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Women Contribute to World War 1

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How Did Women Contribute To World War 1

By: Jeff M. Lerio

History 30
Mrs. C. Lenz-Fabian
Nov.19,2012

A Canadian woman plays an important role and contributions on the home front during the war years. They supported our country’s war efforts not only in traditional roles, but also in unprecedented new ways. Women in this era are said to be the toughest one, they endure all pains and suffering just to be heard and express their thoughts. During World War 1, women roll up their sleeves and took a wide variety of civilian job that once is filled by men. Canada’s contributions during the war years would have been very different if it were not for the vital roles women played on the home front. All of this effort, pains and sufferings of the …show more content…

They were faced with the reality that they had to maintain the family farm themselves, as well as raise the children, while the husbands, sons and hired laborers were off at war. With their sons overseas, many farm women had to take on extra work. One Alberta mother of nine sons - all of them either in the army or away working in factories - drove the tractor, plowed the fields, put up hay, and hauled grain to elevators, along with tending her garden, raising chickens, pigs and turkeys, and canning hundreds of jars of fruits and vegetables. There was no uniform for the farmerettes, but the young women who volunteered their services learned to wear loose fitting dressings to accommodate the heavy labor involved in working the land and broad brimmed hats to protect against the sun. In 1918, 2,400 women served as farmerettes and assisted fruit farmers in the Niagara region.Many farm workers enlisted in the army, and if Canada was going to produce enough food, labourers had to be found. Farm work, promoted as a paying job, infact became a drain on the financial resources of many women the pay was usually $4 a week. Many men left their civilian jobs to fight for their country during the First World War. These jobs needed to be filled and women quickly stepped forward to meet the surging demand for workers in a greatly expanding Canadian wartime economy. Almost a million of women employed in different kind of jobs traditionally for male. Initially, there was a

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