Work on the Canadian Homefront

Located approximately forty kilometres outside of Toronto, Defense Industries Limited (DIL) established one of the largest wartime factories not only in Canada, but also the British Empire, in 1941. The Ajax DIL factory grew to produce millions of the necessary shells, pellets, detonators and other desperately needed war materials. For ‘bomb girl’ Louise Johnson, a worker at DIL Ajax, her role and impact in the war machine was quite clear: “We knew our importance. If the boys didn’t have shells, they couldn’t win the war.” DIL, at its peak production levels, employed 9,000 men and women, all firmly dedicated to their operations like Johnson. This paper explores the social experience of working in a munitions factory through a case study of Defense Industries Limited in Ajax, Ontario. Effectively spanning the opening of its doors in February 1941 through the end of the war, this study will contribute to a wider understanding of home front service and sacrifice, by shedding light on local, micro-level histories, and on the individuals who contributed greatly to Canada’s munitions production during the Second World War.
Work on the Canadian Homefront

Lisa Tubb

University of Waterloo

Guelph, Ontario

An Assessment of Work on the Canadian Homefront at Defense Industries Ltd. Ajax.

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