‘We can do this’: Second World War veteran reflects on women breaking barriers

In 1943, a couple of young girls were sitting on a farmhouse step, talking about the world beyond the fields — about uniforms and duty, and how nothing, not even their quiet town, felt untouched by the shadow of the Second World War.

“My girlfriend and I, we talked and said, ‘You know, we should join,’” she recalled.

She said they went down to the draft office the next day, just to ask a few questions. They ended up signing the papers on the spot.

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The Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service became Ruth’s new world. She trained alongside hundreds of other young women who had