Remembrance Day is fast approaching, and the Western Producer is marking the occasion in this week’s Farm Living section.
A story by Sheri Hathaway on page 17 looks at government efforts during both world wars to recruit women to work on farms to fill the gap left by men joining the armed forces.
On pages 18-19, TEAM Resources columnist Betty Ann Deobald explores the important legacy left by Canada’s war brides as they said goodbye to an old way of life to embark on a new adventure in a new country with new husbands.
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Betty Ann’s column brought back memories of a trip I made with friends to the United Kingdom in the late 1980s.
The mother of one of those friends was a war bride, who moved to a Saskatchewan farm with her new husband following the Second World War.
I remember she showed up at the airport to see us off, still sporting an English accent after all those years.
After a few days in London, we rented a van and went exploring. One of our destinations was the small town close to where my friend’s father had been stationed. He knew about a pub that still existed where servicemen from the air base had hung out when they weren’t bombing Germans.
We found the pub and received a warm welcome when my friend told them why we were there.
The ceiling was lined with the wings of Spitfires, those little fighting planes that helped win the Battle of Britain.
That was cool enough, but the highlight of the visit was my friend finding a photo on the wall of a group of service men and women, including his parents.
It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
About a week later we met a war bride in reverse.
We had been visiting Edinburgh Castle and were standing in the parking lot after the tour planning our next move when an older woman approached us.
She must have heard our accents and asked if we were from Canada. There was another warm welcome when we said yes.
It turns out she was originally from southern Saskatchewan and met her husband while she served overseas during the Second World War.
In her case, she stayed in Britain.
You never know where love will take you.
