A treasure trove of photographs has fallen into my hands, showing RCAF women, members of the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division, performing their wartime duties. Although women weren’t allowed to fly or to engage in combat, they filled many other valuable roles. “WE SERVE THAT MEN MAY FLY” was the motto of the Women’s […]
Sixty-eight years ago this month, a German submarine torpedoed the SS Caribou, a ferry travelling from Canada to Newfoundland. Within five minutes, the ferry sank to the bottom of the Atlantic. Margaret Brooke valiantly tried to save her friend Agnes Wilkie, who became the only Canadian nursing sister to die from enemy action in World War Two. […]
When Manitoba farm girl Merle Taylor joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, she proved to be such a whiz at Morse Code that she was assigned to instruct the air crews.
RCAF photographer Ruth Owen Whitelegg of Brantford, Ontario, served at an air training base at Centralia, Ontario, during World War Two. Her photo album gives us a fascinating glimpse into wartime history, crammed with snapshots of life on a Canadian air training base. RCAF Photographer Bio Ruth was born on March 12, 1925 to parents […]
Because my focus is on women in wartime, I’m always delighted to unearth little-known stories about their adventures. Here are four of the best. Women in Wartime MARGARET HERMESTON One of the unusual women in wartime was this petite photographer, who achieved monumental significance by becoming the first female Canadian army photographer. Her name was […]
Violet Milstead of Toronto was a ferry pilot, one of the elite few Canadian women who served with the Air Transport Auxiliary in Great Britain during the Second World War. She flew forty-seven different types of aircraft, including fighters and bombers, from factories to airfields.
There’s a reason why it’s called The Greatest Generation – and former RCAF photographer Yvonne Valleau Wildman of Kindersley, Saskatchewan is a shining example.
Eugenie Francoeur Turner served at a bomber station in Yorkshire, where she witnessed horrific crashes, dodged bombs, and worked around the clock on D-Day. It was the most exciting time of her life.
My admiration is boundless when it comes to the Canadian wartime nurses who bravely carried out their grim duties — so it was an honour to interview Jessie Middleton of Abbotsford, British Columbia. I was especially keen to meet Jessie because my column has not paid enough attention to wartime nurses — our Canadian women […]
Parachute packers — who prepared those complicated contraptions of silk and leather —meant the difference between life and death for a man plunging from the sky.
