The notice about the project in the February society newsletter defines a war brides as "women who married a Canadian servicemen in Britain during the Second World War and then were brought to Canada with their children under a Government program."
That's a narrow definition. Some didn't have children. Some came from countries other than Britain. I knew a French woman who met a Canadian serviceman in Paris, married in Canada and remained for the rest of her long life. Would she be a war bride?
There were war brides from the First World War. I even found a woman on the Prairies who married there before her new husband went to war with the CEF referred to in the newspaper as a war bride.
The scope of and activities in the project are to be defined.
BIFHSGO members who know of war brides, particularly in their family, please contact the society Research Director, John McConkey, at research@bifhsgo.ca. If you're interested, but not a BIFHSGO member, it's easy to join — www.bifhsgo.ca/.
Thanks for the promo, John. I didn't mean that what you have quoted was to be the definition of the project. Certainly women who came over without children would be included. I'm not so sure about World War I and countries other than the British Isles (remember we are a "British Isles FHS"). However at this point I'm not willing to turn anyone down (and I don't even want to exclude participation of non-members of BIFHSGO). My first objective is to collect names (and I have about 15 already). The stories that come from these people will dictate the initial scope of the project.
ReplyDeleteThanks John. I have already sent the story of my late mother-in-law's story of her coming to Canada after WWII to John. Thanks, and cheers, BT
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