WOMEN IN WAR: The Real-life Agent Carters

2. ELSA LESSARD [1919- ]

WWII - The Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRENS)

A Real Life Peggy Carter, A Real Life Hero for Women

By Catherine Grand

I recently met an amazing woman who reminded me of Peggy and I'd like to share her story.

During World War II, Peggy Carter worked at Bletchley Park as a codebreaker before being recruited into the Special Operations Executive. Afterwards, she became part of the Strategic Scientific Reserve and a member of Captain America's team. The TV show Agent Carter follows Peggy once the war was over. She continues to work with the SSR but has since been demoted to fetching coffee for the "real" Agents. Peggy isn't given any opportunities to prove herself due to the fact that she is a woman, and her role in the War is all but forgotten. What the show so eloquently does is shed light on history's frequent oversight of the fact that there were real women fighting in World War II and suffering the same fate once they returned home, their stories swept under the rug. One of these amazing women is Elsa Lessard.

Elsa Lessard at a recent Remembrance Day Ceremony. Photo Credit: Wayne Cubbington http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/live-remembrance-day-in-ottawa

I had the pleasure of spending the day with Elsa. This energetic woman is 95, with a zest for life and a passion for making sure people know the role women have played in history.

Once we started talking, we quickly got on to the subject of her role in World War II. "I was a spy," Elsa told me happily.

Elsa joined the Wrens (WRCNS) or the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service, when she was 17, during the Second World War. She worked as a "secret listener" intercepting encoded messages from the Germans in Morse Code.

Her work was then sent on to Bletchley Park to be decoded by Alan Turing's famous machine (the Bombe). Elsa would only learn how pivotal her role in the war was decades later, and she is a recipient of the Bletchley Park Commemorative Medal.

After the war, the Wrens service was forgotten, Elsa says. They were left out of the history books. Things are getting better but women receiving recognition for their service during wartime is still an ongoing battle for Elsa. She is still fighting to have each and every woman who served during WW2 receive her just due. She fills out and sends in the paperwork for women she finds who have served and deserve recognition.

"Women always supported their countries in the time of war, and they don't get medals," she says.

Elsa Lessard as guess speaker at the Rotary Satellite Club of Ottawa Metro. Photo: http://ottawa.ca.eventsdroid.com/guest-speaker-elsa-lessard-at-satellite-club-of-ottawa-metro.html

"By the time the war was over, women were expected to return to the kitchen." But Elsa believes her contribution helped pave the way forward for women.

"If the war hadn't come along, you know what we had open to us? Teachers, nurses and secretaries."

Instead, Elsa used her war training to start a career as an electronic technician - another field dominated by men during that time.

"Women should be equal, and they are," says Elsa.

Elsa recommended that I check out the "Nice Women Don't Want The Vote" exhibit about the suffragette movement in Canada currently at the Canadian Museum of History through March 2017. http://www.historymuseum.ca/.../nice-women-dont-want-the-vote/

I recommend that we never take that right for granted and that we remember all the women who have come before us who served in the wars and were never properly recognized for the amazing, courageous work they did.

Just like her onscreen counterpart, Elsa knows her value and the value of all the women she served with.

By the end of the day I was yawning and Elsa was dancing. For our sake, I hope that Elsa has many more dances in her future.

(with quotes and information from Global News and CTV News)

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