In 1941 Canada was in a state of war, allied with Britain against Hitler, and the Red Cross was once again revved up to full power.
The Coronation branch started up in September of 1939, knitting sweaters, mitts, socks, blankets and sewing quilts to send to the military and refugees.
In the first 15 months 1421 garments for the military and 312 garments for refugees were sent to the Calgary headquarters.
This total was the combined effort of the Red Cross ladies together with sewing clubs, knitting clubs, church groups and so on. They were always urging each other on to do more for ‘their boys over there’.
One woman kept track of the work she had done in those first 15 months.
April 24, 1941
“Mrs. D. MacAlpine, on Tuesday, turned in the 80th pair of socks she has knitted for the Red Cross since its inception here; she has also made several sweaters, mitts, and helmets; and in addition serves in the sample room one day each week. There’s a mark to shoot at ladies.”
They even had children’s groups knitting squares that were made into blankets for the children in the London air raid shelters.
This is the second war I have read about and in both of them the people of Coronation would roll up their sleeves and cheerfully work tirelessly to help in any small way that they could, and they found many; the knitting and quilting were only a small part.
There was the fund raising for things like the comfort fund for soldiers, the Christmas packages, and even a fund to buy tobacco to send to the soldiers.
The tobacco fund was financed by the “Dime a Month” club. Everyone would donate 10 cents every month and this money would be used to buy tobacco to send to the soldiers.
Their strength and unselfishness has once again impressed me, and my respect has grown even more.

Back to Back In Time page