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Acknowledgements

I have wanted to write a history of Canadian War Brides for twenty years now, since I first started working on my Masters Thesis in History at the University of New Brunswick in 1987.

Over the past two decades I have met thousands of War Brides and I’ve always known that inside each one of them is a wonderful story just waiting to be told but the opportunity to sit down and actually write the book never came my way. So when I was approached by Tempus Publishing in the fall of 2006 to write a history of Canada’s War Brides I naturally jumped at the chance. There are many people who helped make this book possible. First of all I’d like to thank Sophie Bradshaw and Lisa Mitchell of Tempus for giving me the chance to fulfill my dream. If it hadn’t been for their interest in the War Bride story the book would never have been realized.

The first person I went to for help was passenger lists researcher, Debbie Beavis, webmaster of www.warbrides.co.uk, whose War Bride ‘listserv’ gave me the medium through which to contact many of these women, their children and grandchildren who are connected through the Internet. Debbie’s ‘listerv’ is now in the capable hands of Patricia Tanner, webmaster of WeddingsPastAndPresent.com. Tricia continues to be as helpful as her predecessor was in assisting researchers and writers who are working on War Bride projects.

Linda Granfield, author of Brass Buttons and Silver Horseshoes, grabbed the torch and passed the message around to her many contacts across Canada. Thank you Linda, you’re always there to give me encouragement.

Dolores Hatch did the same and before I knew it, the phone was ringing, my email inbox was filling up and I’d come home nightly to find my mailbox stuffed with large, medium and small envelopes with handwritten stories, photographs, and documents.

Eswyn (Ellinor), Lyster, War Bride and author, reviewed the introductory chapters and gave her sage advice which only comes from having ‘been there’ and lived through the experience of being a War Bride herself. I don’t know what I’d do without her.

Annette Fulford, the granddaughter of First World War War Bride Grace (Gibson) Clark – and War Bride expert in her own right – also pitched in, providing a wealth of information based on her own research and helping me with last-minute details, especially the bibliography. The entire last chapter is her contribution to this history of Canadian War Brides. Expect to hear more from Annette Fulford on this subject in the future.

There are many other individuals who helped me to gather stories: Irene Maher of the Colchester Historical Society in Truro, Nova Scotia; Don Chapman of the Lost Canadians; and Zoe Boone, Vice President of the New Brunswick War Brides Association.

In addition to these contact persons, there were War Brides, their daughters, sisters, grandchildren, husbands and friends who took it upon themselves to help me shape the stories in this book and/or assisted their War Bride by sending me text and images electronically by email: Gloria Mott niece of the late Dora (Adams) Addison and daughter of the late Doris (Shelton) Butt; Marion Vermeersch daughter of the late Doris (Sayers) Barr; Leesa Swigger, Maureen Dawm, Robbie Bell and Joni Lang children of the late Margaret (Hill) Bell; Jane Veraart friend of Joyce (Hilman) Bezeau; Marina Black daughter of Margaret (Budge) Black; Zoe (Blair) Boone; Marian Boulay daughter of Rose (O’Reilly) Boulay; Rita (Bannister) Buckrell; Angela Michaud daughter of the late Betty (Sheppee) Campbell; Michelle Rusk daughter of the late Olive (Rayson) Cochrane; Dane Carmichael son of Margot (Coombes) Carmichael; John Clark and Anne Clark UE, husband and daughter, respectively, of Irene (Parry) Clark; Mary Dale; the late Johan (Hillis) DeWitt; John Bristow son of Margaret (Perkins) Bristow Eaton; Lynn Fitzgerald daughter of Madeline (Rusbridge) Chunn Fitzgerald; Vernie Foy; Karen Gero daughter-in-law of Mary (Hardie) Gero; Myfanwy and Meredith Burbidge, daughter and granddaughter, respectively, of Morfydd (Morgan) Gibson; Russell Weller grandson of the late Phyllis (Head) Grover; Gwendolen (Cliburn) Hall; Jackie Farquhar daughter of Betty (Lowthian) Hillman; Rob Hoddinott son of the late Marion (Elliot) Hoddinott; Dorothy (Currie) Hyslop; Carole Coplea daughter of the late Alice ‘Mac’ (McGregor) Hooker; Sandra Pond daughter of the late Ann (Biles) Lawrence Johnston; Maria Landry daughter of Joan (Smedley) Landry; Doris (Field) Lloyd; David Ludwig son of Gladys (Gardiner) Ludwig; Horace MacAuley husband of Peggy (Coppock) MacAuley; Valerie MacDonald daughter of the late Elizabeth (Kelly) MacDonald; Beatrice (Davidson) MacIntosh; Christine Trankalis and Julien Olson, daughter and husband, respectively, of the late Lilian (Gibson) Olson; Cindy Gaffney and Pat Lunn, daughter and sister, respectively, of the late Jean (Keegan) Paul; Jackie Pearase of the North Valley Echo, Enderby, British Columbia; Julie (no. 13) Pronovost daughter of Henrietta (Stevens) Pronovost; Pat Pyne; Joan (Fisher) Reichardt; Kay Ruddick; Peggy (Sayer) Sheffield; Carol Coristine, Manager New Media Distribution of CBC.ca and Mary Sheppard daughter of the late Mary (Fletcher) Sheppard; Diane Shuttleworth daughter of Joni (Jones) Shuttleworth; Sheila Simpson daughter of Edna (Burrows) Simpson; Susan Willis daughter of the late Mildred (Young) Sowers; Wilson Stauffer husband of Martha (McLachlan) Stauffer; Bea (Morris) Surgeson; Joe Taylor; Marguerite Turner, President of the Halifax Dartmouth War Brides Association; Mary (Mitchell) Vankonnaught; Sheila Walshe; Kathy Panter daughter of the late Barbara (Cornwell) Warriner; Kathy Eddington daughter of Elizabeth (Adams) Wasnidge; The Fredericton Daily Gleaner and Laverne Stewart for the story on Delice (deWolf) Wilby; Michael Worthylake son of Pauline (Portsmouth) Worthylake; Barbara Steuart and Jim Wright, daughter and husband, respectively, of Betty Wright; and last, but not least, Shelley Harynuk daughter of Gwen (Harms) Keele Zradicka.

My cousins, Patsy Hennessy and Sharon Olscamp, my friends Jan Walker (who happens to be the daughter of War Bride Bridget (Murphy) Sims and Sandy Coutts- Sutherland helped by reviewing the text and providing encouragement at critical junctures. My friend Sharlene Keith and long time editor/writer Meris K. Brookland typed up the many handwritten submissions. K provided some excellent editorial advice, even writing the first drafts of some of the stories you see here. Also Todd Spencer, a promising history student at my alma mater, the University of New Brunswick, did some research at the Harriet Irving Library in the microfilm reels and graphic designer Mila Jones provided the maps.

There were also many people who submitted stories which could not be included in this volume due to lack of space. Thank you everyone for your submissions. Perhaps they will appear in another volume on this subject!

And last but not least, I’d like to thank my husband Dan Weston who spent many late nights alone, preparing supper for me so that I’d have something good to eat when I came home. Without his day to day support I wouldn’t have been able to get to the end of this book.

Melynda Jarratt, BA, MA, Diploma Digital Media