Bomb Girls

Barbara Dickson is a sought-after motivational public speaker, local historian, and writer of fiction and periodical pieces. She lives in Scarborough, Ontario.

• Table of ContentsForewordPreface1 In the Beginning2 A Frozen Field of Dreams3 A Mini City Tucked Behind an Eight-Foot Barbed-Wire Fence4 Ramping Up5 If You Can Walk, Talk, Creep, or Crawl — Apply Here!6 A Day in the Life of a Bomb Girl7 It All Depends on Me8 Safety First Because Safety Lasts9 Whistle While You Work: Industrial Relations and Personnel10 Service with a Smile: Departments Serving Employees11 Rolling Up Their Sleeves: Departments Contributing to Munitions Production12 Nothing Less Will Do — Employee Morale13 Disasters at the Plant14 When “Victory” Trumpets Sound the Call15 If You Build It, Scarborough Will ComeAppendix A: Layout of GECO: An Engineer’s Sketch of GECOAppendix B: GECO Management ChartAppendix C: Typical Workshop Layout: Fuse 251, Shop 67CAcknowledgementsNotesBibliographyIndexDedicationTo Those Women of All AgesForeword by Philip HamiltonPreface<Chapter One: In the BeginningCanada Declares WarWanted: One Mining Company, No War Experience NecessaryThe Dynamic DuoAnticipation SwellsA.W.S.C. Project No. 24: Birth of a War FactoryA Few Good MenScarboro, Ontario, Canada: Farms, Fillies, and FusesThe King’s SpeechChapter Two: A Frozen Field of DreamsDead in the WaterTurning of the Sod — with a Little Help from some TNTLoose Lips Sink ShipsThe Gunpowder PlotNeeded: 2,500 Good, Strong MenHitler’s Fate SealedChapter Three: A Mini-City Tucked Behind an Eight-Foot Barbed-Wire FenceTaking SidesGive Me a “U”!Pick a Number, Any NumberWhat Lies BeneathLife Happens: A Change of PlansCan We Talk?There is No “I” in “Team”A Squeaky Wheel Gets an EarfulWhen All is Said and Done: Feeds and Speeds of a Top Secret Munitions FactoryChapter Four: Ramping UpTalk Is Cheap: Bring on the High ExplosivesGlitches, Hitches, and SnagsThe Girls Behind the Boys Behind the GunsChapter Five: If You Can Walk, Talk, Creep, or Crawl — Apply Here!It’s in Their BloodWorking in a Man’s WorldWar, Ammo, and Feminine PadsGECO’s Bomb GirlsChapter Six: A Day in the Life of a Bomb GirlAll AboardI Do Solemnly Declare …First Things First: Ground RulesPlease Check your BrassiereFeatures of GECO Change HousesA “Harmless” Pack of MatchesNon-explosive UniformsAn Ode to Ye Olde Shift HouseWorking on the "Clean Side”Where’s the Beef?At Day’s EndPaying Tribute to the Girls Chapter Seven: It All Depends on MeGECO GalsOn the Dirty SideMum’s the Word: Dorothy CheesmanToo Young to Fill: Elizabeth EllisA Star Is Born: Helen FraserA Run-In with the Boss: Barbara HolmesChief Dietitian and “Guiding Genius”: Florence IgnatieffOn the Clean SideDon’t Drop that Det!: Molly Danniels“Truckerette”: Hilda KeastYellow Canary: Carol LeCappelainFor the Love of her Country: Helen LeslieA Woman of Sorrow: Peggy MacKayBench Leader: Norma McGregorBreath of Fresh Ayr: Mary Plain“Fireball”: Edith Reay-Laidler“My Mom was My World”: Doris ScottWidow with Five Children: Winifred StewartD.I.L. Gal: Rena Sweetman“I Want to Work with Munitions”: Anne WilmotThe Old Boys’ ClubOn the Dirty SideSomeone’s Got to Pay the Bills: William HowePositively Electrifying: Hartley “Tony” French“Piston Packin’ Moma”: Donald John MacDonaldExtra! Extra! Read All About It!: Roy RobertsonKeep on Truckin’: Joe SullivanThe Sawdust BrigadeA Name Couldn’t Sound Sweeter: Alex Licorice WaddellOn the Cleanside“Hefty Work”: Peter Cranston It’s a Bust: Harold PfeifferA Long Road to Peace: Ernest Herbert PicklesAll in the FamilyMother and Daughter In-Laws: Hilda and Dorothy ClementsThe Darnbrough Way: Walter, Rene, and Violet DarnbroughGeneral Delivery: John Everest and FamilyTruck ’Em and Fill ’Em: Sidney Ledson and FamilyModern Misses: Margaret and Netti NeufeldSnowed In: The Simerson Gals“Shamed Be He Who Thinks Evil of It”: Roxaline Wood and FamilyWithout a NameMan Lays Down his Life on the Home FrontWith our Deepest GratitudeI Wish to Remain AnonymousThe Dynamic Duo: Philip Dawson Prior and Robert McLean Prior Hamilton’s StoryThe Bloody Red BaronThe Roaring TwentiesThe Thirties: Prelude to WarA Son’s Reflection: Philip HamiltonJohn McLean Parsons HamiltonChapter Eight: Safety First because Safety LastsFriend or FoeIn Case of Explosion …Life ExpectancyIn Spotless Air Conditioned ShopsJack be NimbleGalleries and Vestibules and Tunnels, Oh My!Death and DisfigurementGuns and GumThe Tetryl DilemmaConclusionChapter Nine: Industrial Relations and PersonnelIndustrial Relations: Whistle While You WorkPersonnelThere’s Got to Be a Better WayShow Me the MoneyGECO and its Books of Many ColoursOne Hundred Percent ClubAn Urgent Need — the Guns to Feed Chapter Ten: Departments Serving EmployeesMedical: An Ounce of PreventionFood Services: Eat, Drink, and Be MerryUniforms: The Mechanical Laundry MangleTransportation: When the Rubber Hits the RoadChapter Eleven: The Men behind the Women: Departments Contributing to Munitions ProductionProduction Department: The Buck Stops HerePlanning and Records: A Juggling ActJust Where Do You Test Explosives?An Explosive ConflictQuality Control: Impressing the EnemyShipping: We Got Ourselves a ConvoyResearch and Development: Safer, Faster, DeadlierPurchasing: Axes, Apples, and AmmoEngineering General Office: Ground ZeroThe Sawdust BrigadeOther Departments: Smaller but Just as DeadlyChapter Twelve: Nothing Less Will Do: Employee MoraleThe Situation RoomThe GECO Diamond is their BadgeGECO Fusilier: A Powder MagazineA Young Canadian Died!Skuce’s GooseA Little R&RSing a Song of SoftballBombs Away, Beautiful!Victory GardensMore Mistletoe and Less Missile-TalkThe Kids are AlrightBig Business UnionsBlood is Thicker than WaterI’m Making Bombs and Buying BondsThe Good Ol’ Sally AnnPennies from HeavenSpecial GuestsThe Songs they Sing are Preludes to the Voices of the GunEvery Fuse you Fill may Save a LifeThe Whispering GalleryConclusionChapter Thirteen: Disasters at the PlantSnow StrandedDeath at the PlantChapter Fourteen: We Won the War — Now What?Lay Down your ArmsThanks for Your Faithful ServiceWrapping UpBy the NumbersScarboro’s Spoils of WarProduction: Collateral DamageTotal Production: From July 1941–July 1945The Final HeadcountIt’s in You to GiveBits and PiecesChapter Fifteen: If You Build it, Scarborough will ComeDecontamination and DesensitizationSheltering the HomelessScarborough’s “Golden Mile” of IndustryVeil of Secrecy LiftedLong Live Scarboro!AppendicesA.Layout of GECOB.GECO Management Organizational Chart NotesBibliographyIndex