A "share of the sacrifice" : Newfoundland servicewives in the Second World War

Historical interest in the roles that women assumed during the Second World War has been growing since the 1980's but has tended to focus on the experiences of women in the armed forces and war defense industries. The experiences of servicewives, a much larger group of women who accepted equally demanding roles in the war effort, have yet to receive significant academic attention. This case study of Newfoundland servicewives focuses specifically on the women who were married to Newfoundlanders serving in British forces during the war. These women represented the majority of servicewives residing in the colony at this time and the only ones for whose welfare the Newfoundland Government assumed a degree of responsibility. This thesis examines the problematic relationship which existed between Newfoundland servicewives and the Commission of Government throughout the wartime period; the construction and manipulation of servicewives' public image in the local press; servicewives' living and working conditions during the period of their husbands' military service; the policies and regulations which attempted to control servicewives' sexuality for the sake of the war effort; and servicewives' expectations for and disillusionment with the Government's scheme for post-war rehabilitation. The role which servicewives assumed in the colony's war effort and the influence that this experience exerted on established gender systems in Newfoundland is also highlighted throughout the text