Authorization to Release Section 37 Funds to Heritage Toronto for Production and Installation of a Heritage Plaque Recognizing the Bomb Girls - by Councillor Parthi Kandavel, seconded by Councillor Josh Matlow

These brave women filled over 256 million fuses for the Allied Forces. Scarborough's emblem, "Sc/C," which was etched onto every fuse, became a symbol of quality on battlefields around the world. The General Engineering Company Ltd. plant was split into two distinct areas: a safe or "dirty" side where operations not related to munitions were situated, and a danger zone, or "clean side," which encompassed the vast portion of the plant where munitions were filled. Workers on the clean side wore government-issued two-piece heavy cotton white uniforms and nail-free leather shoes, as well as a turban to cover their hair. The clean side was separated into two groups of buildings representing unique ammunition-filling lines: the "H. E. Group" where workers used high explosives such as tetryl, trinitrotoluene, cordite, and magnesium oxide, to fill munitions, and the "G. P. Group" where gunpowder was used. World War II brought women's employment in Canada to the forefront of industry. Seemingly overnight, women by the hundreds of thousands entered industries where men predominated. War workers doffed their aprons to don factory uniforms, honouring their nation by labouring in its munitions factories across the nation. Without argument, General Engineering Company Ltd. contributed to the Allies' decisive victory in Europe. Therein lies the legacy of their faith, loss, love, sacrifice and devotion to family and country during Canada's war years.