Shirlie Toro-Fralick describes joining the Canadian Army at age 18 and being one of the youngest women to go overseas after the end of the Second World War. She joined the Women's Canadian Army Corps and took basic training in Kitchener, Ontario. She had a brother and a brother-in-law in the Air Force, which, along with her sense of adventure, inspired her to join and later interview/audition for the army show. Upon being accepted into the show, she was trained in dancing, singing, and took lessons in choral groups. The day before she was scheduled to leave for Europe, she discovered lice in her hair and sat for more than 12 hours as each individual hair was cleaned.
