War Wives and Geographic Mobility in Acadie during the First World War

Abstract

This study examines the geographic mobility of the spouses of soldiers of the 165th (Acadian) Battalion during the First World War. Military personnel files recorded address changes for the purposes of mailing assigned pay and allowances. The detailed information in these files also aids with a larger family reconstitution process employing the 1911 and 1921 Canadian censuses and other records. This approach enables the author to situate the movements of these Acadian women within larger migration trends in the region. The results demonstrate that military service led to different and distinct kinds of mobility, motivated largely by economic need and a desire for family support. This article represents a significant contribution to our knowledge about the impact of Canada’s First World War in the Acadian diaspora, chiefly the Maritime provinces. It also showcases a methodology that could be applied to other units in order to explore female experiences of the conflict more broadly, intersecting with the existing Canadian historiography about women and the war.