Clinton News Record, 2015-02-25, Page 13Wednesday, February 25, 2015 • News Record 13
Here come the war brides!
n February 1944, The
Goderich Signal Star
wamed that 'when this
war is won, many Canadian
families will welcome a Brit-
ish sister or daughter-in-law
into the family circle:
By 1947, 48,000young
women, manywith babes in
arms, reunitedwith their ex-
servicemen
xservicemen husbands and a
chance at anew life in Can-
ada. Afewderisivelycalled
them 'war souvenirs' but
most, in Huron County, wel-
comed the 'war brides' as
familywho had married
their sons, brothers and
friends in the war 'over there:
By the end of 1944, the
first war brides trickled into
Huron County.
Mrs. Dorothy Venus, wife
of Sgt. RobertVenus, was
met at Toronto's Union Sta-
tion by her new in-laws.
Described as 'a pretty bru-
nette,' Mrs. Venus was
'delighted' by her welcome.
In Wmgham, the first two
war brides, Mrs. Joan Har-
ris and Mrs. H. Hunt, who
arrived by train in June
1945 were met at the sta-
tion `by quite a number' of
curious onlookers. The
local Legion Ladies Auxil-
liary gave them belated
'showers: The Wmgham
Advance -Times extended
to the young women 'a very
hearty welcome:
In January 1946, the
arrival of war bride, Marga-
ret Mitchell, had been
`awaited with much inter-
est' in Goderich. Her hus-
band, Lieutenant Ken
Hunter, had been captured
at Dieppe in 1942 and
spent three years as a Nazi
prisoner. Married in 1941
in Sheffield, Yorkshire, the
Hunters had reunited only
once very briefly in an Eng-
lish hospital since his cap-
ture over three years before.
Local historian, Denise
VanAmersfoortwho has
interviewed war brides in
Perth County said they were
all 'welcomed wholeheart-
edly' into their new families
and communities. How-
ever, some historians have
said that it was not auniver-
sal experience. Understand-
ably, for some, the arrival of
awarbride meant heart-
ache and broken dreams
when former boyfriends
married overseas.
In a few cases, Huron
Countywomen made the
voyage to the United King-
dom to be reunited with
British servicemen who
had been stationed at one
of the local Common-
wealth airbases. Miss Helen
Dean, a Goderich nurse,
left for England in August
1946 to marry Royal Air
Force Flying Officer Clif-
ford McMahan. She took
her trousseau and several
trunks because clothes
rationing was still enforced
in England. Miss Joan
Moody of Hamilton Street
in Goderich left the same
month for Scotland to
marry Flight Lieutenant
George Pretsell. Both
women met their grooms
while they were stationed
•
Huron History
David Yates
at Port Albert.
The trickle of brides
arriving in Canada swelled
into a flood reaching its
peak in the spring and
summer of 1946. The
Huron Expositor warned in
March 1946 that a `great
exodus' of brides was on its
way from Great Britain and
the Netherlands. `Bride -
ships' left the United King-
dom bearing thousands of
women anxious to reunite
with husbands that in
many cases, they had not
seen for over a year. The
Dominion government
leased the famed Queen
Mary and several other
passenger liners to ferry
this latest wave of Canadi-
ans to their new homes.
One former troop ship the
R.M.S. Mauretania was
specially converted into a
nursery for mothers and
their children. Ship arrival
dates and the names of
dozens of young women
expected into the county
were reported in the local
newspapers that summer.
As they arrived, the war
brides all expressed their
gratitude to the Red Cross
who looked after them on
the trans-Atlantic voy-
age. DorothyVenus said
that the Red Cross made
them 'feel just like royalty'
as they were provided with
chocolate bars, cigarettes,
Coca-Cola and 'piles of
magazines' and `disposable
diapers.' Items seldom seen
in war tom Europe. On
board ship, they attended
lectures on adjusting to
Canadian life. They heard
lessons on everything rang-
ing from how to use kitchen
appliances, surviving Can-
ada's harsh winters and
what to expect living in
rural areas.
After arriving in Halifax,
the war brides embarked
on a train joumeyinto Can-
ada's interior. A rare
account of one trainload of
war brides was carried in
the Huron Expositor. It
described a rail car
crammed with screaming
infants with tired, bored,
and anxious women. For
the female reporter, the
train ride was maddeningly
long as it seemed that a
bride got off at every whis-
tle stop. The young women
passed the time asking
each other 'Can we ice
skate'? What are the words
to '0 Canada'? 'Is it true
Canadian girls hate us?'
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and `Do you think my hus-
band will remember
me?' As the train
approached each stop, 'the
great glamourizing' began
as 'eye brow tweezers, nail
polish and hair curlers'
were put to use in anticipa-
tion of meeting their new
Canadian families.
Huron County war
brides were overwhelmed
by the Canada's prosper-
ity. Mrs. Hunter was
'amazed at the variety of
goods available at local
stores.' Warbride Mrs. Ter-
rence Hussey 'appreciated
the manner in which she
has been treated' and was
'amazed at the amount of
material that can be bought
without coupons or fuss:
Dutch war bride, Pet-
ronella van der Ende, wife
of Roy Leppington of Clin-
ton, recalled the near star-
vation conditions, high
prices for goods, and other
hardships of living under
Nazi rule. Astounded at
Canada's prosperity, she
told the Clinton News -
Record that 'I am very
happy here:
Many of these women
came with horrific stories
to tell. Mrs. Robert Carey of
Sunset Beach had fled the
Guemsey Islands just
hours before the Nazi's
invaded her home. War
bride, Mrs. Lome Snell, told
the Signal -Star that her
house had been 'demol-
ished' in the blitz. Mrs.
Venus called Canada 'a
fairly land' because after
five years of blackout con-
ditions in the United King-
dom, she was amazed at
seeing electric lights.
After being welcomed
into their new families in
church basements and
community halls through-
out the county, the war
brides became reac-
quainted with their hus-
bands, which partly
explains the post-war Baby
Boom. Unfortunately, with
a local housing shortage,
the war brides and their
husbands, in most cases,
were forced to stay with in-
laws. It may have been an
ideal lime to bond with the
new family but one sus-
pects, it was one of the rea-
sons retumed servicemen
pushed governments for
veterans' housing. The Vet-
erans' Land Allotments (V.
L. A) outside of Goderich
was a result Not all of the
war brides lived happily
ever after. High expecta-
tions did not always match
reality but they did, in most
cases, `stick it out' and
thrive in huron
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