Website Book Reviews
Back the Attack! Canadian Women During the Second World War - at Home and Abroad
by Jean Bruce - Published by Macmillan of Canada, c1985 - 182 pages
The book has ten chapters:
- Keeping the Home Fires Burning
- Ready for Active Service: The Paramilitary
- Shoulder to Shoulder: The Canadian Women's Army Corps
- Roll Up Your Sleeves for Victory
- They Serve That Men May Fly: The Royal Canadian Air Force, Women's Division
- You Too Can Free a Man to Serve at Sea: The Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service
- Woman's Place Is Everywhere
- Officers All: The Nursing Sisters
- Over There
- When the War Was Over
In the Introduction the author describes the book as "a montage of personal stories, statements, and visual images within the context of a broader historical overview." She drew upon letters, diaries, magazines, newspapers, books, and various archival materials, along with some very revealing personal interviews with women who played active roles as servicewomen, nurses, industrial workers and volunteers. She devotes a chapter to those who just kept "the home fires burning." She mentions the importance of the CBC documentary "Women at War" produced in 1982 and the Canadian War Museum's exhibition "Women and War."
Chapter One outlines the hard work and sacrifice made by the women at home during the war years - those who had to run a farm or business, as well as a household. Women were also given the responsibility of boosting morale of men in the services. "From a great many sources, women received the same urgent message: their co-operation and their participation were essential to the war effort." The chapter covers in a limited way the following topics: Red Cross work, salvage drives, Victory Bonds, War savings stamps, IODE, British evacuees, rationing, clothing shortages, entertaining servicemen, conscription, letters & parcels, and air raid preparation.
Chapter Four describes the role that women played in war industry. "To enter the labour force, on a temporary basis, became a woman's patriotic duty. And women responded to the call: by October 1943 an estimated 261,000 women were employed directly or indirectly in war production." Women made up about 25% of the war industry workforce by mid-1944. Topics in the chapter include: national registration, danger of work in munitions factories, day care, family values, and working alongside men.
Chapter Seven is a section about the type of jobs that many women did in order to free men for military service. Some of the work was in railway yards, bus companies, garages, textile factories, canning factories, farms, sawmills, government offices, and secret service.
Chapter Ten is about the expectation that women would quietly and gratefully return to the roles they had before the war, which was often undesired by women. However, there was considerable pressure for them to surrender good jobs to the returning men. Adjustment to the post-war world was difficult for many.
In the Epilogue the author explains that despite the mixed feeling of women, most gradually slipped back into the traditional homemaker role. The government propaganda over the war years had encouraged women to do their patriotic duty "for the duration." For the majority of women it was a welcome opportunity to stay home and raise their families.
The book has many interesting photos and images to supplement the text. There is an excellent list of sources and a good index.
