When the Second World War ended, the Canadian government ordered all factory and employment records pertaining to the war destroyed. There is no known reason for this decision; only that it was carried out. The only records that have survived the war are those found within a family’s mementos such as war factory photo, or newspaper articles, or from a rare few private enterprises that were hired during the war to erect or refit existing manufacturing lines, or munitions plants.

Because there are no remaining records, an important research project that Barbara is spearheading is to create a National War Worker Database.  She’s heard from thousands of families or bomb girls themselves over the past 25 years who want to be remembered, to have a place within our country’s historical written record. They long to be remembered for their selfless sacrifice made to their country on the home front so long ago. Barbara is helping make that yearning a reality.

While the term, “Bomb Girl” connotes a woman who worked with bombs or ammunition, the name over the years has grown fonder, more nostalgic, and has encompassed a broader societal perspective to include anyone who worked in the war effort on the home front. Whether a man or woman handled high explosives or sewed parachutes, whether they manufactured tanks or assemble Bren guns, whether they manufactured Spitfires or made sandwiches in a war factory cafeteria, every Canadian is worthy of recognition.

As a subset of Barbara’s research project to build a national war worker database that will one day be available at the Canada War Museum, Barbara already has undertaken to rebuild a partial employee database for the General Engineering Company (Canada) Ltd. munitions factory which operated in Scarborough, Ontario. She painstakingly has read every page of the 84 issues of the employee newspaper – GECO Fusilier – and recorded every name and personal or professional detail for over 8,000 employees. The database is held in Barbara’s possession; although it has been truly a labour of love, it remains her intellectual property. She has helped countless families find out more about their loved one’s war work through her searching and preparing a personal biography, including maps, photos, and newspaper articles where available. Her plan is to one day gift the database to the Canada Warm Museum.