Home Front

A survey of the 25 000 miles of territory linked by Canada's railroads in tribute to the railroad's contribution to the war effort. Included is a sequence from Buster Keaton's The General, as well as a re-enactment of Lord Strathcona driving the final spike into the Canadian Pacific Railway Line.

As demands on manpower grow, women are taking an increasingly important place on the various war fronts. In England, their more active jobs include ferrying planes from factory to airfield, and operating anti-aircraft guns. In Russia, they are fighting on the front lines as well as acting as parachute nurses, army doctors, and technicians. Canadian women, too, are entering new fields every day. Many have joined active service auxiliaries, and thousands labour day and night in factories turning out the tools of war.

Newfoundland's role in World War II, her economic structure and post-war prospects are discussed as Atlantic Crossroads surveys its barren hinterland and busy outports. The depression of the thirties is contrasted with the sudden, feverish activity of war.