GECO Employee Database

 

During ten years of research in writing Bomb Girls: Trading Aprons for Ammo, author Barbara Dickson began recreating a GECO bomb girls employee database. Drawn from eighty-four issues of the ammunition factory’s employee magazine, GECO Fusilier, as well as from other sources, Barbara has extracted approximately eight thousand names, or about one-third of the original employee base. In addition to names, she has been able, in many cases, to recover other vital information such as job titles, individual shop locations, and personal events like marriage, birth and death announcements. Circumstances of loved ones overseas have also been recovered in some cases. Deemed a labour of love, the database has become a vital, well-respected, one-of-a-kind addition to the legacy of GECO in Scarborough, a poignant repository of archival information for family and descendants of these incredibly courageous Canadians.

 

Technical drawings and specifications, as well as employee records were ordered destroyed by the Canadian government after the end of the Second World War. The only records still in existence today are GECO President R.M.P. Hamilton’s personal and professional documents along with his photograph collection. Upon Bob’s death, his wife, Betty donated the historically-important records to the Archives of Ontario in an effort to make available to the public the incredible untold story of GECO’s presence in Scarborough, Ontario.

 

The database can be searched and sorted by criteria including Surname, Department, Job Title, Shop No., and Keywords such as “birth,” “death,” or military rank/arm of service, etc. In addition, Barbara has created other lists including all known GECO employees who enlisted during the war and those who had loved ones fighting overseas (which may contain pertinent details from the soldier’s service record.)

If you had a loved one who served his/her country at GECO during the Second World War, and would like to inquire if he/she is part of the recreated employee database, please fill in the form below. Response times may vary based on Barbara’s public speaking schedule, writing deadlines, and personal health circumstances.

Sampler from Recreated GECO Employee Database

Issue No.	Name	Article	Job Title/ Bldg. #/ Job Desc.	Details
Vol. 3 No. 3 P. 7	Clara Brown	H.E. Line	60A	Son Sgt. Harold Brown, Tank Regiment, wounded in Sicily Campaign; back in active service in Ital
Vol. 3 No. 23 P. 3	Clara Brown	Tribute to a Soldier	60A	Son killed in Sicily, 1944; Left GECO as at March, 1945
Vo. 3 No. 12 P. 7	Florence Walker	Change Houses	39F, 18	Son Lieut. Frank Walker, POW at Dieppe, repatriated fall, 1944; Florence died unexpectedly end of Jan., 1945; 4 sons; one killed at Dieppe
Vol. 1 No. 15 P. 4	Doris McMann	The Listening Post	Supervisor, R&D, 137F	Promoted from Shop 137 to R. & D., as of Sept. 1942
Vol. 1 No. 17 P. 2	Ivey Munday	The Listening Post	43B	Husband MIA after Dieppe – then POW
Vol. 1 No. 19 P.2	Peggy Hamilton	The Listening Post	33B2	Red Diamond; green diamond as of October, 1943; Left GECO Sept., 1944
Vol. 1 No. 19 P. 4	Barbara Stewart	The Listening Post	Purchasing	Married Edward Whyte, Multigraphing on August 21, 1943
Vol. 1 No. 20 P. 6	Ivy Harris	The Listening Post	39E	Red Diamond; Celebrated 25th wedding anniversary as at Dec., 1944
Vol. 1 No. 21 P. 3	Jerry Deniord	Christmas Party	H.E. Group Office	Captain, H.E. Group Office Bowling team; Referee, GECO Hockey; Photo; 7th Victory Loan Campaign Canvassing Committee
Vol. 1 No. 21 P. 4	Lyda Audsley	The Listening Post	33B	Husband, a railwayman, seriously injured during a “blackout”
Vol. 2 No. 1 P. 1,2	Peggy MacKay	War Very Real to Mrs. Peggy MacKay	35B	Photos; Bust “War Worker” sculptured of her; helped fundraise for Salvation Army mobile canteen
Vol. 2 No. 1 P. 5	Capt. Joe Trimble	GECO Operators Demo	Security Guard	Owned goats, donkey, mule
Vol. 2 No. 5 P. 8	Phyllis Bloomer	Textiles		Bronze button – three blood donations; Helped young boy Roy Innis when he was in an accident on Dawes Rd.
Vol. 3 No. 3 P. 4	Florence Trowell	Untitled	Medical	First Aider; Green diamond as of October, 1943; Photo; Earned voucher from St. John’s Ambulance, June, 1944