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Women fought in the Women's Division of the RCAF, the Canadian
Women's Army Corps and the Women's Royal Canadian Naval
Service.
Great Britain began recruiting women to the services in 1938, but
Canada did not. Only when the RAF "proposed to send members of the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force, the WAAFs, to Canada to work at air
training schools, [did] the Canadian government act to avoid
embarrassment." "The Women's Division of the RCAF was authorized in
July 1941, and quickly enlisted thousands of young women; 17,000 by
1945. In August, the Canadian Women's Army Corps was announced and
training bases were established at St. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec;
Kitchener, Ontario; and Vermilion, Alberta. More than 21,000 served
in the "CWACs." The "Wrens," or Women's Royal Canadian Naval
Service, did not begin recruiting until 1942, and grew more slowly.
Training establishments at Galt, Ontario, and St. Hyacinthe,
Quebec, enrolled 6,718 recruits. All the women who served were
volunteers, and many sought to play an active role in the "real"
war." (Copp: 63)
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