Sent To Canada
John D Reid reveals how thousands of British women married Canadian servicemen during the Second World War, and emigrated to live with their new husbands
Close to half a million members of the Canadian armed forces served in Britain from 1939 until 1946. While Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) personnel played a prominent role in the Battle of Britain and other air operations, the much larger number of Canadian Army personnel stationed in southern England had time for fraternisation as they awaited action in the Dieppe Raid in August 1942, the Italian Campaign and D-Day.
There was initial suspicion of the ‘colonials’. Joyce Snow, a telephonist in Headley, Hampshire, said of the first Canadian soldiers she met that “they were all bad ones they had taken from prison – I got into contact with them quite a bit and they were really horrible”.
Tom Webb of Fort Garry Horse, a regiment from Winnipeg in Manitoba, wrote about Headley: “I do know that the people of the village were most gracious and friendly to us, and even forgiving, for we were not exactly angels.” Relationships flourished as servicemen and locals met in hospitals, shops, offices and other places where the women were working, or socially in cafés, pubs and dance halls.
The first war-bride marriage occurred on 29 January 1940; an estimated 48,000 British women had tied the knot with a Canadian serviceman by the end of 1946. About 80 per cent married officers or men of the Canadian Army. Even Joyce Snow changed her mind, marrying Canadian soldier Robert Dickie in 1945.
The Great Exodus
Marriages that did not last and couples who remained in Britain account for perhaps 10 per cent of the 48,000. The majority, 61,334 women and children, arrived in Canada between August 1944 and January 1947, most in 1946.
Although a few hundred came by air most sailed from Liverpool or Southampton travelling to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The transatlantic trip, often in cramped quarters, might have been over in four days; others took 10 days. Generally, the larger and more modern the ship, the shorter and more comfortable the journey. After living on rations, the brides remarked on the food on board – plenty of it, including fruit such as bananas that they had not seen since the start of the war. But every
voyage is unique; seasickness was common. Rolling and pitching in mountainous waves turned the voyage to agony for many mothers of sick infants.
Despite the efforts of the Canadian Wives’ Bureau, which the Department of National Defence created in 1944 to arrange ship and train travel and ease the brides’ transition, some women may not have fully appreciated the size of the country. The train to Montreal typically took 25 hours, to Toronto 33 hours, Winnipeg 62 hours, Calgary 86 hours and Vancouver 114 hours.
It was quite a traumatic experience for the war brides, leaving home and family, never knowing if they would ever come back. They journeyed to a new land, a new life, a husband they may have not seen for several months, and in-laws who were strangers! Would they be welcomed? How different would their new life be in a country with alien customs, unfamiliar food, and a more extreme climate? Canada was much colder in winter with permanent snow cover, but conversely much hotter in summer.
A Lesson In Language
Some of the women moved to French-speaking communities, but even in Canadian English there are different words for everyday objects including ‘truck’ for ‘lorry’, ‘eraser’ for ‘rubber’, ‘pantry’ for ‘larder’, and ‘sidewalk’ for ‘pavement’. Thankfully, the Department of National Defence included a glossary of English terms together with their Canadian equivalents in the booklet Welcome to War Brides (1944).
The arrival of war brides was seen as good news in Canada and well covered in local newspapers, although not everyone was quite so enthusiastic. A Gallup poll in December 1946 found that “most Canadians who know any of them are delighted with the brides our servicemen brought back from overseas. Some people more or less resent the war brides, but in most cases, this is because they haven’t personally met any of them.” Typical reasons given by those who lamented the war marriages were “too many of these marriages are unsuccessful” and “the girls back home were slighted”. However, the favourable majority argued that “a serviceman has a right to choose his own wife”, and “most of them are very fine girls… the best class of immigrants”.
Despite initial stresses, notably housing shortages and resultant overcrowding, most marriages were successful. The estimated 90 per cent who settled down in Canada were able to keep in contact with their family back home by letter, telephone calls and affordable overnight flights.
Heather Dowdle, who relocated from Worthing in Sussex to Napanee in Ontario, wrote, “It was quite an adjustment coming from a seaside resort town to a farming community. We purchased our own farm, through the Veterans’ Land Act, which we operated very successfully and raised two beautiful children.”
After an unhappy start living with her husband’s unwelcoming stepmother, Frances O’Leary from Croydon wrote, “I have never regretted marrying my Canadian
husband.” He rejoined the RCAF in December 1949 and they enjoyed 20 years of travelling, nine of them spent in Germany and 11 in Canada.
Sometimes the adjustment was just too hard. Bob McConkey, working as an RCAF radar technician at Bembridge, Isle of Wight, married Beryl Feaver in November 1942 after a whirlwind romance. Bob was deployed to support the invasion of Italy. Beryl and their son John left Liverpool in April 1946 for Canada on the SS Letitia, ultimately joining Bob in Montreal. But money was short. Beryl, whose relationship with her mother-in-law was difficult, experienced culture shock adjusting to unfamiliar ways of doing things. Living in a top-floor apartment during a hot and humid summer added to the discomfort. She started to feel homesick, but discovered a second child was on the way just as the weather turned cold. Beryl’s mother wrote to Bob using some strong wording, imploring him to “bring her back”. They returned to the Isle of Wight in February 1947, but their son John emigrated to Canada years later.
It’s estimated that one in 30 Canadians has an ancestor who was a war bride. The most prominent is probably the deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland. Her Glaswegian grandmother, Helen Bell Caulfield, married John Wilber Freeland in 1943, who served in Air-Sea Rescue.
Famous Offspring
Better known in the UK are two descendants of Canadian servicemen. Eva Sophia House met a French-Canadian soldier during a blackout. Eva married Private Lawrence Raymond Gervais in 1944 in Reading, where they settled. Their youngest son Ricky became a comedian, and co-wrote and starred in the BBC series The Office.
Joyce Snow wasn’t totally mistaken in commenting that
“they were all bad ones”. Trooper Edward Walter Fryer enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1940. Far from a model soldier, in 1943 he pleaded guilty to breaking and entering a doctor’s house in West Chiltington, West Sussex, stealing a car and valuables. The following year he admitted drawing £1 notes with coloured pencils while in detention at barracks. However, he was a talented musician, and got paid for playing the piano in pubs. An encounter with 16-year-old Patricia Clapton resulted in the birth of someone who has become a musical legend: the guitarist Eric Clapton.
An estimated one in 30 Canadians has an ancestor who was a war bride