YOUNG, Margaret Ada
Age at Death: 22
Rank Private
Unit Canadian Women’s Army Corps
Service Number W12235
Place of Burial Star City Cemetery, Star City SK
Date of Birth 1921.06.02
Place of Birth Macrorie SK
Enlistment April 27, 1942, Kingston ON
Date of Death 1943.08.20
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Young, of Fort William, ON
Margaret Young is one of many veterans in this project whose too-short life is barely documented. We have no photos of Margaret, only her grave. The only non-military items in her war records were several letters from her mother, over many years, asking about when her headstone would be erected. Margaret came from a farming family (and a service family, two brothers were enlisted and a sister worked in a munitions factory), and her records suggest a young woman trying to escape farm life; all her reports include her strong request to be trained in a trade, and her dissatisfaction with being a waitress in the officer’s mess.
Margaret’s records also paint a very clear picture of the misogyny and sexism faced by enlisted women. When the symptoms of the condition that would claim her life first manifested as a swollen and painful abdomen, a Corporal in the mess accused her of being pregnant. Though proven to be false, the scandal of this accusation made Margaret’s service very difficult (to say the least). Most striking is how every report, despite mentioning that lab tests and a medical examination proved there was no pregnancy, mentioned no consequences for the soldier who accused her. Only her psychiatrist’s report addresses this, however weakly: “I suggest also that the false accusation and starting of gossip by a Corporal are deserving of some attention”.
