Tag Archives: Second World War

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.

The Final Charge of the Canadian Cavalry

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By Ethan M. Coudenys

Shells were falling, machine guns were firing, and horses were whinnying as the final cavalry charge of the Great War on the Western Front took place at Moreuil Wood. The line had broken, and Field Marshal Douglas Haig called for the Canadian Cavalry Brigade—specifically the Lord Strathcona’s Horse—to charge through the gap in the line to advance further into German-controlled territory. This ill-fated charge would be the last wartime charge for the Canadians in military history.

Canadian Cavalry Brigade on horseback charging.

Sir Alfred Munnings
The Charge of Flowerdew’s Squadron
CWM 19710261-0443
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum

March 30, 1918, was the mid-point of the 100 Days Campaign—a campaign which saw incredible advances through German-controlled lines on the Western Front and the beginning of the final phase of the First World War. At Moreuil Wood, the infantry and artillery attacks had, in the opinion of the generals commanding the attack, broken the German defensive line, and for the first time since 1914, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade would remount and attack.

Between January 1915 and early 1918, cavalry soldiers—referred to as “troopers”—took on the role of infantry personnel. They worked in the same trenches as all the other soldiers and were required to defend and attack using the same tactics as the infantry. For all intents and purposes, they were infantry troops, however, they also had to pack their kits according to their actual designation: cavalry troopers. They were therefore always required to carry their tack, feed and water for their mounts, rations and water for themselves, ammunition, etc. Yet, they were not given the same packs as infantry troops. They were able to hold some of these supplies in their saddlebags, but they had to transport heavy equipment without a proper way of storing it.

Group of soldiers on horseback.

Lord Strathcona’s Horse in 1916, moving behind the front line (a000119).

Despite the negligible use of cavalry on the Western Front after the first months of the Great War, the cavalry remained at the forefront of the minds of those planning Allied offensives. In Great Britain, the General Planning Staff was largely composed of cavalry officers, and Douglas Haig was one of them. Cavalry was therefore considered vital to winning the war against the German Empire. Rarely used in battle as actual cavalry troopers, this final charge proved, once and for all, that in modern warfare, the cavalry was of little strategic value.

On that fateful day, Lieutenant Gordon Muriel Flowerdew led the Lord Strathcona’s Horse Company C cavalry group on two charges against a myriad of German defensive positions. Three hundred German infantrymen defended their position. Using the feared MG-08 heavy machine gun and the newly invented light machine gun, they mowed down the advancing cavalry within minutes. Nevertheless, the only surviving trooper remembers Lieutenant Flowerdew shouting “It’s a charge, boys! It’s a charge!” Racing at a full gallop, the squadron met the German Army, but ultimately failed in its attempt to take the position.

This earned Flowerdew the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery in the British Commonwealth. However, Flowerdew’s story did not end happily since his squadron lost all but one trooper in the attack.

Today, at Moreuil Wood, a small memorial commemorates the sacrifice made by Company C of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse. The battlefield there is strewn with the remains of the attacking Canadian horses, their men, and the German soldiers who defended their line. This was the last charge of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. After the Second World War, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade was largely reorganized into armoured, tank and motorized corps. All but a small number of troopers were assigned ceremonial roles in the Royal Canadian Army.

Unfortunately, no wartime photographers were able to capture the final charge of Company C, led by Lieutenant Flowerdew, but the famous British painter, Sir Alfred Munnings, captured the moment and immortalized it in an oil painting completed in the 1920s. The painting is now held at the Canadian War Museum.

Additional resources

Ethan M. Coudenys is a Genealogy Consultant at Library and Archives Canada.

The Life of Private Marcel Gauthier (Part 2)

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By Ariane Gauthier

I first learned about Marcel Gauthier a few years ago when I was visiting the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, in France. Although we share the same surname, Marcel is not my ancestor. Still, I have always remembered this young man—the only Gauthier buried in this large cemetery. With the release of the 1931 Census, I finally had the opportunity to learn more about him. As a result, I would like to share with you how the many resources of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) can be used to piece together a person’s life, such as an ancestor or a soldier.

The second part of this blog will explore Marcel Gauthier’s life, from his military enlistment to his death.

A black and white picture of a young man in his military uniform.

Photograph of Private Marcel Gauthier, age 21, published in an Ottawa newspaper to announce his death overseas (Canadian Virtual War Memorial).

Private Marcel Gauthier (Joseph Jean Marcel Gauthier)

  • C/102428
  • Le Régiment de la Chaudière, R.C.I.C.
  • Date of birth: November 18, 1922
  • Date of death: July 15, 1944
  • Age at time of death: 21 years old

His military record is available in LAC’s database Second World War Service Files—War Dead, 1939 to 1947.

On January 29, 1943, shortly after enlisting, Marcel left Ottawa to begin training in Cornwall, unaware that he would never see his hometown again.

Despite the convictions that led him to join the army, Marcel is not a model soldier. In Cornwall, he left his station, the camp hospital, without official permission. His seven-day absence resulted in disciplinary action being taken against him in the form of monetary penalties—in this case, the loss of three days’ pay—for being AWOL (absent without official leave). The rest of his training is without further incident. On April 1, 1943, Marcel is transferred to the Valcartier base where he joins the Voltigeurs de Québec infantry unit. On July 11, 1943, Marcel embarked on a ship bound for England, where he would train alongside 14,000 other Canadian soldiers in preparation for the Normandy landings. On September 3, 1943, he was transferred to the Régiment de la Chaudière, with which he would storm Juno Beach on the fateful day of June 6, 1944.

Training for the Normandy landings is very well documented, thanks in particular to war diaries. Produced by each regiment of the Canadian Army, these documents make it possible to follow their actions and activities. For example, the war diary of the Régiment de la Chaudière tells us that shortly after Marcel’s assignment on September 4, 1943, the order was given to move to Camp Shira, in Scotland, to carry out exercises in preparation for the landings. In the same month, the war diary describes the training and progress of the Régiment de la Chaudière’s four different companies, A, B, C and D, in reaching their targets, as well as incidents along the way.

The regiment’s war diary also includes regimental orders, which are precise enough to trace Marcel’s route at the time of the landings and during the Battle of Normandy, since they include his company and its movements. According to the regimental orders of September 1943, Marcel was assigned to D Company. On D-Day, Marcel was to remain on the landing craft until A and B companies had reached their objectives in the Nan White sector, before disembarking on the beach as reinforcements. To this end, the diary provides the training syllabus and describes the exercises carried out in preparation for the landing.

On June 6, 1944, Marcel embarked with D Company on the ship Clan Lamont, which was preparing to cross the English Channel. The last breakfast was served at 4:30 a.m. and then, by 6:20 a.m., everyone was aboard the ship that set off in turbulent seas toward Bernières-sur-Mer. Many were ill due to anxiety and seasickness. At 8:30 a.m., the Régiment de la Chaudière disembarked to join the fight in which the Queen’s Own Rifles Regiment was already engaged. But a storm the night before, which disrupted the tidal currents, combined with fierce resistance from the Germans, delayed the arrival and progress of the Queen’s Own Rifles. While they should have already taken Bernières-sur-Mer before the Régiment de la Chaudière arrived, they were trapped on the beach under enemy fire, unable to advance.

Close-up of a map of Juno Beach divided into sectors.

Detail from a map of the Juno Beach area (e011297133). The Régiment de la Chaudière landed in the Nan White sector at Bernières-sur-Mer.

Ultimately, the German defence gave way under pressure, allowing the Canadian Army to enter Bernières-sur-Mer and to secure the surrounding area. By day’s end, the companies of the Régiment de la Chaudière regrouped at Colomby-sur-Thaon, thus helping establish a bridgehead for the Allies in France. It was an important victory, but only the beginning of the Battle of Normandy, which would last for more than two months and claim many more lives.

Advances continued throughout the month of June. The Régiment de la Chaudière gradually approached the city of Caen to seize control of it. However, there was still one vital objective to conquer: Carpiquet. This village with its airfield had been fortified by the Germans, who relied heavily on it to resist the Allies. Taking Carpiquet and its airfield would be tantamount to dismantling the strategic point of the German air force closest to the Allies. It would also open the doors to the conquest of Caen.

The offensive on Carpiquet began on July 4 at 5:00 a.m. B and D companies were part of the first Allied assault group, advancing under cover of an enormous barrage provided by 428 guns and the 16-inch cannons of Royal Navy battleships HMS Rodney and HMS Roberts. However, the enemy’s defence was fierce. The Germans were better positioned and organized; they had even had time to fortify their positions with concrete walls at least six feet thick. That morning, they rained down a veritable deluge of artillery shells and mortar rounds. The first day’s action left many members of the Régiment de la Chaudière dead or wounded.

Canadian soldiers attend a briefing at Carpiquet airfield.

Briefing of Canadian infantrymen outside a hangar at the airfield, Carpiquet, France, July 12, 1944 (a162525). Taken after this vital point was seized, this photo reveals the ravages of this bloody battle.

On July 8, 1944, Marcel Gauthier was hit by shell fragments. The explosion left him with a serious head wound and his regiment quickly brought him to the nearest Canadian Army Medical Corps station. He was taken to the 22nd Canadian Field Ambulance, then sent to Casualty Evacuation Station No. 34, and was finally admitted to the 81st British General Hospital where, despite the personnel’s best efforts, he succumbed to his injuries on July 15, 1944. He was posthumously awarded the France and Germany Star for his service.

Soldiers load a wounded soldier on a stretcher into a military ambulance.

A soldier of the Régiment de la Chaudière who was wounded on July 8, 1944, during the battle for Carpiquet receives care from the 14th Field Ambulance of the Canadian Army Medical Corps (a162740). This is not Marcel Gauthier, but one of his fellow soldiers.

Marcel Gauthier is buried in lot IX.A.11 at the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. His gravestone bears the inscription submitted by his father, Henri: “Our dear Marcel, so far away from us, we will always think of you resting in peace,” where his name liveth for evermore.

Additional resources

Ariane Gauthier is a Reference Archivist with the Access and Services Branch of Library and Archives Canada.

The Life of Private Marcel Gauthier (Part 1)

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By Ariane Gauthier

I learned about Marcel Gauthier a few years ago when I was visiting the Canadian cemetery in Beny-sur-Mer in France. Although we have the same last name, Marcel is not my ancestor. However, I have always kept a memory of this young man—the only Gauthier buried in this large cemetery. With the release of the 1931 census, I finally had the opportunity to learn more about him. Now, I would like to demonstrate how the many resources of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) can help piece together the life of a person, such as an ancestor or a soldier!

This first part of the blog will cover Marcel Gauthier’s life from his childhood to his military enlistment.

A black and white picture of a young man in his military uniform.

Photograph of Private Marcel Gauthier, age 21, published in an Ottawa newspaper to announce his death overseas (Canadian Virtual War Memorial).

Private Marcel Gauthier (Joseph Jean Marcel Gauthier)

  • C/102428
  • Le Régiment de la Chaudière, R.C.I.C.
  • Date of birth: November 18, 1922
  • Date of death: July 15, 1944
  • Age at time of death: 21 years old

His military service file is available in LAC’s War Dead database, 1939 to 1947.

Born on November 18, 1922, in Ottawa, Ontario, Marcel Gauthier is the seventh child of a large French-Canadian family of nine. When we look at the Gauthiers in the censuses, we learn that Henri, the father of the family, is from Rigaud, Quebec. When he arrived in Ottawa, he settled in Lowertown with his family. This is where Marcel built his life before enlisting.

At that time, Ottawa’s Lowertown attracted many Franco-Ontarians. The 1931 Census shows that the homes and dwellings of the By Ward – St. George’s Ward sub-district were largely inhabited by French Canadians. Some of them were born in Ontario, others came from Quebec. Several historical studies indicate that the population of Lowertown was mainly Francophone, with a significant Irish population as well. This is one of the reasons why this area has been the site of many language issues in the history of Franco-Ontarians, particularly on the issue of Regulation 17 (available in French only), adopted in 1912. Additional resource: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ontario-schools-question.

Screenshot of the 1931 Census, with an arrow indicating where Marcel Gauthier’s information is found.

Screenshot of the 1931 Census. Marcel Gauthier’s name is found on the 48th line of the By Ward – St. George’s Ward sub-district, No. 74 (Lowertown), on the 7th page of the document (record 8 of 13). He was nine years old at the time (MIKAN 81022015).

Lowertown was considered a disadvantaged neighborhood with a predominantly working-class population. We can therefore assume that Marcel was not born into wealth. His large family lived in close quarters, first at 199 Cumberland Street, with at least seven children (1921 Census), then at 108 Clarence Street, with nine children (1931 Census).

The absence of his mother, Rose Blanche Gauthier (née Tassé), from the 1931 Census indicates that she had probably died by this time. We can assume, by referring to the 8th page of the document (or record 9 of 13), that she died between 1928 and 1931. This theory is based on the registration of the youngest family member, Serge Gauthier, three years old at the time. Marcel’s military record validates this theory and confirms Mrs. Gauthier’s death on October 6, 1928, possibly due to complications arising from the birth of her last child. She is buried in the Notre-Dame Cemetery in Carleton Place, Ontario, where she was born.

In 1931, Marcel’s father and eight of his children lived in a nine-bedroom apartment at 108 ½ Clarence Street. If it had not been for the help of the older children, Henri’s mail carrier salary would not have been sufficient to support his children and cover their tuition. We can therefore assume that Yvette (24 years old and single), the oldest in the household, looked after the home and the younger siblings. We also know that Léopold (22 years old) worked as a driver and that Marie-Anne (21 years old) was a salesperson. It is very likely that they were helping their father financially, just as their older sister, Oraïda (27 years old), had more than likely done ten years earlier. She had now moved out and married a Mr. Homier.

In 1931, Marcel became a student and learned to read, write and communicate in English. At 16, he completed his education. He entered the workforce as a cook and then moved alone to 428 Rideau Street.

Photograph of a two-storey building. Bowles Lunch restaurant is located on the first floor.

Bowles Lunch restaurant where Marcel Gauthier worked before enlisting in the army in 1943 (a042942).

In Europe, tensions with Hitler’s Germany escalated and led to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Unlike many young men, Marcel did not immediately feel the need to join the fight, likely because he was satisfied with his job as a cook at Bowles Lunch. He waited until January 11, 1943, before reporting to Enlistment Office No. 3 in Ottawa. We can theorize that, like many, he wanted to help change the course of the war or that he wanted to follow the example of two of his brothers, Conrad and Georges Étienne.

Shortly after, on January 29, 1943, he left Ottawa to begin training in Cornwall, unaware that he was leaving his hometown forever.

Additional resources

Ariane Gauthier is a reference archivist in the Access and Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada.

The Ships of Dominion Bridge: A Second World War Story of Teamwork, Technology and Innovation

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By Rian Manson

In 1940, following the Dunkirk evacuation, the British situation was grim. The German Navy, operating from the French coast, was sinking cargo ships at a rate of 50 per month. At the start of the Second World War, Canada only had 41 sea-worthy cargo vessels. To keep the supply of war materials and food from being cut off, it was imperative that cargo ships be constructed at phenomenal speed to prevent Britain from starving to death.

Posters from the Second World War featuring cargo ships.

To keep up morale, posters like these were displayed at Dominion Bridge and United Shipyards, in Montréal. Canadian Transportation, November 1941, pg. 638-639 C-204-4*C-205-1 (OCLC 1080360026).

With the entire shipbuilding industry gearing up for war production, Canada needed a new and large shipyard to help fulfill the huge order of 200 10,000-ton cargo vessels. For this crucial project, the federal government put every Canadian shipbuilder from Nova Scotia to British Columbia on contract to construct naval craft, tugboats and cargo ships.

A bridge over water with a city in the background and a cargo ship passing underneath.

A 10,000-ton North Sands-class cargo ship bound for sea, passing under Montréal’s Jacques Cartier Bridge (OCLC 321000549).

Minister of Munitions, C.D. Howe, approached the Dominion Bridge Company of Montréal to ask if they could use its huge plant and machinery to help with shipbuilding. Since 1882, Dominion Bridge had been supplying Canadian railways and provinces with all types of bridges. Its massive workshops were constructing enormous iron and steel components for huge hydroelectric projects, and supplying countless towns and cities with the structural steel beams needed to erect stores, homes and hotels.

A technical drawing showing dimensions and measurements for a cast-brass nameplate.

Technical drawing of a cast-brass nameplate for marine steam engines of 4700-ton cargo vessels built at the Dominion Bridge’s Lachine workshops, R5607, vol. 2073 (MIKAN 5183995).

Since its first contract with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1882, Dominion Bridge had developed a huge assembly plant with machines specially designed to manufacture heavy steel, iron products and boilers. The Lachine location was a perfect fit: access to water transport; direct rail access from the Canadian National Railway (CNR); and available high-voltage electricity for heavy stick welding. One problem: the company had never considered building a shipyard, let alone ocean-going ships. They needed advice from a trusted source. Fraser Brace Ltd., another respected Canadian company with superior experience in the heavy shipbuilding industry, partnered with Dominion Bridge to help construct and operate the new United Shipyards Ltd., at the Bickerdike Basin in Montréal.

A group of people standing on a dock with a shipyard and cranes in the background.

Thanks to a forest of derrick cranes United Shipyards at Bickerdike Basin was able to continue building ships throughout the winter months, even when the St. Lawrence River was frozen over (e000761650).

Work on the shipyard began in January 1942, and only four months later, the keel was laid for the first cargo vessel. Although this was Canada’s newest and largest single-unit shipyard, the shipyard’s machinery—derricks, cranes and locomotives—were on long-term loan from the Harbour Board, Fraser Brace Ltd., Dominion Bridge, and Montreal Locomotive Works. Even the railway trucks were, according to one writer, “skillfully stolen from the CPR and CNR” to make this giant enterprise work.

A profile elevation diagram illustrating the location of various parts of the cargo ship.

A profile elevation diagram by Dominion Bridge of a 10,000-ton North Sands-class cargo vessel, Lachine, November 1943, R5607, vol. 1612 (MIKAN 5183995).

Dominion Bridge set out a unique prefabrication plan to construct 10,000-ton ships and smaller 4700-ton cargo vessels. In the main shops at Lachine, workers welded the aft section and forepeak of the ship as one piece. These completed sections were delivered by railway flatcars to the Bickerdike Basin, where the custom-built derrick cranes would position the aft sections and forepeak for riveting to the hull.

Side-by-side of a close-up photo and technical drawing of a ship’s stern and propeller.

From the drawing to the dockyard: Dominion Bridge’s pre-fabrication of the aft assembly contributed to the accelerated mass production of ships at United Shipyards, Montréal (photograph: e000761682; drawing: R5607, vol. 1613, MIKAN 5183995).

Dominion Bridge drew on its early bridge and boiler welding experience. All inboard bulkheads, cabins, cargo holds and interior fittings were welded. Welding saved precious time, weight and materials for each vessel.

The savings generated helped United Shipyards set a new Canadian record for shipbuilding speed. From the keel being laid to the final touches of paint, it took 58 days—one month faster than the previous record. The cargo ship arrived in Great Britain fully loaded 86 days after the keel was laid. C.D. Howe praised United Shipyards as the yard where the cheapest 10,000-ton vessels were built in Canada.

Bow of ship with naval officers at attention.

View of the christening podium and guests of honour at the launch ceremony of the 10,000-ton cargo ship, the S.S. Fort Esperance, at United Shipyards Ltd. (e000761721).

A Style of Their Own

On a sunny afternoon on July 15, 1944, Dominion Bridge launched a new type of cargo ship, the “Canadian,” from the United Shipyards slipways. Identical in design to the 10,000-ton British North Sands, but with new improvements, such as boilers capable of burning oil or coal with rapid changeover for each fuel; improved crew quarters; and hatches and decks with greater strength to withstand heavier loads.

Virtually all the manufacturing was carried out in Dominion Bridge’s own workshops. Very little outfitting was subcontracted because Dominion Bridge used its creative bridge welding techniques. Special in-house built jigs with attached electric motors rotated to help with complex welding jobs so the welder could operate “downhand,” and the use of welded engine bedplates instead of bolts considerably reduced vibrations and withstood the shocks caused by explosions at sea.

A group of women standing at attention next to the hull of a cargo ship.

Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service officers lined up at the walkway to the christening podium during the launch ceremony of the S.S. Fort Esperance at United Shipyards Ltd., Montréal (e000761719).

A person welding a large piece of metal.

A welder at the Lachine plant using a special rotating jig for welding the steel bedplate for a marine steam engine that provides the power for the 10,000-ton cargo vessels (OCLC 321000549).

Of the 403 ships built in Canada (including those built by Dominion Bridge), 112 were sunk and 18 were severely damaged by enemy action. Additionally, before the end of the war, 1146 Canadian merchant sailors lost their lives on the high seas and many more endured the trauma of trying to survive in enemy prison camps.

The construction of cargo ships is a forgotten component of Canada’s role in the Second World War. But without the Herculean human effort of the Dominion Bridge Company and other shipbuilders in Canada, one wonders if Britian could have survived the war? Would it have been starved into surrendering to Nazi Germany?

This blog would not have been possible without the remarkable technical drawings of the Dominion Bridge Company fonds at Library and Archives Canada.

Additional resources

  • A Bridge of Ships: Canadian Shipbuilding during the Second World War, by Pritchard,James S., Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011 (OCLC 693809715)
  • Canadian Transportation, January 1941–December 1945 (OCLC 1080360026)
  • Of Tasks Accomplished : The story of the Accomplishments of the Dominion Bridge Company Limited and its Wholly Owned Subsidiaries in World War II, by Dominion Bridge Company Limited, 1945, Montréal: Dominion Bridge Co. (OCLC 321000549)
  • Dominion Bridge Company fonds, R5607, vols. 1612, 1613, 2073 (MIKAN 5183995)
  • Canadian Merchant Ship Losses, 1939-1945 by Robert C. Fisher, The Northern Mariner

Rian Manson is an Archival Assistant in the Private Archives and Published Heritage Branch 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.

Dressing the Troops: Knitting During the Wars

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By Cara Downey

Canadian knitters played a significant role in outfitting those who served in various wars, including the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Korean War. Knitters made socks, sweaters and other items for soldiers, pilots, sailors, merchant seamen, the sick and wounded, as well as prisoners of war and refugees. This work was encouraged by various volunteer groups: the Canadian Red Cross Society, the Imperial Order of the Daughters of Empire (IODE), branches of the armed services and their auxiliaries (for example, the Navy League), and others. Special patterns were printed, and the required knitting materials were distributed to volunteers. (See Shirley A. Scott, Canada Knits: Craft and Comfort in a Northern Land, pages 32 to 39)

The patterns listed strict requirements for the garments, with knitters generally requested to stick to “plain knitting” (that is, stocking stitch), since unnecessary decoration decreased speed and increased use of yarn. (Shirley A. Scott, Canada Knits: Craft and Comfort in a Northern Land, page 39) 

The book Red Cross Knitting Instructions for War Work, issued by the Canadian Red Cross Society in 1940, provides further instructions:

  • Knit items in specific colours, for example:
    • Socks for the Navy were to be knit in navy blue or grey, Army socks in khaki, grey or “heathers,” Air Force socks in black or grey, bed socks for hospitals in white or grey;
    • Toques were to be knit in navy blue for the Navy and in khaki for the Army; toques were not required for the Air Force.
  • Join wool by splicing, not with knots;
  • Cast on all ribbing stitches loosely;
  • “Join two socks of pair together with light coloured wool pulled through two inside thicknesses of cuff. Do not knot, but tie in firm bow. Fasten one size label (on each pair of socks) on the outside on cuff, if size runs between sizes, label smaller size.” (Red Cross Knitting Instructions for War Work, pages 3, 13, and 15).
    A black-and-white photograph of soldiers in uniform sitting outdoors while knitting.

    Resting but busy (e010963520)

    Knitting was generally performed by women on the home front (regardless of class), children (particularly girls), as well as the sick or injured. The photo Resting but busy (dated c. 1918–1925) shows convalescing soldiers knitting as a form of relaxation and therapy. 

    Knitting was encouraged through various means. One example is the printed posters exhorting people to “knit for the boys.” The American Red Cross produced the poster Our Boys Need Sox, Knit Your Bit during the First World War, and Canada’s National War Finance Committee published the poster Whoever You Are … Whatever Your Job … Here is What Canada Needs of YOU … Work – Save – Lend for Victory in 1942, which included a picture of a woman knitting.

    A poster that reads “Whoever You Are ... Whatever Your Job ... Here is What Canada Needs of YOU ... Work - Save - Lend for Victory” and features drawn portraits of two men and two women.

    Whoever You Are … Whatever Your Job … Here is What Canada Needs of YOU … Work – Save – Lend for Victory (e010695660)

    Knitting was so common during this time that it entered popular culture—in songs such as Knitting socks for Daddy’s men (published in 1915) and The pretty little mitt that Kitty knit (published in 1940)—and in books. Characters in L.M. Montgomery’s Rilla of Ingleside (published in 1921) participated in knitting circles and knitted at home to contribute to the war effort. Katherine Hale dedicated the book Grey Knitting and Other Poems (published in Toronto in 1914) to “The Women Who Knit.” 

    The contribution of knitters should not be dismissed. While it is difficult to count the number of items given to the diverse groups that collected goods and to know the number of individuals involved, the Canadian Red Cross estimates that a total of 750,000 volunteers knit 50 million articles (for soldiers, the sick, refugees, and others) during the Second World War alone. (Halifax Women’s History Society, “The Monument Design: The Design for The Volunteers.”) For the Scotia Chapter of the IODE during this period, this meant a contribution that included 350 pairs of socks, 525 sweaters, 125 helmets, 50 pairs of mittens, 12 pairs of gloves, and 65 scarves. (Sharon M.H. MacDonald, Hidden Costs, Hidden Labours: Women in Nova Scotia During Two World Wars, page 141)

    Visit the Flickr album for more images of knitting!

    Cara Downey is a senior analyst in the Governance, Liaison and Partnerships Division. 

Molly Lamb Bobak, Canada’s first female official war artist overseas: A Co-Lab challenge

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By Krista Cooke

Black-and-white photograph taken from the side showing a smiling woman in uniform sitting on a pier with a drawing tablet and pencil in hand. In the background, a young blond child is standing, and sailboats are docked nearby

War artist Lieutenant Molly Lamb, Canadian Women’s Army Corps, sketching at Volendam, Netherlands, September 1945 (a115762)

Molly Lamb Bobak, the first female official war artist overseas, is arguably the Second World War painter who best captured Canadian women’s experiences of military life. In 1942, Molly Lamb (later Bobak) was fresh out of art school in Vancouver. The talented young painter promptly joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC) as a draftswoman—dreaming of one day becoming an official war artist.

Canada’s war art program, established during the First World War, resulted in a vast collection of artworks. Molly Lamb Bobak, who contributed to the Canadian War Records of the Second World War, was exceptional. She was Canada’s first female official war artist overseas. Works from her lifetime of painting and drawing are held at numerous institutions across Canada, including Library and Archives Canada (LAC), where a large collection of her works resides. One of the most compelling pieces, her wartime diary, is now more accessible: it has been digitized and can be transcribed through the collaboration tool Co-Lab.

Shortly after enlisting, Molly Lamb Bobak began writing a unique diary, which provides an invaluable record of the CWAC’s role in the war effort. Titled simply W110278, after her service number, it is a personal and insightful handwritten account of the everyday events of army life, accompanied by her drawings. Covering the period from November 1942 to June 1945, the diary contains 226 illustrated pages and almost 50 single sheet sketches interleaved among its pages.

A hand-drawn newspaper-style page with a column of text and illustrations of a woman in a military uniform and a diner scene. The titles “W110278” (Molly Lamb Bobak’s service number) and “Girl Takes Drastic Step!” are written at the top

Molly Lamb Bobak’s handwritten diary, amplified with colourful sketches (e006078933)

A hand-drawn page with text and illustrations of two women in military uniforms, women posing for images, women eating at a restaurant, a small pink pig, and women marching. The title reads, “Life Begins as Second Lieutenant!”

Another example from Molly Lamb Bobak’s handwritten diary (e011161136)

The diary’s first page (top) captures the humorous tone and unique approach of the diary, which is written in newspaper style, with the pages resembling big-city broadsheets. The first headline reads “Girl Takes Drastic Step! ‘You’re in the Army now’ as Medical Test Okayed.” What follows are handwritten news bulletins with amusing anecdotes and vibrant illustrations, revealing women’s experiences in Second World War army life. These comprise a personal daily record of Lamb Bobak’s time in the CWAC. She worked serving in canteens before being sent on basic training in Alberta, eventually being promoted to Lieutenant in the Canadian Army Historical Section, in 1945. Throughout her years of service in Canada, she captured the world around her, later using many of these sketches as studies for her paintings.

Three years after enlisting, Molly Lamb Bobak achieved her ultimate goal when she became the first woman to be sent overseas as an official war artist. She recorded her excitement in her diary, writing “Lamb’s Fate Revealed…To Be First Woman War Artist!” Despite her talent, Lamb Bobak’s appointment as an official war artist was far from a foregone conclusion. Women’s perspectives had not been a priority for the program. As she later recalled, “[B]eing the first female war artist, with 9 men [in my group] . . . was sort of a great thing to have happened to me . . . because I know the Army didn’t want women [artists], in those days.” She credited family friend and Group of Seven painter A.Y. Jackson with her success. Indeed, he had written on her behalf to the director of the National Gallery of Canada, who was involved in the war art program, stating “If she had half a chance, she could go places.” And go places she did!

A black-and-white photograph, taken from the side, of a woman painting at an easel, holding a paintbrush and palette

Molly Lamb Bobak paints #1 Static Base Laundry (shown completed below) (a188549)

A colourful painting depicting a building and women (some in uniform) in a line, with rolling hills and trees in the background. This painting is the completed version of the painting on which Bobak is working in the photograph above

#1 Static Base Laundry, a painting now in the collections of the Canadian War Museum Canadian War Museum 19710261-1617

After the ceasefire in 1945, the military sent Molly Lamb Bobak to England, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. As one of almost 30 Canadian official war artists working during the Second World War, Lamb Bobak created works that are unique because of their focus on servicewomen. Roughly 50,000 Canadian women enlisted in the military during the Second World War, but their experiences were not generally of interest to male war artists or administrators of the war art program, who tended to focus on battlefield scenes and servicemen. As a CWAC herself, Molly Lamb Bobak had unparalleled access to her subjects and was able to capture the daily experiences of being a servicewoman. She later explained that “[T]he whole structure of army life is agreeable to a painter… and everywhere you turn there is something terrific to paint…. one could spend hours … drawing the C.W.A.C.s checking in and out, the new recruits, the fatigue girls in their overalls, the orderly officer.” During her time overseas, she produced dozens of paintings that today are part of the Beaverbrook Collection of War Art at the Canadian War Museum. Together with the material at Library and Archives Canada, it is possible to build a rich portrait of Molly Lamb Bobak’s military experiences and of her life as a painter. Following the war, she married fellow official war artist Bruno Bobak. Their assignment to a shared studio space in London, U.K., began a romance that lasted until their deaths (Molly Lamb Bobak died in 2014, and Bruno Bobak died in 2012). Their shared archival collection is housed at Library and Archives Canada.

We invite you to use our Co-Lab tool to transcribe, tag, translate and describe digitized records from our collection, such as Molly Lamb Bobak’s wartime diary.

Krista Cooke is a curator with the Exhibitions team at Library and Archives Canada. This blog post draws from an earlier version written by Carolyn Cook, formerly of LAC.

CIL: The story of a brand

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By François Larivée

The CIL name is a commercial brand that immediately evokes something in the collective consciousness, namely paint. However, for those who explore the history behind this well-known brand, it probably comes as a surprise to learn that CIL’s origins are in the manufacturing of explosives and munitions.

Black-and-white photograph showing a large rectangular billboard anchored to an embankment and featuring an advertisement for CIL. The ad looks like a painting, with a house at each end, in a suburban landscape. Between the two houses, the oval CIL logo is visible, with the words “Peintures” in the top left and “Paints” in the bottom right.

CIL advertising billboard on Monkland Boulevard, Ville LaSalle, Quebec, circa 1950 (a069072)

Explosive beginnings

The origins of CIL can be traced back to 1862, before Confederation. That year, the Hamilton Powder Company was formed in Hamilton, Ontario. The company specialized in the production of black powder, which was then used as an explosive for a variety of purposes, particularly for railway construction, a booming industry at the time.

The Hamilton Powder Company’s activities culminated in 1877, when it was awarded a major contract to participate in the construction of the national railway linking Eastern Canada and British Columbia. (This railway was famously a condition set by British Columbia for joining Confederation.) The black powder produced by the company was then used to enable the railway’s perilous crossing of the Rocky Mountains in 1884 and 1885.

Following its expansion, the Hamilton Powder Company moved its head office to Montréal. It was also near Montréal, in Belœil, that from 1878 onward, the company developed what would become its main explosives production site.

In 1910, it merged with six other Canadian companies, most of which also specialized in the production of explosives. Together, they formed a new company: the Canadian Explosives Company (CXL). Although explosives remained the bulk of the company’s production, new activities were added, including the manufacture of chemical products and munitions.

One of the companies involved in the merger, the Dominion Cartridge Company, already specialized in the manufacture of munitions, particularly rifle cartridges (used mainly for hunting). It was founded in Brownsburg, Quebec, in 1886 by two Americans—Arthur Howard and Thomas Brainerd—and Canadian John Abbott, who would later become the country’s third prime minister. In 2017, Library and Archives Canada acquired a significant portion of CIL’s archival holdings relating to its Brownsburg plant.

World wars and munitions

During the first half of the 20th century, the company produced more and more munitions. Indeed, as a consequence of the two world wars, the demand for military ammunition in particular increased sharply.

As early as 1915, the Dominion Arsenal (responsible for the production of military ammunition in Canada) could not meet the demand on its own. The Canadian government therefore sought the help of Dominion Cartridge, then one of the largest private companies in this sector. The company thus obtained major contracts to produce military ammunition.

Order-in-Council approved and signed on May 4, 1915, by the Privy Council Office on the recommendation of the Department of Militia and Defence. It authorizes the establishment of a contract with the Dominion Cartridge Company Limited of Montréal for the production of 100 million .303 Mark VII munitions, according to the specifications of the British War Office, at $36 per thousand pounds.

Privy Council Office Order-in-Council approving a contract with the Dominion Cartridge Company for the production of munitions, May 1915 (e010916133)

To reflect the gradual diversification of its operations, the company changed its name to Canadian Industries Limited (CIL) in 1927.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, CIL further increased its production of munitions. In 1939, in partnership with the Crown, it established a subsidiary company dedicated exclusively to this sector of activity, Defence Industries Limited (DIL). The Crown owned the factories and equipment, but it delegated the management of operations to CIL. The Crown also provided CIL with the funds to operate the plants, although it did not purchase their production.

Given the considerable ammunition requirements of the Allied forces, DIL expanded rapidly. It opened many factories: in Ontario, in Pickering (Ajax), Windsor, Nobel and Cornwall; in Quebec, in Montréal, Brownsburg, Verdun, Saint-Paul-l’Hermite (Cherrier plant), Sainte-Thérèse (Bouchard plant), Belœil and Shawinigan; and in Manitoba, in Winnipeg.

Some occupied huge sites, turning DIL into one of the largest industrial complexes of the time. In 1943, at the peak of its activity, it employed more than 32,000 people, the vast majority of whom were women.

Black-and-white photograph of a female employee wearing a white uniform and cap, holding a projectile for presentation to the Honourable C.D. Howe. Behind them, several projectiles of different sizes are displayed on a table. In the background, a few civilians and military personnel are standing on a platform behind a lectern.

Edna Poirier, an employee of Defence Industries Limited, presents the Honourable C.D. Howe with the hundred-millionth projectile manufactured in the Cherrier plant, Saint-Paul-l’Hermite, Quebec, September 1944 (e000762462)

Black-and-white photograph showing employees in front of factory buildings, moving away from what appears to be a locker building. Most are seen from behind; others are facing the camera or talking to each other. In the background are a few train carriages.

Workers leaving the Cherrier plant of Defence Industries Limited to take the train, Saint-Paul-l’Hermite, Quebec, June 1944 (e000762822)

New products and a centennial

After the Second World War, CIL gradually reduced its production of munitions, which it abandoned definitively in 1976 to concentrate on chemical and synthetic products, agricultural fertilizers, and paints. It then began to invest a large part of its operating budget into the research and development of new products. Its central research laboratory, which was established in 1916 near the Belœil plant, grew in size, as evidenced by a large part of CIL’s archival holdings held at Library and Archives Canada.

The development of the explosives factory and laboratory in the Belœil region led to the creation of a brand-new town in 1917: McMasterville, named after William McMaster, first chairman of the Canadian Explosives Company in 1910.

Black-and-white photograph of a worker wearing protective equipment and a visor, pouring a white liquid from a machine. The liquid flows out as a uniform band into a cylinder that the worker holds in his right hand. Some smoke rises from the liquid.

Worker pouring liquid nylon from an autoclave, Canadian Industries Limited, Kingston, Ontario, circa 1960 (e011051701)

Black-and-white photograph of a worker filling a bag by holding it under the spout of a machine. A stack of empty bags sits next to him. The bags read “CIL Fertilizer.”

Bagging of chemical fertilizer at the Canadian Industries Limited plant, Halifax, Nova Scotia, circa 1960 (e010996324)

Although CIL was diversifying its operations, the production of explosives remained the company’s main driver of growth and profitability. These explosives were used in many major ventures, including mining projects in Sudbury, Elliot Lake, Thompson, Matagami and Murdochville, and hydroelectric projects in Manicouagan, Niagara and Churchill Falls. They were also used in the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Trans-Canada Highway.

To mark its centennial in 1962, the company had a major building constructed in downtown Montréal: the CIL House (now the Telus Tower). The work was carried out between 1960 and 1962 and is a testament to CIL’s growth.

Around the same time, the company bought a heritage house in Old Montréal, which it restored and named the CIL Centennial House initially, then the Del Vecchio House (in honour of the man who had it built). The company periodically exhibited collection pieces there from its weapons and ammunition museum in Brownsburg.

The company faded, but the brand endures

In 1981, CIL moved its head office from Montréal to Toronto. Its central research laboratory was moved from McMasterville to Mississauga. The McMasterville explosives factory remained in operation, despite the many workplace accidents—some fatal—that happened there. It gradually reduced its production before closing for good in 2000.

However, CIL’s heyday had long since passed. From 1988 onward, the company had just been a subsidiary of the British chemical company ICI (which was itself acquired by the Dutch company AkzoNobel in 2008).

But to complete the story, in 2012, the American company PPG purchased AkzoNobel’s coatings and paint production division, thereby acquiring the well-known CIL paint brand, which still exists today.

Related resources

François Larivée is an archivist in the Science, Environment and Economy Section of the Archives Branch.

Japanese Canadian internment: Over 40,000 pages and 180 photographs digitized by the DigiLab

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By Gabrielle Nishiguchi

The DigiLab has hosted many projects since its launch in 2017, two of which were carried out by Landscapes of Injustice. Landscapes of Injustice is a major, seven-year humanities and social justice project led by the University of Victoria, joined to date by fifteen cultural, academic and federal partners, including Library and Archives Canada. The purpose of this project is to research and make known the history of the dispossession—the forced sale of Japanese-Canadian-owned property made legal by Order in Council 1943-0469 (19 January 1943) during the Second World War.

In total, over 40,000 pages of textual material and over 180 photographs were digitized by the two researchers with Landscapes of Injustice. Some of the documents are now available online for all to consult, including photographs relating to the internment of Japanese Canadians.

Photographs relating to Japanese Canadian internment

These photographs are from three albums of photographs taken during inspection tours of Japanese Canadian internment camps in 1943 and 1945. The first two albums contain images of camps in the interior of British Columbia taken by Jack Long of the National Film Board of Canada Still Photography Division.

The third album contains twenty-seven images taken by Ernest L. Maag, International Committee of the Red Cross Delegate in Canada, in 1943. Among the Maag images are photographs illustrating the winter hardship of Japanese Canadian internment life. One photograph shows the International Red Cross delegate stuck in a heavy snowdrift during his 1943 camp inspection tour.

Another image shows snow shovelled against the shiplap walls of the internment shacks. There is tar paper on the outer walls for protection against the elements.

Three men and a car in a snowstorm: (from left to right) one man standing at the rear of the car, a second man bent over the back right tire, and a third man going towards the car to assist.

Picture No. 26 [The International Red Cross delegate stuck in a heavy snowdrift during his 1943 camp inspection tour] Credit: Ernest L. Maag (e999900382-u)

From right to left: Children in front of shiplap shacks with snow shovelled against walls. Internee in distance walking down makeshift “street.” Tar paper, to protect the shacks from the elements, is visible on the shack walls.

Picture No. 5 [Snow shovelled against the shiplap walls of internment shacks. Notice the tar paper on the outer walls of the shacks for protection against the elements. Credit: Ernest L. Maag] (e999900386-u)

All photographs digitized during the project are available in Collection Search under the key words “Photographs relating to Japanese-Canadian internment.”

A defective and prejudicial logic

It should be noted that the Long photographs were commissioned by the Canadian government during the Second World War to create the false impression that some 20,000 Japanese Canadians, whom it had forcibly interned in 1942, were being especially well treated and were, in fact, enjoying their lives in internment camps.

Bureaucrats employed the defective and prejudicial logic that there was an equivalence between Canadians of Japanese ethnic origin—75% of whom were Canadian citizens by birth or naturalization—and ethnic Japanese in Imperial Japan. The rationale behind this discriminatory belief was that, if these photographs were seen by the Government of Japan, they might secure favourable treatment for Canadian soldiers held captive by the Axis Japanese.

Original captions

The original captions reflect the purpose of the photographs and were a product of 1940s thinking. Internees are not referred to as Canadians. They are all “Japanese” or, in one offensive case, “Japs.” Non-Japanese are “whites,” “Occidentals” or “other racial groups.” The names added to the captions are for non-Japanese persons.

Euphemisms are employed, such as “space-saving” and “snug” for cramped, “evacuees” for internees, “repatriation” for deportation, “cottages” for internment shacks, and “settlements” and “housing centres” for the actual camps. There are “orderly rows of houses” and “tidy valleys.” The point is often made that the internees are being treated the same as other Canadians: “In camp hospitals, babies are born as in any other hospital. This happy mother chats with Dr. Burnett, director of the hospital” and “At the end of the school term Japanese evacuee students have a graduation banquet just as any other students in Canada would. Settlements are unguarded, and evacuees may visit between them, or go out for sports.”

There are descriptions such as “cheerful,” “modern,” “a fine place,” “well-equipped,” “well-stocked,” “clean,” and “as perfect as possible.” In one image of the women’s ward of the hospital at the New Denver, B.C., camp hospital, the caption writer senses “there is no doubt about the good feeling behind these smiles.” In this case, the ribboned ornament that the internee patient has pinned in her hair is perhaps evidence that the photograph was staged.

From left to right: Hospitalized woman (internee) in bed. Nurse standing on the right.

In the women’s ward of the hospital at New Denver, there is no doubt about the good feeling behind these smiles. [The photographer appears to have posed the internee patient. Notice the ribboned ornament she has clipped on the back of her head.] (e999900300-u)

Yet even though the Long photographs have been artfully and professionally staged, there is still no mistaking the posed, self-conscious smiles of people who are detained in internment camps.

When one bureaucrat in Canada’s Department of External Affairs saw Long’s images, he wrote on the file pocket: “These are excellent photographs.” However, the written comments of another bureaucrat, Arthur Redpath Menzies, dated April 26, 1943, appearing just below his colleague’s leave us with a stark reminder of the reality of the situation not revealed by the photographs themselves: “Understand from some who have been there that this spot is actually pretty grim — very cold — no work except sawing wood . . . in fact not a very pleasant spot — for Canadian citizens where only offence is their colour.” Menzies went on to become Canada’s Head of Mission in Japan in 1950 and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the People’s Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976.

View of a small town surrounded by mountains. In the foreground are multiple buildings, and in the background on the left are rows of smaller houses.

Evacuee homes in Lemon Creek, B.C., are built with enough space in between for comfort and a garden. Each cottage accommodates one family. [Internee shacks in the Lemon Creek, B.C., internment camp] Credit: Jack Long (e999900291-u)

A man is standing in front of a large, tilted shelving unit filled with Japanese characters used in a printing press.

Some of the thousands of Japanese typeface characters used for The New Canadian, a newspaper that was published every week in Kaslo, B.C. The offices are now in Winnipeg, Manitoba. [The New Canadian began publishing in 1939, in Vancouver. It was an English-language newspaper founded to be the voice of the Canadian-born Nisei (second-generation Japanese Canadians). After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the internment of some 20,000 Japanese Canadians, it resumed publishing in the Kaslo, B.C., internment camp. A Japanese-language section was added to better serve the Issei, or first-generation Japanese Canadians. In 1945, the paper moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and subsequently, in 1949, to Toronto, Ontario, where it continued publishing until 2001.] Credit: Jack Long (e999900358-u)

Three women, one of whom is a nurse, are standing around a kitchen island on which there are trays, dishes and bottles of milk. Utensils are hanging from the rack that runs down the middle of the unit.

The very modern kitchen of the Greenwood camp hospital. [Hospital kitchen at the Greenwood, B.C., internment camp] Credit: Jack Long (e999900255-u)

The original captions for these photographs expose vestiges of Canada’s colonial past. Library and Archives Canada continues to provide relevant context as a way of presenting a fuller and more equitable picture of our nation’s history. This is work of value. For, as written on the Landscapes of Injustice website: “A society’s willingness to discuss the shameful episodes of its history provides a powerful gauge of democracy.”

If you have an idea for a project like this one, please email the DigiLab with an overview of your project.

Related LAC sources

Textual documents

Case files

Related links

Gabrielle Nishiguchi is a government records archivist in the Society, Employment, Indigenous and Governmental Affairs Section, Archives Branch, at Library and Archives Canada.