The Canadian Womens' Army Corps started 1942 as a means of having women do more support work in the army, freeing up more men for combat duty. At first women only served in Canada and the United States, but then their service spread to Britain and eventually to Italy in 1944 and Western Europe in 1945. Women in the CWAC worked as Headquarters secretaries and clerks, in the canteen, as drivers, mechanic, and in military intelligence. In all, over 22,000 Canadian women served in the wartime army - none however, in any combat role.