Yesterday we posted about the Canadian Forestry Corps, and today we'll do the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit (NOFU)!
But isn't Newfoundland part of Canada? Not in WWII it wasn't!
Until 1949, Newfoundland was an autonomous dominion in the British Empire that, like other Commonwealth nations, Britain called upon for support in wartime. in both WWI and WWII Newfoundlanders responded to the call!
In WWI The Newfoundland Forestry Battalion numbered 500 jacks, and in WWII the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit surged to about 3600. Unlike the CFC, the NOFU was a civilian lumberjack unit - men who volunteered to go to Scotland for the duration of the war.
As part of their contract, the men were to be provided with $2/day plus board, lodging, bedding, tools and medical services. However at many of the camps, the jacks showed up to find they had to build their cabins themselves, with the wood that they harvested and milled.
As a civilian unit, NOFU jacks were often criticized for not doing the correct kind of service in the war (soldiering) but in reality the NOFU members often were serving because age, health, education or other requirements barred them from enlisting.
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