Summerside's War Effort During WWII

Across Canada, almost every small town had its own newspaper or at least access to one published in an adjacent area. It was the principal means by which people learned of current events in their communities and from distant points.

There were four newspapers in Summerside during the years of World War II, all of them having been in publication for decades. The Journal Publishing Company had a bi-weekly paper The Summerside Journal and a weekly paper The Agriculturalist. The Pioneer Publishing Company put out The Pioneer and The Island Farmer on a weekly basis. There was coverage of the war and the home front in all of these papers.

Some Summerside residents subscribed to a town paper as well as to one from Charlottetown, the provincial capital. For those who did not have subscriptions, newspapers were sold off the stands at various locations around town.

The local newspaper that carried the most comprehensive and extensive news about the war along with news from the local area was the Summerside Journal. A special section has been devoted to that paper. Another section presents the coverage given in the papers to the casualty reports.