a serious problem.
His aim was "to establish a sort of
parental feeling amongst the women's
groups for the women i n the Armed
Forces" f o r the reason that while "any
woman reserves the r i g h t to c r i t i c i z e
her own children" she " w i l l cut the
heart out of anyone else who undertakes
to c r i t i c i z e them."(65) Actually the
Minister of National Defence and representatives of the Navy and A i r Force
had been writing the President of the
National Council of Women since early
May (1943) seeking her organization's
support of the drive to r e c r u i t women
for the armed forces.(66) At i t s 50th
annual meeting (16-18 June 1943) i t
passed a resolution stating:
The National Council of Women of
Canada desires to express admiration f o r , and confidence i n the
women of a l l ranks i n the Women's
Divisions of the Armed Services of
Canada, and w i l l support i n every
way the further r e c r u i t i n g of women
for a l l branches of the services.
But at the end of July the Department
of National Defence was s t i l l seeking
public endorsement by the National
Council of Women for the drive to enl i s t women i n the armed services.(67)
The patience of the authorities at
Defence Headquarters was f i n a l l y rewarded on 30 July 1943 with the public
statement o f "The Stand of the National
Council o f Women of Canada on Recruiting of Women for the Armed Forces,"
by Mrs. Edgar D. Hardy, President.
"In encouraging women of m i l i t a r y age
to e n l i s t , " Mrs. Hardy said of the
thousands of respectable women her
organization represented, "we are not
asking the mothers of Canada to do any
more than we are doing ourselves" as
"many of. . . our daughters. . . have
given up good positions and substan-
t i a l pay checks" to j o i n the forces
"because loyalty to t h e i r country
means more to them than easy l i v i n g . "
Mrs. Hardy then put h e r s e l f on the
l i n e . Mentioning that she had made i t
her own " p a r t i c u l a r job to investigate
i n d e t a i l the supervision given to the
women of the Armed Forces," she went
on to declare h e r s e l f to be:
. . . i n a p o s i t i o n to assure Canadian mothers that t h e i r daughters
joining the forces w i l l receive a
supervision, p h y s i c a l , mental and
moral equal i n every way to that
which they had i n c i v i l i a n l i f e .
The Combined Services Committee could
not have asked for any firmer endorsement. Released to the press on August
16th', even i t , as we have seen, was
not enough to scotch the ugly rumours
and salacious j i b e s .
Caught between a p a t r i o t i c willingness
to make an a l l - o u t e f f o r t to win the
war and a conservative unwillingness to
change society's relegation of women to
home and family (or temporary and lowly
places i n the paid labour force), Canadian society responded with ambivalence
to the admission of women into the
armed forces during World War I I . That
ambivalence was complicated by class
and sex and e t h n i c i t y . But Canadian
society's ambivalent response was not
just a function o f some die-hard opposition on one side, whether from resentful servicemen o r from t r a d i t i o n a l i s t French Canadians, and whole-
hearted support on the other, as from
the women of the volunteer service
corps. Ambivalence characterized the
response o f many who were b a s i c a l l y
quite i n favour of having women i n uniform, at l e a s t for the duration of the
war, such as the servicewomen themselves, both o f f i c e r s and other ranks,
female j o u r n a l i s t s bent on promoting
women's enlistment and recruitment and
p u b l i c relations o f f i c e r s . In either
case, whether that of adamant disapproval versus eager support, or i n the
more common case of fundamental support
q u a l i f i e d by reservations, the divided
f e e l i n g was rooted i n two fears: a
fear of loss of femininity and a fear
of loss o f r e s p e c t a b i l i t y . While some
Canadians were convinced that the woman
who joined the services was condemned
to mannishness or whoredom and others
argued that a woman's femininity and
sexual virtue could survive enlistment,
no one took the p o s i t i o n that concern
over loss of femininity and respectab i l i t y was absurd. The ambivalent
response of Canadian society to women's
admission to the armed forces indicates
a widespread consensus during World
War II on what the respectable woman
should be: above a l l a t t r a c t i v e and
submissive to men and hence marriageable but a t the same time sexually
chaste, that i s , s u f f i c i e n t l y , s e l f controlled (or repressed) to l i m i t
sexuality t o the confines of marriage
and motherhood. Perhaps because the
combatant role always lurked i n the
background as a threatening p o s s i b i l i t y
for women i n uniform, the reaction to
women's admission to the armed forces
was at i t s most V i c t o r i a n .
APPENDIX A
Objections
to Female Friends and Relatives j o i n i n g Armed Forces
French parents, husbands and boy friends were so deeply prejudiced against working and service women on moral grounds that
t h e i r opinion unduly influenced the national t o t a l s . English
parents, husbands and boy friends did not want t h e i r daughters,
wives, s i s t e r s and g i r l friends to j o i n the armed forces as much
because they f e l t women were not needed as that the service was
morally degrading. Their objections to women taking war jobs
were generalized. (See Table on following page.)
TOTAL CANADA OBJECTIONS TO
FEMALE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
Total parents and young men interviewed
Joining
Forces
Taking
War Jobs
100%
100%
UNLADYLIKE, LOSE SELF-RESPECT
Not needed
Not suited, hard l i f e
Home Obligations
Other
21%
7%
1%
4%
3%
10%
2%
7%
4%
2%
Proportion disapproving
39%
27%
Joining
Forces
Taking
War Jobs
ENGLISH-CANADIAN OBJECTIONS
TO FEMALE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
Total parents and young men interviewed
100%
100%
UNLADYLIKE, LOSE SELF-RESPECT
Not needed
Not suited, hard l i f e
Home obligations
Other
12%
10%
1%
4%
3%
4%
2%
4%
4%
2%
Proportion disapproving
34%
19%
Elliott-Haynes, p. 22.
FRENCH CANADIAN OBJECTIONS
TO FEMALE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
Total parents and young men interviewed
Joining
Forces
100%
Taking
War Jobs
100%
UNLADYLIKE, LOSE SELF-RESPECT
Not needed
Not suited, hard l i f e
Home obligations
Other
41%
1%
1%
4%
3%
24%
1%
13%
3%
3%
Proportion disapproving
50%
45%
Young men c r i t i c i z e d service women on moral grounds more than parents d i d .
(Total Canada 21%, Parents 19%, Young Men 27%).
Elliott-Haynes, p. 23.
APPENDIX B
Reasons General Public Gave as to Why Women Do Not E n r o l l
The general public f e l t that young women avoided e n r o l l i n g i n the
women's services because o f fear o f association with women o f poor
moral standards.
Total persons stating
Poor moral standards
No c i v i l i a n comforts
Taking d i s c i p l i n e
Disapproval o f family, friends
Barrack l i f e , no privacy
Not war conscious
Physically u n f i t
Lack knowledge o f services
Poor pay
Dress regulations
Other reasons
CWAC Report, p. 27
Total
Public
Parents
Young
Men
Young
Women
100%
100%
100%
100%
35%
11
11
8
6
5
5
4
3
3
17
33%
11
7
7
40%
9
13
9
2
4
2
4
4
2
18
32%
14
12
7
17
5
5
12
12
4
19
-7
7
2
2
2
14
APPENDIX C
Type of Advice CWAC Women Obtained From Their Relatives and Friends
Members o f the men's armed forces and boy friends were the most antagoni s t i c towards the women's forces. Women friends already i n the forces
were the only people which gave outspoken approval and encouragement.
From the combined t o t a l s below i t would appear that even women now i n
the CWAC received about as much discouragement as encouragement from
t h e i r friends and r e l a t i v e s to t h e i r idea o f j o i n i n g up.
Type o f Advice Given
Persons
Total Advising
Favorable
Neutral
unfavourable
Parents
Father
Mother
100%
100
40%
36
43%
45
17%
19
100%
100
38%
27%
38
35%
19
31%
18%
24%
32
52%
51
23%
33
9%
35
35%
30%
Brothers
In Forces
Civilian
Sisters
Civilian
4a
100
51%
Men Friends
In forces
Civilian
100%
100
Women Friends
In forces
Civilian
100%
100
24%
17
68%
32
A l l combined
100%
35%
CWAC Report, p. 28.
NOTES
15.
Tha p r i n c i p a l sources for t h i s paper are deposited i n Ottawa at the Public
Archives of Canada and the Directorate of History, Department of National Defence.
In l o c a t i n g these sources I received expert and generous assistance at the Public
Archives from Barbara M. Wilson, M i l i t a r y A r c h i v i s t i n tha Public Records Division,
and Joy Williams, i n the National Photography D i v i s i o n , and, a t the Directorate o f
History, DND from P h i l i p Chaplin, Senior Research O f f i c e r . X should also l i k e t o
thank the following friends and colleagues: Suzann Buckley and Jane Lewis f o r i n s p i r i n g observations and suggestions and Mark Shrimpton f o r patient assistance
with reading and interpreting the two s t a t i s t i c a l studies on which t h i s paper
draws.
1.
2.
G.W.L. Nicholson, Canada's Nursing S i s t e r s (Toronto: Samuel Stevens Hakkert &
Conpany, 1975).
Comparative monthly enlistment figures for CWAC
Oct. 1942
893
Nov.
730
Dec.
530
Jan. 1943
699
Feb. (3 wks.)
570
Minutes o f the 89th Meeting of the National Campaign Committee, 22 Feb. 1943,
PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5303, f i l e HQS 8964-2.
3.
Ibid.
4.
(MontrealAoronto: Elliott-Haynes Limited, 1943). Hereafter c i t e d as E l l i o t t Haynes. Copy a t DH, DND, 113.3C1 (Dl). In scope,the p u b l i c opinion survey
claimed to have covered: "both sexes, a l l races, a l l geographical regions, a l l
age l e v e l s , a l l economic l e v e l s , a l l occupations and a l l classes o f conjugal
conditions of the adult c i v i l i a n population of Canada. Xn a l l , the opinions
of 7283 c i v i l i a n adults were obtained from 56 Canadian centres and their surfounding areas." Elliott-Haynes, p. 3.
5.
6.
16.
Elliott-Haynes, p. 22. See Appendix A.
17.
CWAC Report, p. 27. See Appendix B.
18.
Elliott-Haynes, p. 23.
19.
Elliott-Haynes, pp. 23, 30.
20.
CWAC Report, p. 28. See Appendix D.
21.
CWAC Report, p. 12.
22.
Letter of 16 August 1943 to chief e d i t o r i a l writers of Canada's daily papers
from P i l o t O f f i c e r Carl Reinke, Combined Services Committee, WRCNS, CWAC,
RCAF, PAC, MG 28, I 25, Vol. 84.
Letter of 22 December 1941 to Director of Medical Services, D.P. & N.H.,
from Lieutenant Colonel W.C. Arnold, RCAMC, for DGMS, PAC, RG 24, Reel
NO. C-5318, f i l e HOC 6994-12.
24.
See PAC, RG 24, Reel C-5296, f i l e HOC 8972, passim.
25.
"The CWAC rate o f i l l e g i t i m a t e pregnancies for the 4 months beginning
January 1, 1943, and ending A p r i l 30, 1943," was calculated as "32.1 per
thousand unmarried woman i n the C.w.A.C." and was compared with "the
c i v i l i a n rate o f i l l e g i t i m a t e b i r t h s i n 1941" which was calculated as "9.6
par thousand" unmarried women, i n the age group 15-45, per annum. Memo, of
28 May 1943 from G.C. Maloney, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296, f i l e HOC 8972.
Data on the incidence o f VD among CWAC personnel was also being collected.
In March 1943 the o f f i c e o f the Director General of Medical Services reported
to the AG that for "the period from the inception of the Corps to December
31, 1942, . . . the incidence o f Gonorrhoea i s 6 cases per thousand per
annum, and Syphilis 3 cases per thousand per annum." There were no c i v i l i a n
s t a t i s t i c s available any where i n Canada to which those figures could be compared. Memo, o f 4 March 1943 to AG from J.C. Meakins, Brigadier, DDGMS (P)
for DGMS, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296. f i l e HOC 8972. During the f i r s t h a l f
of 1943 the VD rate increased. Based on number of cases reported from
military d i s t r i c t s i n Canada and the average monthly strength of the Corps
during the period January through June, 1943, the incidence of VD could be
calculated as 25.8 per thousand members o f the CWAC per annum. "Venereal
Disease - CWAC - Jan.-June 1943," PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296, f i l e HQC 8972.
A comparable s t a t i s t i c calculated for the Army as a whole (including the
CWAC) was 32 per thousand per annum for the year 1943. Reprint from the
F i r s t Annual Report o f the Department of National Health and Welfare f o r the
f i s c a l year ended March 31 t, 1945, PAC, RG 24, v o l . 6618, f i l e HQ 8994-6,
vol. 10.
X discuss the fear o f loss o f femininity i n another paper, at present only
available i n manuscript form.
7.
Elliott-Haynes, p. 8.
PAC, RG 24, V o l . 2252, f i l e HQ 54-27-111-1, v o l . 2.
9.
According to the CWAC survey of 1943, 7% of the Privates were married and 11%
of the NCO's. CWAC Report, p. 17.
See Appendix C.
23.
Copy a t DH, DND, 113.3A2009 (DI) and 168.009 (D91). Hereafter c i t e d as CWAC
Report. Carried out by the Directorate of Army Recruiting i n A p r i l and May
1943, i t was based i n part on the results of the Elliott-Haynes study, insofar
as they pertained to the CWAC, but i n the main on the "written answers to a
questionnaire prepared by NDHQ i n both English and French" and administered
to a cross-section of CWAC other ranks from a l l CWAC u n i t s . The scope o f the
CWAC survey "was limited to other ranks including NCO's, and for convenience,
to those l i v i n g i n barracks. Xn a l l 1101 questionnaires representing about
12% o f estimated strength (other ranks l i v i n g i n barracks) were completed and
returned. About 18% o f these were f i l l e d i n by NCO's and about 10% by FrenchCanadian women." CWAC Report, pp. 3-4.
8.
Wartime Information Board report, 19 March, 1943, "Immorality of Service
Women," Copy at Public Archives Records Centre, Box 4824, S-2730-1/15 Vol 1
Courtesy DHDND.
B
10.
Exceptions were occasionally made i n the case of o f f i c e r s .
Margaret Eaton Dunn, London, England, 9 May 1978.
11.
CARD 4834, mentioned i n Memo, o f 27 June 1943 t o AG (through DAG <M) from
Colonel D.F. MacRae, D. Org., PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5300, f i l e HQS 8981.
12.
Secret Army message (A.G. 2656) o f 4 May 1945 to Canmiltry from Defensor;
Secret Army message (A.G. 6695) to Canmiltry from Defensor, PAC, RG 24,
Reel No. C-5300, f i l e HQS 8981.
13.
14.
26.
"Special Report on Discharged Personnel, June ±943—Analysis of the Returns
on the Pro Formas Sent Out to A l l Ex-Service Women, C.w.A.C, Discharged
for Pregnancy," PAC, RG 24, Reel No. c-5296, f i l e HQC 8972.
27.
Memo, o f 14 June 1943 to DAG (C) from R.S. White, i / c Promotion, Combined
Ser ices Committee, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5303, f i l e HQS 8984-2.
28.
Suggested Syllabus for the Instruction of Representatives of N.S.S.
Appointed to Deal with Prospective Recruits to the Women's Services o f the
Armed Forces, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5303, f i l e HQS 8984-2.
Interview with
29.
The A u x i l i a r y T e r r i t o r i a l Service o f Great B r i t a i n was also the object of a
"whispering campaign" which began as early as 1940 but was l a i d t o rest, according to the Director of the ATS during the period 1943-1946, by the
B r i t i s h White Paper "Report o f the Cosadttee on Amenities and Welfare Cond i t i o n s i n the Three Women's Services," issued August 1942. L e s l i e V i o l e t
Lucy Evelyn Mary Whateley, As Thoughts Survive (London: Hutchinson t Co., Ltd., 30.
1948), pp. 21, 32, 41, 71.
PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5303, f i l e HQS 8984-2.
See ' H i s t o r i c a l Sketch of Medical Education of Women i n Kingston,' read
[by Elizabeth Shortt] before the Osier Club, Queen's University, 14 September 1916, i n The Proper Sphere: Women's Place i n Canadian Society, ed. by
Ramsay Cook and Wendy Mitchinson (Toronto: Oxford university Press, 1976),
pp. 155-165. I am grateful to Jane Lewis for the suggested comparison.
Minutes of Meeting o f the Combined Services Committee, 9 June 1943, PAC,
RG 24, Reel NO. C-5303, f i l e HQS 8984-2.
31. HQ 54-27-111-20, (DAR 84), 31 May 1943, DH, DND, 322.009 (D180) .
AG's c i r c u l a r l e t t e r (R. 712) of 15 Aug. 1944, PAC, RG 24, V o l . 2252, f i l e
HQ 54-27-111-1, v o l . 2.
50.
"COLLEGE GIRLS ARE NEEDED IN THE C.W.A.C.," sponsored CWAC Advertising,
summer/autumn 1943, DH, DND, 164.069 (DI).
CWAC Report, p. 21.
51.
Emphasis i n o r i g i n a l .
Memo, of 22 July 1943 to DAG (C) from Director o f Army Recruiting, PAC, RG
24, Reel No. C-5303, f i l e HQS 8984-2.
52.
Lotta Dempsey, "Women's Wartime Services," Mayfair, July 1943, p. 64.
53.
See footnote No. 46.
54.
Minutes of meeting i n o f f i c e o f DGMS on pregnancy i n the CWAC, 27 May 1943,
PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296, f i l e HQC 8972.
55.
Confidential memo, o f 8 June 1943 to D.G.M.S. from Lieutenant Colonel C.V.
Ward, RCAMC, AMD 9, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296, f i l e HQC 8972.
Director-General, CWAC, presumably Colonel Margaret C. Eaton, "Preliminary
H i s t o r i c a l Narrative, History of the C.W.A.C. £ Appendices" (n.d., but i n ternal evidence suggests ca. mid-1945), p. 25. Hereafter c i t e d as Preliminary History o f the C.W.A.C. Copy at DH, DND, 113.3cl (DI).
Letter dated 8 August 1944 from Edmonton, Alberta, i n an Appendix to Preliminary History of the C.W.A.C, DH, DND, 113.3Cl (DI) .
The evidence of sexual bias and operation of the double standard i n the
Army's handling of cases o f VD and " i l l e g i t i m a t e " pregnancy i n the CWAC i s
the subject of a forthcoming paper.
This was the explanation favoured by captain Ruth Crealock i n her appraisal
of the CWAC f o r the Directorate of Army Recruiting i n September 1943; also
by Colonel Margaret Eaton, Director-General o f the CWAC i n her preliminary
h i s t o r y of the CWAC of mid-1945; as well as by Lieutenant-Colonel Daisy
Royal, Senior S t a f f O f f i c e r of the CWAC, i n her Report and Recommendations
on the Corps of August 1946. Report on Canadian Women's Army Corps, by
Captain Ruth Crealock, 30 Sept. 1943, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5303, f i l e
HQS 8984-2; Preliminary History of the CWAC, pp. 22-26? Report and Recommendations on the Canadian Women's Army Corps, by Lieutenant Colonel D.I.
Royal, Staff O f f i c e r , CWAC, 29 Aug. 1946, p. 26, PAC, RG 24, V o l . 2254, f i l e
HQ 54-27-111-2, v o l . 9.
Letter of 3 August 1945 to the Secretary, Department of National Defence,
from Major General, GOC-in-C, P a c i f i c Command, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296,
f i l e HQC 8972-1-11.
A survey was carried out on " a l l reported cases of pregnancy among unmarried
CWAC personnel during the period 1 Jan 44 u n t i l 15 Aug 44." The report
compared the mean "M" (intelligence) test score for the sample of unmarried
pregnant CWACs i n the study with the mean CWAC score, based on a sample o f
1428 cases, and found the l a t t e r s l i g h t l y higher. However, "M" test scores
were available for only 219 of the 276 unmarried pregnant women i n the survey sample and the report d i d not account for the missing 57 scores. Report on analysis of data on pregnancy among unmarried CWAC personnel,
November 1944, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296, f i l e HQC 8972.
HQ 54-27-111-20 FD 49, 3 July 1943, to Org. from Brigadier Sutherland (DAG),
quoted i n Preliminary History of the CWAC, p. 24.
54-27-111-20 FD S8 (DAR 2), 28 Sept. 1943 to DAG (C) from D i r . of Army Rec r u i t i n g , Appendix 17 to Preliminary History of the CWAC.
Circular Letter (DAR 150) of 25 Feb. 1944 to a l l D i s t r i c t Recruiting O f f i cers from the Director of Army Recruiting, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-8410, f i l e
HQS 9011-11-0-2-1.
Preliminary History of the CWAC, p. 25.
See footnote No. 24.
Memo, of 23 Aug. 1943 to Lieutenant colonel Margaret Eaton, AAG, CWAC, from
Brigadier G.B. Chisholm, Director General of Medical Services, PAC, RG 24,
Reel Ho. C-5296, f i l e HQC 8972.
Memo, o f 18 Dec. 1944 to DGMS from Major G.C. Maloney, RCAMC, CWAC Consultant, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296, f i l e HQC 8972.
Memo, on CWAC Recruiting, 54-27-111-20 FD 58 (DAR 2) of 28 Sept. 1943 to
DAG (C) from D i r . of Army Recruiting, Appendix 17 to Preliminary History of
the CWAC, copy at DH, DND, 113.3C1 ( D l ) .
Memo, o f 18 June 1943 to DAG (c) from Captain T.H. Johnstone, for Combined
Services Co., PAC, RG 24. p * - l So. C-5303, f i l e HQS 8984-2.
See footnote No. 46.
56.
50 Questions and Answers About C W A C
57.
Minutes o f D i s t r i c t C.W.A.C. O f f i c e r s ' Conference, 6 to 8 February 1945, DH,
DND, 115.1009 (D22).
(Ottawa: King's Printer, 1944), p. 5.
58.
"Report and Recommendations on the Canadian Women's Army Corps," prepared
by Lieutenant Colonel D.I. Royal, Staff O f f i c e r , CWAC, 29 Aug. 1946, PAC,
RG 24, V o l . 2254, f i l e HQ 54-27-111-2, v o l . 9.
59.
C W A C Digest: Facts About the C.W.A.C, DH, DND, 156.063 (DI) .
60.
Memo, of 16 Feb. 1944 to D. Admin, from M.C Eaton, Lieutenant Colonel,
AAG (CWAC); communication of 26 Feb. 1944 to Canadian M i l i t a r y Headquarters,
London, from Major-General H.F.G. Letson, AG, PAC, RG 24, Reel No. C-5296,
f i l e HQC 8972.
61.
50 Questions and Answers About C W A C , p. 11.
62.
" M i l i t a r y Policewomen i n Big S i s t e r Role," Globe and Mail, 5 Dec. 1942, p. 12.
63.
Inside cover, Canadian Geographical Journal, December 1943.
64.
Cut sheet of suggested Sponsored CWAC Advertising, summer/autumn 1943, DH,
DND, 164.069 ( D l ) .
65.
Memo, of 10 June 1943 to DAG (C) from R.S. White, i / c Promotion, PAC RG 24,
Reel No. C-5303, f i l e HQS 8984-2.
66.
MG 28, I 25, V o l . 84, passim.
67.
Letter o f 25 July 1943 to Mrs. Edgar D. Hardy, Pres., National Council of
Women of Canada, from Major-General H.F.G. Letson, A.G. Department o f
National Defence, MG 28, I 25, V o l . 84.