But which 1940’s do we mean? We still speak of the “roaring 20’s”, the “dirty thirties” and the “swinging sixties”, even though the first of these is now a century ago, and even the sixties are 60 years ago.
The 40’s as a decade divides neatly in half with the war years from 1939 to 1945 and the post war “baby boomer” years from 1945 on to the 50’s. The following photo was published in the Wellington Continuation School Yearbook of 1947. These six young men, former students at that school, lost their lives serving in World War II.
We have gone through the fear and isolation of the COVID pandemic, and we al agree that these were difficult times, but the 40’s were six long years of fear and isolation. A young wife would check the newspapers for the daily casualty list published in fine print. Often a young couple would marry just before the husband was posted overseas, in order that the wife would receive her married allowance. Six years of not knowing from day to day if you still had a husband, or son or brother. Six days of married life and up- to six years of a false widowhood. One advantage for the young person without family responsibilities was that there was lots of work, and often well paid work with the numbers of people overseas in the military. Women were able to prove their abilities, but, of course, when the war was over these jobs disappeared and the late forties and fifties extolled the mother figure.
And it the woman happened to get pregnant so much the worse. In those days birth control was illegal! And even if you had a sympathetic doctor or friend, the choices were not very reliable. Housing was in short supply as little had been built in the 30’s and all production in the war years went to support the service men and women. Food was rationed and imported foods were scarce. Oranges really were a Christmas treat! Much of our agricultural production went to Britain. Schools soon had large classes and retired teachers were called back to the classroom. In my case, it was Miss Scott who had been ancient when she taught my father 30 years earlier.
This editorial was published in the Picton newspaper’s 50th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day edition. My apologies for the poor print. The newspaper is quite discoloured. Still it shows the feelings of sorrow and respect felt even 50 years later.
And how things change over time. Stalin was a hero of Democracy at the end of the war!
The Post War years were still very stressful. Things were certainly better, although families had to get to know each other again. Many returning soldiers suffered from Post Traumatic Stress disorder, a term not yet in use. Moreover, housing was still tight and certain foods remained scarce.
We entered almost immediately into the “cold war”. The news out of Eastern Europe was horrifying. It is almost impossible for us to imagine the shock of the concentration camps and the immense death toll. In addition, after the news of what had happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki gradually became known, the fear of nuclear war terrified us. I remember the air raid sirens going off into the 50’s. We all had to duck under our desks with our backs to the windows. It might have protected us from broken glass but the action would have been no protection from nuclear fallout. after WWI, we could still talk about the war to end all wars; now we faced the war to end the world.
The next two photos are from Mountain View school in 1940 and 1946. In the earlier photo there are 27 students, still wearing the “breeks” and overalls, the styles of the 20’s and 30’s. New clothes were almost unheard of. The second picture is 1946, just after the war which ended on September 2, 1945. But there are signs of change. Class size has increased by approximately 2/3 to 43 students, and with a much wider age range. Another change is the clothing, more modern and a greater range of style and colour. I feel that in general the students look happier or more relaxed. One factor in the size of the enrolment is Mountain View Airport, which was still operational. The Mountain View aerodrome opened on 23 June, 1941 to host No. 6 Bombing and Gunnery School (6 B&GS), one of eleven bombing and gunnery schools that opened across Canada under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during WWII. Aircraft used included the Anson, Battle, Lysander, Bollingbroke and Nomad. The station was later designated RCAF Station Mountain View.
The Ontario school system spent a lot of time focused on the war, and on the British Empire. Every May, schools would hold a service and program for Empire Day with patriotic songs, poetry and skits. The following examples are taken from the program set out by the Department of Education for May 21, 1943. They are typical of the thinking of the time.
Of course, life still had its pleasures. There were picnics, beach parties, movies. Social groups met to prepare packages to send overseas, knit sea boot socks and balaclavas, and have paper drives and metal drives to raise the money for armaments, especially fighter planes. There were even dances and parties for the visiting sailors and airmen here for training.
The combination of hardships of the depression and the fear and horror of the war was the beginning of the great social changes of the fifties and sixties.
Above: an illustration from “A Forest of Pencils”, published 1973
QEMA 