The Great War 1914 - 1918
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When Britain went to war on 04 August 1914, all colonies and dominions of the British Empire, including Canada and Newfoundland, were automatically at war. In August 2014 the world marked the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. The war touched almost everyone’s life in some way or another. Women became directly involved, picking up the pieces of industry and agriculture as the men went off to fight.
In Canada, over 30,000 women worked in munitions factories, more than 5,000 were employed in the civil service, thousands more worked in banks, offices, factories and on farms, while over 1,000 women were employed by the Royal Air Force (motor transport work, mechanicalwork and as ambulance drivers). In homes, women sewed and knitted items like pillows, sheets, flannel shirts, socks, balaclavas and scarves to be sent overseas. |
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Many women joined IODE during the war to find support and friendship while their male relatives were overseas. They found the strength and skills to raise money, fund projects and make a difference.
IODE chapters donated ambulances, wheel chairs, stretchers and machine guns; established field kitchens and clubs for returned, disabled soldiers; and established centres in Canada for making hospital supplies and field comforts. Exclusive of the value of material used for comforts, a total sum of approximately $5,500,000 was raised and expended by chapters during 1914-1918. That sum of money would be significant today, but it was an extraordinary contribution for a charitable organization in 1914.
The war ended at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Canada's total casualties were 67,000 killed and 173,000 wounded, out of an expeditionary force of 620,000 people mobilized.
After the war, funds were raised by IODE members for a lasting memorial to those men who had sacrificed their lives – the War Memorial Scholarships. Initially created to assist the children of soldiers in their educational endeavours, this fund endures and now allows any Canadian to apply for graduate student funding through the IODE War Memorial Scholarships.
IODE chapters donated ambulances, wheel chairs, stretchers and machine guns; established field kitchens and clubs for returned, disabled soldiers; and established centres in Canada for making hospital supplies and field comforts. Exclusive of the value of material used for comforts, a total sum of approximately $5,500,000 was raised and expended by chapters during 1914-1918. That sum of money would be significant today, but it was an extraordinary contribution for a charitable organization in 1914.
The war ended at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Canada's total casualties were 67,000 killed and 173,000 wounded, out of an expeditionary force of 620,000 people mobilized.
After the war, funds were raised by IODE members for a lasting memorial to those men who had sacrificed their lives – the War Memorial Scholarships. Initially created to assist the children of soldiers in their educational endeavours, this fund endures and now allows any Canadian to apply for graduate student funding through the IODE War Memorial Scholarships.
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 1916 picture of "motor ambulance" on active service, contributed by IODE Manitoba.
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