2024. Bonnie Sitter, an Exeter resident, searches through some of her family photographs. She finds a captivating little black and white image: a group of smiling women on the running board of a truck. When she flips the photo, an intriguing caption reads: “Farmerettes 1946”. This single image sparks a compelling research journey that eventually leads her to co-author an entire book on the subject.
Told from Bonnie’s perspective, We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of the Ontario Farmerettes reveals the true and forgotten story of the Ontario Farm Service Force, which put 40,000 volunteer teenage girls to work between 1941 and 1952. Arriving from different parts of Ontario and Quebec to many locations in Southwestern Ontario, the young women began this work with no prior farming experience. Their job: to ensure critical food production during the most perilous period of modern history.
The remarkable contingent of young women who were called to replace the men on Canadian farms were known as the Farmerettes. Their hardships were tremendous. For long months, they worked under relentless weather conditions and schedules. Yet they single-handedly managed to produce hundreds of thousands of tons of food that were shipped off to the frontlines to feed starving European populations and even prisoners of war.
As they fulfilled their duty, their bond grew stronger. The girls were coming of age and figuring out their place in the world, while humanity endured one of the most destructive conflicts of the 20th century. Through reenactments and unique archival images, We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario Farmerettes recounts the story of these magnificent young women, now in their late 90s, bringing back their most cherished memories while reminding us – perhaps for the last time – that service comes in many forms.
