Tag Archives: Nursing sisters

Women in the War: the Royal Canadian Air Force at 100

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Version française

By Rebecca Murray

Please note that many of the visuals for this article were taken from digitized microfiche; as such, the image quality varies, and individual item-level catalogue descriptions are not always available.

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is celebrating 100 years in 2024. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) holds records from the RCAF’s earliest days through to the 21st century. From its role in Canadian aviation to operations abroad, the RCAF has an important place in Canadian military history. Other posts on this site address infrastructure like airports (specifically RCAF Fort St. John) and notable moments such as the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow. This post will focus on the photographic holdings of the RCAF at LAC, specifically the Second World War–era photographs of servicewomen.

A uniformed woman stands against a blank wall.

HC 11684-A-2 “Great coat with hat and gloves,” 04/07/1941 (MIKAN 4532368).

Another colleague’s post outlines the history of the RCAF Women’s Division (RCAF-WD), so I won’t repeat it here, except to say that it was formed on July 2, 1941 (officially as the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, changing its name by early 1942) and would eventually see more than 17,000 women serving within its ranks.

Two women wearing coveralls sit on either side of a propellor.

PBG-3143 “Women’s Division—Aero Engine Mech.,” 23/10/1942 (MIKAN 5271611).

The Department of National Defence fonds (RG24/R112) holds photographs of these women and documents their service during the Second World War era. Comprising over 500,000 photographs, this collection is a rich resource for anyone interested in the period as it includes photographs from both Canada and overseas. Over the past six years, I have been working closely with the photographs to find the servicewomen. Some of them are documented clearly and given centre stage in photographs. Others are found on the fringes, sometimes almost indistinguishable at first glance from their male counterparts in group photographs.

A seated uniformed man wearing glasses (left) looks towards a standing uniformed woman (right).

RE-1941-1 “Pay and Accounts Section (Crosswinds),” 25/09/1944 (MIKAN 4740938).

The occasion of the RCAF’s 100th birthday is a fitting moment to share the results of the work with this particular sub-series of photographs while highlighting the role that servicewomen played in the RCAF’s ranks during this period. Composed of 53 sub-sub-series of photographs, usually distinguished by location, the images vary widely—from aerial views of Canada to official portraits to post-war photographs of life and operations at European bases like North Luffenham and Station Grostenquin. The bread and butter of this sub-series, though, for most interested parties, is the imagery that documents the day-to-day operations and lives of servicemen and women during the Second World War, whether at home or abroad.

Four uniformed women stand and kneel around a Christmas tree positioned atop a table. Wrapped gifts appear on the floor and underneath the tree.

NA-A162 “WD’s Xmas tree & Xmas dance,” 25/12/1943 (MIKAN 4532479).

At over 160,000 distinct images, this sub-series is a treasure trove for any researcher with an interest in the period! Approximately 1,900 of those images (1%) are of servicewomen, both RCAF-WDs and nursing sisters who served in the RCAF. Servicewomen are best represented within this sub-series in photos from Ottawa, Rockcliffe or Headquarters, with strong representation from those taken at regional bases such as those in Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia.

The photographic collection shows us the WDs (as they were known colloquially) at work and play. They are often shown in groups celebrating holidays or fun moments against the backdrop of a horrific war. Other images suggest levity (see images NA-A162 above and SS-230B below) but also show the serious work being done (see image PBG-3143 earlier in this post). Formal group photographs, such as the nursing sisters shown in G-1448 below, are very common. For many of the more remote or rural bases, especially in the earliest years of the war, nursing sisters are the only women present in the associated photographic records.

A formal group photo with 41 individuals, including 12 servicewomen, five of whom are wearing the distinctive white veil of a nursing sister. The group is organized in three rows; the front row is seated.

G-1448 “[Hospital staff, No. 1 Naval Air Gunnery School, R.N., Yarmouth, N.S.],” 05/01/1945 (a052262).

A group of fifteen women, mostly in civilian dress, engages in various leisure pursuits in what looks like a living room or lounge-like setting. Many appear to be engaged in needlecraft.

SS-230B “Sewing Circle (WD’s) Intelligence Officers,” 04/04/1943 (MIKAN 5285070).

Do you want to know more? Did your aunty or grandma serve in the RCAF-WD? Are you interested in knowing more about her service?

Check out LAC’s extensive resources and records related to the Second World War, including information on how to request military service files. Service files for Second World War—War Dead (1939–1947) are available via our online database.

Explore other photographic holdings at LAC, such as the PL prefix—Public Liaison Office sub-sub-series, a fabulous resource for RCAF photographs that sits, archive-wise, just outside of accession 1967-052 (the focus for this particular research project). Any researcher looking for a RCAF aunty or grandma (or grandpa!) in the archives should include these photographs in their search.

There’s more information about the RCAF’s Centennial on the official RCAF website.

Rebecca Murray is a Literary Programs Advisor in the Programs Division at Library and Archives Canada.

Women in the war: a Co-Lab challenge

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By Rebecca Murray

Canadian women are part of the photographic record of the Second World War. The Department of National Defence fonds (RG24/R112) includes over two million photographs, from Comox in British Columbia to Naples in Italy. These women are our great-grandmothers, grandmothers, mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins and friends.

This Co-Lab challenge invites you to identify servicewomen and nursing sisters who served in Canada and abroad between 1942 and 1945. The photographs range from images of a single person to large groups. The selected photographs depict them at work and play, on ships, in kitchens and libraries, playing sports and dancing. In most cases, none of the women have been identified; in fact, the word “unidentified” is often part of the title of the image.

Identifying these individuals is key to having a better understanding and knowledge of the roles they played during the Second World War. In tandem with other efforts to identify images of servicewomen and nursing sisters within the archival record, this Co-Lab challenge will help to expand the narrative.

Can you help us to identify these women who served? Here are some examples of the photographs you will find in the challenge.

A black-and-white photograph of a woman in a military uniform looking at the camera. She has a pen in her right hand, papers on her desk and a black candlestick-style telephone to her left.

An unidentified member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC), England, July 19, 1944. Credit: Capt. Jack H. Smith (a162428-v6)

A black-and-white photo of a group of women in military uniforms smiling at the camera. There are two women in dark suits. The women in the first row are seated and holding hands. Some of the women standing in the back row have their arms linked.

Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service members (“Wrens”), August 1943 (e011180809)

A black-and-white photo of four women and a man in a shop with tools and tables. There are three windows and a sign that reads YMCA.

Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division craft shop, Rockcliffe, Ontario, April 11, 1944 (a064867-v8)

To search the holdings at Library and Archives Canada for other photographs of servicewomen and nursing sisters, use Collection Search to explore accession 1967-052, where photographs are organized by branches of the armed forces, or try a keyword search (e.g. 1967-052 Halifax Wren).

For more information on the women’s divisions in the three branches of the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War, please refer to these blog posts:

Canadian women served in numerous capacities throughout the Second World War—well beyond what is represented in these photographs. Naming these women and identifying them within the archival record will build a more inclusive narrative and allow generations of servicewomen, their families and Canadians to recognize and highlight the extraordinary roles that they played during the Second World War.

We invite you to use our Co-Lab tool to transcribe, tag, translate and describe digitized records in this challenge. You can also make contributions to any image through our Collection Search tool.

Rebecca Murray is a Senior Reference Archivist in the Reference Services Division at Library and Archives Canada.

Nursing Sisters of the Canadian Army Medical Corps in the First World War, Part I

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By Laura Brown

Forty-one-year-old Alice Isaacson had accomplished a lot by the time she joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in 1916. The Irish-born, American-trained nurse had eight years of nursing supervisor experience under her belt, as well as a year of service with the 23rd General Hospital of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Étaples, France. A reference letter penned by a Medical Officer, likely in support of her transfer from the BEF to the CEF, described her as “skillful, energetic and reliable” and as an individual who was undaunted by large tasks. On one occasion she was responsible for looking after 120 seriously ill patients with little assistance. One of the few things she had not yet learned to do was ride a bicycle, but this, too, would be tackled with determination before her return home at the end of the war.

Alice kept several diaries during her service overseas, which included postings in France at the No. 2 Canadian General Hospital at Le Tréport and the No. 6 Canadian General Hospital at Troyes. Her writings and an insightful photo album are now part of her fonds held at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). These records, as well as other private and government collections, such as the Department of National Defence fonds, are some of the examples of the valuable archival resources at LAC that document the history of women’s service in Canada’s military.

A black-and-white photograph of uniformed men and women riding bicycles. The women are dressed in light-coloured uniforms with dark belts and hats, while the men wear khaki uniforms with hats. They pedal along a pathway that is bordered on the left by a tall brick wall. A large building with windowed façades is prominent in the background. The caption, “Cycle Parade” is written on the lower half of the image.

Personnel riding bicycles, No. 6 Canadian General Hospital, Troyes, France, June 2, 1917. Photograph Album of Alice E. Isaacson, R11203-01-E (e002283123)

Only a few nurses were part of the Canadian Army Medical Corps at the start of the First World War in 1914, but numbers soon increased as civilian nurses were eager to transfer their skills into the military context. In total, more than 3,000 nurses served in the CAMC, including 2,504 overseas in England, France, and at Gallipoli, Alexandria and Salonika in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Nursing was the only means by which women were permitted to serve in the Canadian military during the First World War. To enlist, nurses had to be single, British subjects (which included Canadians at the time), in good health, between the ages of 21 and 38, and have qualifications from a recognized nursing school. If accepted, recruits were commissioned as officers with the rank of lieutenant, which is notable as Canada was the only country in the world to rate nurses as officers at the time. Canadian nurses were addressed with the traditional title of “Nursing Sister”, and enjoyed a number of benefits in their positions, including good wages and leave. The head nursing sister, known as the Matron-in-Chief, was in charge of all the nurses in the service. Margaret Macdonald of the CAMC was given this title, and was the first woman to hold the rank of major in the whole of the British Empire.

A black-and-white photograph shows nursing sisters dressed in white aprons and veils, attending to a crowd of male patients inside a tent. One of the nursing sisters is sitting on a chair, with her feet and hands folded, staring at the camera. The other two nursing sisters are standing as they bandage the wounds of soldiers. The patients are dressed in casual clothing and some are in uniform. Medical supplies including bandages and pails are seen in the foreground and mid-ground.

Nursing sisters attending to soldiers in a dressing tent at No. 7 Canadian General Hospital, Étaples, France, ca. 1917. W.L. Kidd Collection (e002712847)

Military nurses faced a multitude of new experiences that contrasted to their work in the civilian context, whether it was sleeping in a tent, shifting to a new posting at short notice, or making do with limited supplies. Improvising and adapting to changing circumstances was necessary, as nurses might face quiet wards with a few patients one day, and masses of incoming and outgoing patients the next. These women saw first-hand the bodily harm caused by the era’s modern warfare, including shrapnel and poison gas, and witnessed a loss of life that few could have predicted when they first enlisted.

Nurses were not permitted to serve in trenches and most were posted well back from the front lines, working in general or convalescent hospitals. However, some were tasked closer to enemy action. Alice Isaacson noted the coveted nursing positions at casualty clearing stations (advance units along the evacuation routes between front lines and hospitals) in her diary, while posted at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital in September 1917: “Such an exciting afternoon today! . . . Sisters Jean Johnston, S.P. Johnson and Riddle are to go to CCS tomorrow morning! Sisters Hally and Villeneuve are heartbroken at being left here – But we are all glad these sisters have their chance for CCS at last.”

A black-and-white photograph showing three people sitting on the steps of a wooden hut. Two men, wearing trousers with rolled up legs and casual shirts, sit on either side of a uniformed nurse. All are smiling at the camera.

Nursing Sister Lillias Morden with patients outside of a medical hut at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Tréport, France, 1917. Photograph Album of Alice E. Isaacson, R11203-01-E. (e007150684)

Nurses made significant contributions to the war effort in their care of ill and injured soldiers, a duty that extended after the armistice on November 11, 1918. The “Spanish flu” influenza pandemic that began at the end of the war and spread through military camps placed further demands on nurses. Close to 1,500 nursing sisters were still serving with the CAMC by mid-1919. Lillias Morden, a nurse from Hamilton, Ontario, was one of them. She joined the CAMC in 1916, served in England and France, and assisted with demobilization efforts at the end of the war. Morden did not leave her military position until November 1920.

While nurses such as Alice Isaacson and Lillias Morden made it home after the First World War ended, some nursing sisters were not as fortunate. Part II of this blog post will explore how the conditions under which nursing sisters served could be dangerous, with some paying the ultimate price.

Related resources

In April 2018, Library and Archives Canada launched Co-Lab, a new collaboration tool, for the public to contribute by transcribing, tagging and interacting with historical records. Now we are adding a new challenge: showcasing the personal files of some of Canada’s nursing sisters who served in the First World War. You can get started right away!

Laura Brown is a Military Archivist in the Government Archives Division.

Nursing Sisters

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The incredible contribution of Canadian nursing sisters in the First World War can be best appreciated by examining their experiences during service. Women left their families and homes to answer the call to duty and serve their country. Their dedication to their work, to Canada and, most importantly, to their patients, serves to measure the profound effect they had on the Canadian war effort.

A black-and-white photograph showing a woman in a nursing sister uniform sitting on the edge of a table. She is looking directly at the photographer and has a slight smile.

An unidentified nursing sister (MIKAN 3523169)

Library and Archives Canada holds a variety of materials on the history of military nurses, both published and archival. Below you will find a few examples:

A closer look at their daily lives

There are several recent publications that shed light on the varied experiences of nursing sisters during the Great War. Some focus on the individual accounts of nurses:

Pat Staton’s It Was Their War Too: Canadian Women and World War I offers a more general perspective of their contribution to the war effort.

A black-and-white photograph showing two nursing sisters standing by the bedsides of two wounded men.

Two nursing sisters with wounded soldiers in a ward room at the Queen’s Canadian Military Hospital in Shorncliffe, Kent, England, ca. 1916 (MIKAN 3604423)

In the archival collection, we are lucky to have the complete fonds for six of these nursing sisters, which allows us to delve deeper into what it was like for these women in the field. Learn more about Sophie Hoerner and Alice Isaacson who both served in France, or Dorothy Cotton who served in Russia. If that is not enough, you can learn about Anne E. Ross, Laura Gamble and Ruby Peterkin who all served in Greece.

Looking for a specific nursing sister?

If you are looking for information about a nursing sister who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, you will likely find it in the database Soldiers of the First World War. Generally, nursing sisters can easily be identified by their rank, usually indicated by “NS”. It is also important to note that that many women served with the British Forces through the Victorian Order of Nurses or St. John Ambulance.

Other resources:

New Finding Aid Online: Non-Permanent Active Militia

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Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce that a new finding aid for the Non-Permanent Active Militia, RG 9 II-B-7, is now available online. View the 8,800 lower level descriptions today!

During the First World War, units of the Non-Permanent Active Militia were called upon to perform a variety of military tasks in Canada, notably to guard strategic sites such as armouries, bridges and canals.

The files are arranged alphabetically and can include a variety of forms dealing with enlistment, medical and dental history, hospitalization, discipline, pay, discharge and subsequent correspondence relating to the individual’s eligibility for war service gratuities and other service-related issues. Attestation papers, which are completed at the time of enlistment, are present in a number of the files. They include the recruit’s name and address, next-of-kin, date and place of birth, occupation, previous military experience and distinguishing physical characteristics.

This sub-series also contains small quantities of exceptional files: for members of the permanent force, for members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) prior to embarkation overseas, for members of Royal Flying Corps, and for nursing sisters and other members of the Canadian Army Medical Corps.

Although the outside dates for the records are 1908-1983, the vast majority were created during the period 1914-1919.

Want to learn more about how to use finding aids? Consult our articles “Discover Finding Aids!” and “ Discover Finding Aids – Part Two”.

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For more information on recent announcements at LAC, visit “News”.