Women & The War Effort
World War Two
Unit Overview
The objective this unit is to provide educators and students with inspiration and appropriate resources (primary, secondary, lesson plans, graphic organizers) supporting the Ontario curriculum connections for grade 10 history. Various social, historical and political contributions because of Canadian women's effort during WWII will be further explored in the the teaching resources, primary and secondary resources below.
Curriculum & the big six
Strand C: 1929-1945
C2 & C3 Communities, Conflict, and Cooperation & Identity, Citizenship, and Heritage
Historical PerspectiveStudents consider the perspective of women in the war effort through engaging with a variety of sources (both primary and secondary). | Historical SignificanceThrough engaging with these materials, students can evaluate the importance of women’s contributions in World War II and consider the long lasting impact of this to both women as a group and Canadian society as a whole. | Continuity and Change Over the course of this unit, students will determine the ways women's participation in the war effort stayed the same and show it changed between the first and second World Wars. |
Historical Perspective
Students consider the perspective of women in the war effort through engaging with a variety of sources (both primary and secondary).
Historical Significance
Through engaging with these materials, students can evaluate the importance of women’s contributions in World War II and consider the long lasting impact of this to both women as a group and Canadian society as a whole.
Cause and Consequence Through this unit, students will determine the factors that led to women's participation in a variety of areas that supported the war effort. |
On The Home Front
Textual Resources (Primary sources)
- True Comics, no. 8 (Jan. 1942) Queen of the Hurricanes : Elsie MacGill https://www.therobertabondarfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Queen-of-theHurricanes.pdf
- “WOMEN IN INDUSTRY” Globe and Mail, December 26, 1941. https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/canadawar/women_e.html
- “A Most Important Feature" The Toronto Daily Star, March 23, 1942 https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/canadawar/women_e.html
- "My Grandmother's Wartime Diary": The War Effort at Home, Gladys Muriel (Berg) Greig https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/diaries-letters-stories/second-world-war/my-grandmother/greig
Textual Resources (Secondary sources)
- Canada Remembers Women on The Home Front https://www.veterans.gc.ca/pdf/features/women/whh-fhf.pdf
- Canada Remembers Women at War https://www.veterans.gc.ca/pdf/cr/pi-sheets/women.pdf
- The bomb girls of Ajax Legion Magazine https://legionmagazine.com/en/2016/02/the-bomb-girls-of-ajax/
- Selected article from Canadian Women a History, Second Edition, Prentice et al. (341-346), 2004. https://drive.google.com/file/d/15AZM6318QVvguYLvTcuB_inpi7uUvXbQ/view?usp=sharing
- The Bren Gun Girl https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/military-war/the-bren-gun-girl
- Ronnie - The Bren Gun Girl https://canadiansatarms.ca/ronnie-the-bren-gun-girl/
Suggested Lesson Plans - Found online
This resource gives educators a series of lessons that include opportunities for students to engage in inquiry based learning, analyze primary sources, with questions to guide student thinking.
This lesson plan can be deconstructed to form a unit by making each section in the graphic organizer a separate lesson. Students would engage with the materials for each section based on the topic of the lesson.
On The War Front
Textual Resources (Primary sources)
- Jessica Clayton - Veteran Stories http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/1194:jessica-clayton/
- This resource tells the story of Jessica Clayton, who was a part of a pipe band. Included is a four minute recording of her experiences from the Second World War and photographs from her experiences.
- My Grandmother's Wartime Diary https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/diaries-letters-stories/second-world-war/my-grandmother
- Canadian women's Armp Corps https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157668196377253/
- A series of 19 photos from the Second World War demonstrating the role that women played.
- Molly Lamb Bobak: Canada's first female Canadian war Artist http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/second-world-war/molly-lamb-bobak/Pages/molly-lamb-bobak-artist.aspx
- How I won the war for the allies: One sassy Canadian Soldiers story by Doris Gregory. Can be purchased from https://www.amazon.ca/How-Won-War-Allies-Canadian/dp/1553803175
Textual Resources (Secondary sources)
- Canada Remembers Women at War https://www.veterans.gc.ca/pdf/cr/pi-sheets/women.pdf
- Canadian women and the Second World War https://cha-shc.ca/_uploads/5c38ab4a8f066.pdf
THE CANADIAN WOMEN’S ARMY CORPS, 1941-1946 https://www.warmuseum.ca/learn/dispatches/the-canadian-womens-army-corps-1941-1946/#tabs
Canada Remembers Women in the Canadian Military https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/women-veterans/military
Canadian Women's Army Corps https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-womens-army-corps
The Nursing Sisters of Canada
Like the lesson plan for the home front, this organizer can be deconstructed to form a unit by making each section in the graphic organizer a separate lesson. Students would engage with the materials for each section based on the topic of the lesson.