P.E.I. historian's new book aims to preserve the 'amazing stories' of WW II women

A P.E.I. author has been collecting the untold stories of Canadian women who served in the Second World War.

Katherine Dewar began working on her latest book about two years ago. While the book is still a work in progress, Dewar hopes it willpreserve the legacies of the manywomen who were part of the war effort.

"They've got absolutely amazing stories, these women, and they're all so brave, they're all so laid-back," Dewar said.

"I guess I know why they lived to 95 and 97. Nothing seemed to bother them. They took it in stride."

The stories include women rescued from theMediterranean Sea after their ship wassunk bytorpedoes andwomen who servedon the battlefields of Europe.

Among the stories Dewar has collected is that of Jean MacLean, whoserved in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS or commonly referred to as"Wrens") in Halifax.

MacLean, now 95, told Dewar sheliked the camaraderiewith her fellow Wrens.There were some women whose mothers had done everything for them, even washing their stockings. MacLean saidthe war taught them to be self-sufficient.

MacLeansaid her time in the military made her become used to what was available. She said they were givenorders and did what they were told.When the war ended andwomenreturned to civilian life, MacLeansaid it impacted how they were able livetheir lives.

"They were just so used to someone telling them what to do,"MacLeansaid.

After meeting her husbandwhile stationed in Halifax, MacLeanmovedto the island in 1945.

"I wasn't used to anything with boats or fishing, or anything like that," said MacLean, who grew up in Ontario andhas lived in Meadowbank, P.E.I., since leaving the war.

Her Wrens uniform is on display in a museum in Kensington, P.E.I.

Dewar said the stories in her book have acommon theme of women who weren't afraid of adventure anddidn't seem to be rattled by what was going on around them.

One Island woman told her about living inmilitary barracks where 60 women shared one bathroom. She said the woman told her she thought it was "paradise" because it had running water, power, a telephone and a washing machine.

"She had come from rural P.E.I. where they never had any of those things, so she thought life was good," Dewar said.

When she began her research, Dewar was in contact with 17 women ranging in age between 95 and 104. While working on the book, she said nine have died.

Of 11 women she interviewed, she saidfour had boyfriends that were killed during wartime.

"Some of these stories are very, very sad, too,"Dewar said.

She hopes to have the book ready for publishing sometime in 2020.

Dewar haswritten other books, including Those Splendid Girlsand Called to Serve: Georgina Pope, Canadian Military Nursing Heroine.