60 Ball Street

Sergeant Major Gladys Laureen Stephens

Gladys was born in Paris in 1921 and lived with her parents, William and Stella Stephens, and two sisters at 60 Ball Street. She enlisted during the Second World War with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (WAC). She rose to the rank of Sergeant Major and won a British Empire Medal for her war service.

After the war, Gladys did what most women did following their military service during the war – she returned to normal life. She married William Crawford, a Scottish immigrant, and they had a daughter Nancy. Gladys died at the age of 80, and is buried with her husband in Mount Hope Cemetery in Brantford. But thanks to the courage and commitment of thousands of Canadian women like Gladys during the Second World War, they helped to shape the Canadian Armed Forces of today and clearly the way for greater equality and opportunities for women not only in the military but throughout society.