Farm Leave 1943

The idea was simple enough. Given the need to produce food to support the war effort at home and abroad, servicemen who could be spared should be allowed farm leave to help with seeding and harvesting.

“Food We Must Have But Farmers Need Help!” poster [1]

It wasn’t just grain that was in demand. “Despite heavy losses inflicted among food-carrying ships by German U-boats, nearly 1.5 billion kilograms of bacon, more than 325 million kilograms of cheddar cheese and similarly large quantities of other meats and butter were sent to Britain during the war.” [2] Vegetables could be dehydrated, milk condensed, and eggs converted to powder to make it easier to ship much-needed food overseas.

The pressure to increase production escalated, just as farm help grew scarce. Young men were leaving to join the military or pursue more lucrative defence jobs. It was a tricky balancing act.

As the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, W. R. Reek, observed in 1940, “Farmers are not bitter about their hired men leaving them for war work. […] If the shoe was on the other foot and they were the hired men, they [too] would go where the pay was highest. But in the meantime they are left holding the bag.” [3]

In July 1942 the Globe and Mail reported that “215,000 men from farms had been enlisted or called up for the forces or had entered munition factories.” The article quoted Saskatchewan MP Alexander Nicholson, who said that in some cases, national war service boards “would probably have leaned toward the side of the army while in others they might have leaned in the opposite direction.” [4]

The competing need for farm workers and servicemen created a real dilemma. In 1942, the Hamilton Spectator reported that “The farmer’s son and the hired man have marched away from the old homestead in the greatest exodus in the history of rural Canada.” [5] It was clear that “Canadian farmers made prodigious wartime efforts in spite of a steady shortage of labour.” [6]

In a 1943 Winnipeg Tribune article, Defence Minister J. L. Ralston seemed to defend reluctance to grant farm leave when questioned by Saskatchewan MP John Diefenbaker. Ralston insisted that Canada’s so-called “home defense army” was very active and essential. The article stated, “Some 5,450 men were already on leave from the Active Army for farm work.” Prisoners of war were being made available, and the army was taking responsibility for the security on farms “in some cases.” Ralston said that should there be an odd escape, “I hope it won’t be treated as a major international incident.” [7]

Servicemen applying for leave had to abide by confusing rules and regulations. [8]

Bureaucratic politicians and military leaders complicated matters as they debated solutions and regulations. The farm labour shortage was eased somewhat by temporary help from students, home defence soldiers, prisoners of war, and travelling groups of harvesters. Citizens were asked to help where they could.

A wartime letter from his sister Jessie told Murray that the family farm did not have German prisoners helping with threshing, as elsewhere, but they did have “two kids from Owen Sound.”

The Department of Labour launched a campaign urging citizens to work on farms. [9]

In 1943 Murray Fraser was granted spring and harvest farm leave. As the only son of elderly parents, he was a legitimate candidate for compassionate leave. No doubt his commanding officer would have been sympathetic if he knew Pete Fraser had been hit by lightning that summer.

Pete Fraser was still farming at age 67 when this unfortunate accident occurred on July 22, 1943. The story made the papers in three provinces. [10]

Servicemen on leave like Murray Fraser had to submit documentation from their communities confirming they had indeed been farming.

Spring Farm Leave, April 25 to June 7, 1943. It must be true; it was noted in the Pilot Mound Sentinel.

September 15, 1943 to October 14, 1943. Murray Fraser's RCAF Record of Service notes leave in other war years, too.

In 1944, the Hamilton Spectator reported that although an urgent need for experienced farm workers remained in the district, help was given by industry employees on vacation, and by R.A.F. men on furlough. “They are willing and eager to help and most of them have had experience, which, while it may be somewhat different to the type of farming done here, makes them very useful and able to quickly pick up the methods used in this country. In addition most of them are husky specimens of manhood and their training in the air force has kept them in fine condition.” [11] The article cautioned of a great demand for fruit pickers in Ontario.

“Husky specimens of manhood” Murray Fraser and Charlie Lamb picking apples in Ontario.

The farm situation remained desperate throughout the war. The Winnipeg Tribune reported in 1943 that experienced farm help had dried up, and low estimates of one helper per farm could not be met. Student response was disappointing; the Farm Help Service received only 10 applications from high school students in Winnipeg and Brandon. Although office and industrial workers were also in demand, employers were asked to encourage vacationing staff to help on farms. Transportation costs would be covered in some cases, and workers were required to stay on the job for at least 10 days. Inexperienced workers would have to negotiate wages, and experienced help would receive about $4.00 a day with lodging. The newspaper lamented: 

The situation is far from encouraging. Only labor supplies in sight are Indians from the northern reserves, student help, and the volunteers who may offer their services in the “Vacation for Victory” campaign. [12]

With help scarce, farmers were urged to apply for farm help early. [13]

The Winnipeg Tribune advised farmers to apply for 1943 harvest help early. “Not more than 1,000 men are likely to be temporarily released from military duty to help in the harvest fields of Manitoba and of these only a small percentage will come from M.D. No. 10.” It was noted that, “So far as possible only men experienced in farm work are to be released from military duty” and there were several conditions involved. 

Harvesters from northern reserves, August 1943.

Different processes could be confusing. Farmers applied for agricultural help, but soldiers themselves applied for compassionate (hardship) leave. [14]

Harvest leave in 1943 was limited, and specific conditions had to be met, as authorities in Military District No. 10 (Manitoba, territory directly north of the province, and northern Ontario) explained.

Soldiers on leave received no benefits and had to have farm experience. [15]

Manitoba farmers were pleased when D. M. McLean, Director of Manitoba’s Farm Help Service, announced in September 1943 that harvest leave for soldiers would be extended 30 days to complete threshing. McLean did note that more than 300 harvesters were still required in Manitoba districts, especially in Pilot Mound. “Manitou needs 25, Pilot Mound, 75, Boissevain 50, Melita 50, Minnedosa 20, Russell 25, Deloraine 50, and Swan River 20.” The help would have to come from farms where threshing was finished. [16] 

A Tribune article from August 1944 reported that MacDonald Bros. Aircraft Limited was the first local firm to allow employees to go help with the harvest. The MacDonald brothers had come to Manitoba from Nova Scotia as harvesters themselves in the early 1900s. [17]

The farm labour shortage remained desperate in 1944. The Winnipeg Free Press reported that approximately 1200 soldiers from Military District 10 were engaged in harvest work in the province. “Some 700 men have obtained three months of compassionate farm leave, ending Nov. 1, to work on family farms in this province, while hundreds more have gone to family farms in Saskatchewan.” [18] Many soldiers had no farming experience, but learned quickly, and their help was welcomed in Pilot Mound and elsewhere.

Labour shortages made farming harder than usual, and as soon as harvest was done, tired farmers were urged to then work in other essential areas like logging, mining, meat packing, and more.

No winter off for farmers! [19]

Large newspaper ads bombarded readers nation-wide. [20]

After VE Day in 1945, rules for army farm leave were relaxed, to increase production for “food commitments to the United Kingdom and other European countries.” [21] Leave was no longer restricted to soldiers for their own farms or the farms of close relatives. “Under new regulations the soldier may apply for leave to work in connection with the production of hogs, dairy products, beef, oats and barley on any farm.”  

In July 1945 the Winnipeg Tribune, commenting on a plan to have soldiers build houses, moaned, “it is to be hoped that they will not get balled up in red tape.” The article referenced a Globe and Mail account of a soldier applying to his commanding officer for farm leave. The soldier had to provide: 

An application in triplicate stating why the leave was required; a letter in triplicate from the farmer requiring his services, stating the need for those services; a doctor’s certificate in triplicate stating the employer’s incapacity for work; reports in triplicate from an agricultural representative; a letter in triplicate from a priest; sworn statements in triplicate from two disinterested persons, stating their knowledge of conditions on the farm, of the need for workers, and so on, and on official form designated form M.F.M.—312.

 The article ended with, “Production is the primary problem; effective mobilization of the labor force is the key to that problem.” [22]

Sources

1.      “Food We Must Have” poster, Canadian War Museum https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/canadawar/p_agriculture_e.html

2.     Canadian War Museum, “Canada and the War: The War Economy and Controls: Agriculture.” https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/canadawar/agriculture_e.html 

3.     “Defense Work Draining Labor From Farmers,” Globe and Mail, August 16, 1940.

4.     “Foresees Cut in Manpower for Farm Work,” Globe and Mail, July 27, 1942.

5.     “Farm Labour Drops Steadily, Further Depletion Expected.” Hamilton Spectator, August 25. 1942.

6.     Canadian War Museum, “Canada and the War: The War Economy and Controls: Agriculture.” https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/canadawar/agriculture_e.html

7.     “Ottawa Plans Soldier Aid For Harvest,” Winnipeg Tribune, July 21, 1943.

8.     Torchy Anderson, “Soldiers Find Farm Leave Hard To Get,” Winnipeg Tribune, April 16, 1943.

9.     Department of Labour, “Soldier of the Soil” advertisement, Pilot Mound Sentinel, September 11, 1943.

10.   “Had Close Call When Lightning Kills Horses,” Pilot Mound Sentinel, July 29, 1943.

11.    “Airmen Helping to Gather Crops, More Aid Needed,” Hamilton Spectator, August 9, 1944.

12.   “Farm Help Service Asks For Volunteers, Estimates Of Needs,” Winnipeg Tribune, July 16, 1943.

13.   “Farm Help” notice, Pilot Mound Sentinel, June 17, 1943.

14.   “Only 1,000 Soldier Harvesters Likely,” Winnipeg Tribune, August 5, 1943.

15.   “Some Troops May Get 6-Week Harvest Leave,” Winnipeg Tribune, July 17, 1943.

16.   “M.D. 10 Enlistment Spurt is Continuing,” Winnipeg Free Press, September 13, 1943.

17.   “Firms Would Grant Leave For Harvesting,” Winnipeg Tribune, August 8, 1944.

18.   “M.D. 10 Has 1,200 Men Helping With Harvest,” Winnipeg Free Press, October 4, 1944.

19.   “Want Farm Workers In Other Industries,” Pilot Mound Sentinel, October 19, 1944.

20.   “Farmers and Farm Workers” ad, Pilot Mound Sentinel, October 14, 1943. 

21.  “Relax Rules On Army Farm Leave,” Winnipeg Free Press, April 7, 1945.

22.  “Labour for Housing,” Winnipeg Tribune, July 11, 1945. 

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