Summary - Shiran

Ambulance driver

Bernadette Williams was a 34 year old woman driving ambulances in the war. She first came to Canada with my mother and father and two younger sisters in 1932. Her father had come out of the Army after 24 years service and had obtained a job at the Portland Cement works in Gads Hill as Timekeeper and Storekeeper. When she was 11 years old she was selling poppies door to door for her school and a young man bought some crosses from me and later that day he came down to her house to buy some more. 7 years later they were married. She was a great part of the war effort because she drove people and saved the lives of soldiers. Her work will never be forgotten.

Shiran

Helping people

As i drove through the battle field I remember the dying bodies, the bombs flying all around me. i thought i was going to die, with fear in my heart. We spotted a laying body on the field and jumped out. We put him on the stretcher and carried him into the ambulance. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget the faces of all those people dying. it scares me everyday that i could have been dead out there too. i don't remember why i joined the force and i cant remember if it was out of bravery of stupidity, but going to war is something i never want to experience again. even though I wasn't fighting with a gun, I was still fighting for my life.

Shiran

Bernadette Williams

Driving the Battle

I have been asked for some of my recollections of the War years. Taking my memory back to the dim and distant past To give you some idea of my life up to this time I first came to Canada with my mother and father and two younger sisters in 1932. My father had come out of the Army after 24 years service and had obtained a job at the Portland Cement works in Gads Hill as Timekeeper and Storekeeper.

When I was 11 years old I was selling poppies door to door for my school and a young man bought some crosses from me and later that day he came down to our house to buy some more. Little did I know that day that 7 years later I would marry him.

War broke out and in early 1940 the blitz started and as I had to do some sort of war work and I could drive I joined the ARP as an ambulance driver. I had to take a special driving test before I could drive an ambulance

Because of the heavy bombing we were considered a high risk area and if a major raid happened ambulances had to vacate the towns and drive to an assembly point where we would be sent to another depot.

Each shift was composed of a first aid party of four men who treated victims as they were extracted from the rubble. Then there was an ambulance with a driver and an attendant and a sitting case car that took the minor injuries back to a first aid post at Richmond Road Infants School which was staffed by nurses.

As a driver I had to check the tires, radiator and battery each morning. One of the more unpleasant tasks was the cleaning out of the interior after we had carried casualties.
A lot of the early casualties were from shrapnel wounds rather than the actual bombs.

My first casualty was a four year old boy who had a fractured base of skull and I duly took him to casualty at the back of the Hospital, my attendant asked a nurse and doctor talking at the door to help us with the stretcher but they said to wait for porters - we went back down to the High Street and got two men passing by two carry the stretcher. The child was dead before he reached the operating theatre. A very sad experience. I will never forget the eyes of that boy.

Claire M (Woman’s Army Corp)

After about three and a half months as being an Army Nurse Corp, I've worked in a couple different medical care centers. The conditions weren't like hospitals at home at all. Hospitals back home were always very sanitary and very calming to recover in. Medical centers where I worked during the war were often hectic. However the worst part of working in such a place is that your always being exposed to tropical illnesses and diseases, as well as having to adapt to different climatic conditions at any time, unsure of where you will be stationed the next day.

Working in such a place made my day somewhat more interesting then before. Each person had a different story to tell about themselves which made my day go by that much easier. However each day us nurses had to cope with lack of supplies and Theater clothing. Working so close to the men fighting, deaths of us nurses was unavoidable due to our hazardous duty.


- Betty Wilson

Claire M (Woman’s Army Corp)

The biggest and most accomplished experience of my life was first founded for me on August 13, 1941. This was also the day the Canadian Woman’s Army Corp was put together. Me and all my friends thought it would be a great idea to free men from duty in the front lines by replacing them in more important roles that men are allowed to do. I was even the perfect candidate for the job because I had a minimum of grade eight education, I was aged 18 to 45, and I'm of British subject. Me only being nineteen at the time, had my family worrying if they should let me go to such a place where only men used to be allowed. My dear mother kept nagging me on how I'm going to regret it but I kept reassuring her that I will be safe. I also thought that this is my way of doing my part in the war.

Everywhere I would go in town there were signs promoting the Canadian Woman's Army Corp positions. I found that some were quite appealing to me and they made me really eager to start my new job! As Canadian Woman Army Corps became more popular, billboards, handbills and advertisments were put up to promote these positions even more. More and more of my friends and their mothers were joining this corporation because it felt like the right thing to do at that time. I kept some advertisements which looked like this.

At the time, pay looked like it was pretty good! We woman received two thirds of what the men earned in such positions. I was excited to see which job I would be assigned and was secretly hoping for being a cook because I have tons and tons of experience with working in the kitchen with my mother as a young girl. I could also be assigned the job of a secretary, clerk, vehicle driver, canteen worker, or any other non-combat job. I had to keep my fingers crossed and told everyone to wish me luck because it was a very nerve racking thing helping out in the war!

- Betty Wilson

Tina W. Female Factory Worker

Although my husband left for the army, I decided to leave for Ontario to look for work. I saw posters all around encouraging women like me to work. Here is an example of one!

Despite the fact that I was married, I was a still a young woman, with no children yet and this opened many opportunities for jobs. Because many men left for war, us women filled in the jobs left unoccupied by the men that left to serve the country. I was hired as a factory worker that produced aircraft, ammunition, weapons, and other goods needed for the war effort. Although the men originally with my job were paid more doing the same work, it was still a good pay in my eyes. Other friends of mine worked in machine shops, welding shops and manufacturing plants, also making equipment for the war. Here is a picture I have of me hard at work!

Some of friends, whom were stay-at-home wives and mothers also contributed towards the war efforts by knitting sweaters, scarves and other articles of clothing for the men overseas. Every woman conserved, saved and salvaged during the war. Fats, paper, metals, glass, rubber and bones were collected to recycle in the effort to make war supplies. My neighbor, Mary taught me that old clothes could be remade and that old oil could be used to make munitions. The war gave me an opportunity to have a job and taught me the importance of re-using materials.

- Beverly Grieg

Tina W. Female Factory Worker

On July 13th, 1942 I married the man of my life, William George Grieg. Just three weeks later, he went overseas as a Corporal in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corp. I remember him signing up for this war and telling me not to worry about him. His letters keep me happy and relieved that he is safe although he is not with me.There hasn’t been a day he hasn’t been on my mind and I pray for his safe arrival home constantly.

I was consoled by the fact that many of my female friends were here in Canada with me. During the Great War, I remember some of my fellow friends leaving to work as secretaries, clerks, ambulance drivers and nurses. I was in awe to find out that this time women were allowed to serve in all the armed forces of Canada. There were posters encouraging women to join the armed forces. I have included some examples of those posters below.However, even so the majority of my friends did not sign up for military duty since they had to stay home to raise the children and look after the land. Thank goodness I have some friends to stay with me here in Canada. I plan on looking for some work soon to fill in the positions left by the men that left for war.

- Beverly Greg