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Archiver > WARBRIDES > 2006-01 > 1138586686


From: Joyce Vonstrahl <>
Subject: Re: [WarBrides] Feb 9, 2006, 60th Anniversary 1st War Bride Sailing
Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 18:04:46 -0800
References: <BAY115-F124449328608C5E7C7244DBA160@phx.gbl> <000a01c62539$780fc1e0$34a83146@me>
In-Reply-To: <000a01c62539$780fc1e0$34a83146@me>


It's nice to see you honor your Mother, Diane, She was very brave, and it is
good that our children and grandchildren and Greats have someone to document
and recognize all these facts. Bless you too, Diane. I didn't come to the US
until 1946, AFTER the dangers were over. Your Mother was indeed courageous..
Joyce

On 1/29/06, <> wrote:
>
> My Mum was in the perels of u.boat infested waters as she came here in Oct
> 1944, with 2 children, on the Ille De France...what a marvelous and strong
> woman, god rest her soul, daughter Diane...
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Melynda Jarratt" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 3:58 PM
> Subject: [WarBrides] Feb 9, 2006, 60th Anniversary 1st War Bride Sailing
>
>
> > Please feel free to distribute this far and wide. The link to the
> article
> on
> > line is:
> > http://www.canadianwarbrides.com/press-release-feb-09-06.asp
> > You can also download the Microsoft Word version at
> > http://www.canadianwarbrides.com/documents/press-release-feb-09-06.doc
> > Melynda
> > _______________
> >
> > First War Bride Ship Arrived Sixty Years Ago February 9, 1946
> >
> > (Halifax, January 30, 2006) - Canada's War Brides will be honoured at a
> > special event to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the
> > first, all War Bride sailing at Halifax's Pier 21.
> >
> > Between 1942 and 1948, a total of 43,454 War Brides and 20,997 children
> were
> > brought to Canada from Britain and Europe, but it was in 1946 that the
> > overwhelming majority landed at Pier 21. The arrival of the Mauretania
> II
> on
> > February 9, 1946, carrying 943 servicemen's dependents on board, marked
> the
> > beginning of an unprecedented immigrant wave that saw more than 45,000
> War
> > Brides and children transported to Canada in the space of one short
> year.
> >
> > Melynda Jarratt, an historian who specializes in the War Brides
> experience,
> > says that the War Brides had an enormous influence in shaping the Canada
> we
> > know today. "Nearly one in thirty Canadians can claim a War Bride in
> their
> > family tree and that number alone speaks to their impact on our
> society,"
> > says Jarratt, who runs the website www.CanadianWarBrides.com .
> >
> > "But more than just their numbers, the War Brides brought with them the
> > cultural values of their home countries, reinforcing the ties that bind
> > Canada to Britain and Europe while at the same time cementing the
> > friendships that were made in the six years that Canadian soldiers spent
> > overseas during the war."
> >
> > Although War Brides had been coming to Canada since 1942, their numbers
> > amounted to no more than a trickle while the Second World War was in
> full
> > swing. Up to August 1944, less than 2000 wives and children had made
> their
> > way to Canada and the reasons are fairly obvious: the scarcity of
> > trans-Atlantic shipping and the real peril of travelling on U-Boat
> infested
> > waters were good enough reasons to prevent War Brides from coming to
> Canada.
> > However, once the war was over and the troops had all been repatriated
> to
> > Canada, the trickle soon turned to a flood: at the height of the War
> Bride
> > transport, in July and August 1946, more than 6000 dependents were
> arriving
> > at Pier 21 each month. More than 90% were British, with lesser numbers
> > coming from nearly 20 countries, including Holland, Belgium, France and
> even
> > Germany and Italy.
> >
> > Called "Operation Daddy" by the press, the transportation of War Brides
> was
> > organized and paid for by the Canadian government which established the
> > Canadian Wives Bureau in 1944 to bring servicemen's wives and children
> to
> > this country. The Wives Bureau employed nearly 100 service personnel at
> its
> > offices in London England, Paris France, Brussels Belgium, and The Hague
> in
> > Holland.
> >
> > Travelling on refitted ocean liners such as the Queen Mary and Queen
> > Elizabeth, each war bride and child required an attention to detail that
> was
> > estimated to require five times as much care as was necessary for male
> > troops. And no wonder! A seasick mother and a baby in diapers could not
> be
> > expected to sail in the same manner as men who had just spent the last
> six
> > years at war.
> >
> > Volunteer Escort Officers (EO's) with the Canadian Red Cross took care
> of
> > the War Brides every need, from hostels in London where they gathered
> before
> > sailing, and on board ship from Britain and Europe. Once in Canada, the
> Red
> > Cross accompanied their charges on trains dubbed "War Bride specials",
> > helping them as they made their way to every city, town and whistle-stop
> > across Canada.
> >
> > The event will be held from 1-:2:30 pm at Kenneth C. Rowe Heritage Hall,
> > Pier 21 in Halifax. Guest speakers include Her Honour Myra Freeman, the
> Lt.
> > Governor of Nova Scotia, representatives of the Nova Scotia War Brides
> > Association, the Halifax-Dartmouth Area War Brides Association, and the
> New
> > Brunswick War Brides Association. Other guests include Eswyn Lyster, a
> > British Columbia based War Bride and author who arrived in Canada on
> board
> > the Mauretania on February 9, 1946, Ontario based Alan Hitchon, who as a
> > toddler came to Canada on the same sailing with his mother, Scottish
> War
> > Bride Helen Hitchon, Manitoba MLA Bonnie Korzeniowski, George Aucoin,
> > President of the Royal Canadian Legion Nova Scotia / Nunavut Command,
> Mr.
> > Robert Mercer, Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Programs and
> Communications
> > Branch, Department of Veterans Affairs and Robbie Shaw, Chair, Pier 21
> > Society.
> >
> > Award-winning singer, guitarist, songwriter and historian Dan McKinnon
> will
> > play "Kith n' Kin" a tribute to Canadian War Brides that appears in his
> most
> > recent recording "Fields of Dreams and Glory". McKinnon was recently
> > nominated for two MIANS awards - Music Industry Association of Nova
> Scotia:
> > Male Artist Recording of the Year and Folk/Roots Recording of the Year.
> >
> > This event is sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and is
> > organized with the support of the Nova Scotia War Brides Association,
> the
> > Halifax-Dartmouth Area War Brides Association, the New Brunswick War
> Brides
> > Association and www.CanadianWarBrides.com .
> >
> > Editors:
> > High resolution archival images are available at
> > http://www.canadianwarbrides.com/images-downloadable.asp
> >
> > For further information contact:
> > Melynda Jarratt, Event Coordinator
> > Tel: 506-450-4567 (w) 506-455-3568 (h)
> > Email at Web:
> > http://www.CanadianWarBrides.com
> >
> > Marguerite Turner, President
> > Halifax Dartmouth Area War Brides Association 902-454-0133
> >
> > Eswyn Lyster, War Bride, Author, Webmaster
> > Web: http://home.istar.ca/~lyster/warbride/ Email; Tel:
> > 250-752-9723)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Melynda Jarratt, BA, MA (History)
> > Diploma in Digital Media and Design
> > Webmaster: http://www.canadianwarbrides.com and
> http://www.project-roots.com
> > Voices of the Left Behind: Project Roots and the Canadian War Children
> of
> > World War Two is available in English at
> > http://www.project-roots.com/books.html and in Dutch at
> > http://www.uitgeverijpica.nl/index.html?page=achterbleven
> >
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