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WAR'S END The next morning when we came down for breakfast everyone was
crying. We found out President Roosevelt had died, it was sad he had
not lived to see the war end. This was April 12, 1945, less than a
month before the war ended. Roosevelt was so loved and well known by
the British people.
We went home to Hamilton after our short honeymoon, and as the war
was still on, Jimmy had to head back to Holland. I did not see him
for a while. He could have gone back to Canada right away as soon as
the war ended, but he asked to stay overseas as I was still in
Scotland. They gave him a job running the telephone exchange at
Petworth, in England. This lasted till January 1946, so he had a lot
of leaves to Scotland. Then he returned to Canada on the ocean liner
Queen Elizabeth.
MOVE TO A NEW HOME
I knew I would be going to Canada, and told everyone that I would
not go unless I sailed on the Queen Mary. At first I got a telegram
that I was to sail on the Aquitania, but that was cancelled and I
got word to sail on the Queen Mary. So my wish came true.
A bunch of war brides left from Glasgow station. All my relatives
were sad, everyone was crying. When we arrived in London, we were
taken by bus to where we bunked for a few days. We were able to
watch the VJ parade. It was so exciting as we saw Eisenhower,
Montgomery, De Gaulle, many other famous generals, the King and
Queen, and the Princess.
Then we left London for Southhampton, to board the Queen Mary. As I
stood on the dock, I was thunder struck by the size of the ship. I
was one of the last to board, because we were put on in alphabetical
order. A young man helped me to my cabin, and in the elevator he
tried to carry on a conversation to make me feel comfortable, but
all I could do was nod my head yes and no. I was close to tears, and
feeling very strange. I had a nice cabin, with some pleasant girls.
Some Dutch and Belgian girls had been on the ship for a few days and
were already getting home sick. As we left Southhampton the band
played "Will you not come back again." Canada's Prime Minister at
that time was MacKenzie King, who travelled with us from
Southhampton.
I still have a letter I wrote to my mum from the Queen
Mary, also the menu and my berth cards, and a letter from a dear
friend that was put in my hand luggage.
I was following Jimmy's route. In June 1946 the Queen Mary landed at
Pier 21 in Halifax. From there I went by train to Edmonton and the
start of a new life in Canada.
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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