Cover of Girl Takes Drastic Step! by Jillian Dobson and Genevieve Smith. Shows a drawing of a young woman in a military uniform, holding a paint palette, in front of a canvas.

Girl Takes Drastic Step!: How Molly Lamb Bobak Became Canada’s First Official Woman War Artist, written by Jillian Dobson and illustrated by Genevieve Simms

When Molly Lamb Bobak enlisted in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC), in November of 1942, she had become part of the nascent women’s divisions in the Canadian military. In WWI and at the beginning of WWII, women serving in the military were limited to positions as nurses, but in the summer of 1941 that all changed; the three branches of the Canadian military each created a women’s division in which women were trained for non-combatant roles, including clerical and administrative services, food services, and trades work. Molly joined more than 50,000 Canadian women, serving at home and abroad in order to help turn the tide of war.