Even before the outbreak of the Second World War, women in Victoria, British Columbia,desiring to serve king and country, organized themselves into the British Columbia Women's Service Corps. After September 1939, organizations like it, providing training in military drill and etiquette and in jobs the women thought they could provide for the armed services, sprang up across the country. Arranged into hierarchies of command, the members practised transport driving, motor-vehicle maintenance, map reading, military clerk's and quartermaster's duties, cooking in large quantities, and signalling and decoding. Some were even given rifle practice.
Fascinated by things military, and smitten above all by the mystique of the uniform, the paramilitary corps outfitted themselves in military garb. In this July 1941 photograph, members of the Women's Volunteer Reserve Corps of Hamilton, Ontario, march in smart, expensive uniforms, which, after the formation of the official women's services, were problematic because they could be mistaken for authorized military uniforms. Consequently, the unofficial paramilitary groups were discouraged from appearing in uniform because they might be tempted to take advantage of the privileges reserved for service personnel such as reduced train fares.
Courtesy: Toronto Telegram Photograph Collection, York University Archives (Box 100, File 676)
