Greatcoats and Glamour Boots: Canadian Women at War (1939-1945). Rev. ed.

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University. He
is the author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable
Kingdom and The History of Fort St. Joseph, and the co-author of
Invisible and Inaudible in Washington: American

“Well behaved women rarely make history!” So read a bumper sticker
observed in 2002. Even during the crisis of 1939–45, there were those
who agreed. Some men doubted the capacity of women for military life and
often underutilized the services of the 50,000 who volunteered. One who
resigned from a civilian job in a munitions factory so that she could
serve “king and country” in a more meaningful way found herself
serving tea to officers’ wives. While history was largely a male
preserve, members of the historical profession tended to minimize the
role of women in both military and civilian life.

Many of the 50,000 made a significant contribution to the war effort,
and in so doing set a precedent. Apart from 3141 nursing sisters, women
did not wear their country’s uniform during World War I. By contrast,
thousands served in Canada’s army, navy, and air force during World
War II as cooks, fabric makers, mechanics, accountants, secretaries,
dental assistants, drivers, stockroom managers, paramedics, nurses, and
telephone operators.

The author, a child of six in 1939, felt motivated to write this book
as she remembered her mother’s culinary efforts on behalf of young
service personnel and the role of a friend’s mother who entertained
them as a pianist. Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar wrote the foreword,
and Gossage herself wrote the commentary. There are several pages of
personal testimonials from the 50,000 volunteers. The book is well
illustrated, with depictions by artist Molly Lamb Bobak as well as
contemporary photographs of women arriving for duty, smoking, relaxing,
working, and even preparing to play hockey.