Women During WWII

            During the Second World War, typical gender roles were beginning to shake and alter. With the majority of men serving in the war effort in Europe, many voids were left in various occupations on the home front. In order to maintain the society cohesive, women began to take up these empty spots; many of these occupations, such as electricians (occupations that were always filled by men) were taken up by females.

                Women were also allowed to join the military to help out with the war effort. However, most women were not stationed on the battle front; women were given various tasks extending from administrative duties, telephone operators and other occupations. Many women also became nurses.  By taking up these positions, more men were freed up to join in as soldiers. In the RCAF, a special “Women’s Division” was established- 8% of the population of the entire RCAF was comprised of women; by 1942, over 14,000 women were employed. Today we are celebrating some of our Islands' women who are serving, or have served their country.



Meghan Albright, formerly of Freeport is the daughter of Donald Albright and Lana Titus-Leighton. She is stationed out of Halifax on the HMCS Toronto.

Mabel Elizabeth Shortliffe, daughter of Isaac and Sophia (Outhouse) Shortliffe was raised in Freeport. Born in 1881, she travelled to the United States circa 1910 and studied nursing, leaving a dressmaker's job behind. Mabel served from January 19, 1918 until April 12, 1919, and then worked in the private nursing sector in New York City. Moving to Ohio in 1948, she is buried in a U.S. Veterans' gravesite in the Dayton National Cemetery, Section 11, Row 23, Site 31.



Phyllis (Crocker) McLennan was the daughter of George and Lila (Haines) Crocker. Graduating from Acadia University in music, she taught the subject in the school, as well as piano and voice to private pupils. After joining the Air Force, she served in Gander NL for part of her stint, and performed on the radio as part of military entertainment during WWII. Upon leaving the Air Force, she returned to Acadia as a staff member in their Music Department, married and lived out the rest of her life in Wolfville, N.S.

Evelyn Mount and Louise Garron, daughters of Boyd and Cynthia Graham of Westport, were born in 1918 and 1924 respectively. Louise joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (Women's Division) in December of 1942 but was allowed to stay home until after the Christmas holiday, a short time after her sister had already entered the Army. Trained in Rockliffe, a suburb of Ottawa, they worked with the police section of the Air Force. Their Women's Division replaced 14 of the male finger print technicians, and Louise comments that most of their work was classified.

Evelyn left the force in 1945, married Alfred Mount, and lived away from the Islands most of her life. Louise remained in the Army until 1946, returned home, married George Garron and taught school in Brier Island for many years.

Elsie (Titus) Prime was born in Freeport, June 20, 1906, the daughter of Franklin and Susan (Bell) Titus. After working for a short time in Westcott's store, and a year teaching school in Bear River, she entered nursing training at the Children's Hospital in Halifax. With the outbreak of WWII, Elsie joined the Canadian Army and served as Lieutenant Nursing Sister at Camp Hill Hospital for the duration of the conflict. On one occasion she helped accompany a train load of British children from Halifax to Winnipeg and also saw the immediate effects of a new “miracle” drug being used to treat the returning wounded – now the commonly used penicillin. Married to Curtis Prime in 1945, she moved back to Freeport in 1947, raised her family and worked in the family store.

Marion (Prime) Patterson, the daughter of Percy and Melba (Frost) Prime was born December 2, 1923 in Freeport. Except for a small number of years, she lived her entire life on Long Island, where three of her children reside still. Marion served in the Army Corps in Halifax, as a telephone operator.  

We have no photo of Nellie (Delaney) Higgins of Central Grove. If anyone would have one of her in her WWII uniform, we would love to make a copy. 

Nellie (Delaney) Higgins, born in Central Grove, was the daughter of George and Almedia (Powell) Delaney, one of ten children. Moving to Montreal to obtain work, she married, and then later joined the Women's Army Corp and served throughout WWII. After the war, she returned to Central Grove and cared for her father. In the early 1950s, she became a secretary at the Digby Packing Company and resided there until her death.

LOOKOUT BELOW!

A newspaper piece of
Bernard Bowers.

 Despite the common assumption that such a secluded area would be cut-off from the rest of Canada (as well as the world), the Islands were fairly up-to-date with the precautions of the Second World War. Bernard Bowers, a local businessman from Brier Island had been registered to have a radio station for the area to alert the residents of the Islands, as well as the higher authorities of the time of air crafts flying over.

Bowers' certification to operate
a radio station.

The following clippings are from the Chronicle Herald (from the early 1940s) show how to identify air-crafts from their silhouettes-- both Allied and Axis Powers' countries. Clippings donated by the Bowers Family.

You can find documents at the Islands Archives of the different planes that were recorded during World War II. These "Official Observer Reports" contain the directions of which the planes were heading from, how many engines were identified and other characteristics of the particular flying crafts.

Click here for several types of planes that people were to be on the look out for. Clippings taken from the Chronicle Herald.

Foxy Industry

Gorham Elliott, Sr.

    The fishing industry is, and has been, dominant in the economies of both Brier and Long Islands. There have been other, more unique outlets of economy, such as fox ranching, which the inhabitants of the islands experimented with. Although odd sounding, fox ranching was a great means of supporting oneself. However, it was also a temporary industry.

    Beginning in the 1930s, the industry of selling fox pelts began to rise. Brier and Long Islands were home to large, fenced in establishments that housed many foxes. These foxes were bred for their grand quality pelts. These foxes, known as the “Silver, Black-Faced” foxes are a mutation of what we know as the common 'red fox.' Although the ethics of this trade comes into question, fox ranching was a business to be in. The fox pelts were brought to fairs in the Annapolis County where they were traded or sold.

    The first, and largest of the fox ranches was built and owned by Gorham Elliott, Sr., of Tiverton. His ranch was located in back of what is now the “Long Island Trading Company” general store, and housed over a hundred foxes. Smaller establishments, owned by Samuel Young and sons, Lloyd Blackford, Alton MacNeill, Carmen Nase and others were found in Freeport. In Central Grove Melvin Tibert raised foxes. Many residents recall a pungent odour always wafting from the fox ranches. There was only one fox ranch recorded in Westport, owned by Daniel Kenney Jr.

Daniel Kenney Sr,
with Mushy

    The foxes were fed once a day; their diet consisted of tripe and fish scraps. Elsie Young  of Freeport recalled having duties of feeding the foxes when her husband Charlie was away. Using a wheelbarrow, she would transport the frozen blocks of food from the government wharf at the Point to their home on top of Crocker's Hill.

    Due to the jittery nature of foxes, minimal contact with humans was ideal. If they felt threatened, the mother fox would eat her own pups. However, the story of “Mushy” is an exception. Mushy, a fox pup on Daniel Kenny Sr.'s farm (Westport) had to be isolated from the other foxes and fed by the household cat. Mushy was later tamed and became the Kenney family's newest pet.

    As the Second World War began, the fox ranching industry declined. Pelts became more expensive, and demand for clothing made from them decreased .

Hello Central!

Rita Bowers, pictured with the
older, candlestick-style telephone

January 24th, 1976 was a turning point in the history of Long and Brier Islands. On this date, the Islands changed from using crank-style telephones to the more-modern style dial-phones. Prior to having phone numbers, people who wanted to make an outgoing call had to turn a crank manually on the side of their actual telephone. During the 1940s, telephones were being serviced by Wilfred Gidney; he ran a telephone service for the Digby Neck and Islands' areas.

There were two operators or “Central”, one was based in Freeport, and one was in Westport. These individuals would literally, “hook you up” with the person that you wanted to talk to. One of the past operators for Freeport, Elsie Young was the operator from 1940-1967. As an operator, in her experiences, she would have to direct calls, as well as make calls to doctors, ambulances and other personnel to come to the islands for emergencies. This was also a 24/7 job.

Found at Islands Museum
Tiverton, NS

During this time, what is known as “party lines” were used extensively. Essentially, a selected number of homes would share one phone line. During the earlier times of use, there were only four phones and they accommodated forty telephones. It slowly grew into 300 telephones, divided among 112 phones lines. To the left, a "crank-style" telephone is pictured. Donated by a local resident, this telelphone can be found at the Islands Museum, Tiverton, Nova Scotia.

Each home would have a specific ring tone (if you will); some examples are two short and one long rings, or three long rings--- This specialized tone would signify that the call was for you. What is interesting to note about party lines is that it was much easier to eavesdrop on people's conversations. 

In 1945, Maritime Telegraph & Telephone bought the local company and continued to provide service up and past the 1970s.

Boat Building in the 1800s

During the 1800s, ship building became a popular mode of employment on the Islands.  Over 100 boats were constructed. In 1854, the ship building industry flourished due to the reciprocity agreement was made between Canada and the United States. Schooners would carry wood to New England, bringing flour and cotton back.

The large map displays the routes of
ships and locations of ship builders.

Between Long and Brier Islands, there were various ship building locations.  A local man, named Evan Powell was the first. Larger vessels were constructed in Digby and on the French Shore. 

There are several boat styles which were unique to this area. In Tiverton, the “double ended” and “cab aft” style boats were constructed. “Cab Fore” boat-styles were constructed in Freeport. In general, boats were made in an open-style, and tended to be at a length of 20 feet (or more). In later times, cabins and “squared” sterns were added. These boats were meant for fishing near the ledges of the Islands’ coasts.

Murray Pugh (from Westport) was built small ships for day fishing and general sailing. He then constructed boats that were used in American markets. Much like other ship builders, he received materials through purchasing wood, cutting the wood himself, or combing the beaches for wood that has washed up on the shoreline. Grafton Outhouse left his job aboard a patrol ship to build ships. Charlie McDormand constructed many punts.

The center display of the Marine Room
holds various ship building tools.

In a span of 80 years, the Islands have seen their fair share of ships; the village of Tiverton had seen the creation of 11 boats, the village of Freeport had 23 and Westport had 79, respectively. In contemporary times, there are no ship building sites on either of the Islands; only remnants can be found.

For this summer’s seasonal exhibit, the history of local ship building has been explored. For more information, or to visit the actual exhibit, please contact us! Click here to see photos of the Open House- Held on July 15th, 2011!

First post!

Welcome to the blog of the Brier and Long Island Historical Society! Within this blog, we will be posting information about events surrounding the society, membership, as well as interesting tid-bits pertaining to local history! Stay tuned for more information and fun!