The War Brides Three women sat around a small table in the kitchen. They were Canadian War Brides, women who had left their homes and families in England during the years of World War II to follow their hearts across the ocean. Margaret, the eldest of the trio, leaned forward, her eyes twinkling with nostalgia. “They had dances at the Town Hall,” she began, her voice soft. “It was a way to give the soldiers a place to go, to forget the horrors of war for a while. And it was there that I met my husband.” Vera, sitting next to Margaret, chuckled. “I remember my first encounter with a Canadian,” she said. “I was out on a date in North London. The room was warm, the fire crackling. My friend went to get coffee, and that’s when he walked in, the Canadian. He looked around, hesitated, and then came straight toward me. ‘Be quick,’ he said, ‘and give me your phone number.’” Evelyn, the youngest of the three, raised an eyebrow. “And you actually went out with him?” she asked Vera. Vera nodded. “Oh, I did,” she replied. “The first time I travelled to London for a date with him, I was leaving to catch the bus back home. As I stepped onto the bus, he stuck his head back inside and shouted, ‘Do you want to go to Canada?’ I was mortified, but I said, ‘NO!’” Margaret laughed. “But we did come to Canada,” she said. “We married Canadians, after all.” Evelyn leaned back in her chair, her gaze distant. “My husband’s family asked where we used to meet,” she said. “I told them the truth: the pub. But that didn’t sit well with the country Baptist community here. They had a different idea of what a pub meant. They must have wondered what sort of person their dear boy had married.” Margaret’s eyes softened. “I remember arriving in Halifax,” she said. “The Aquitania, the ship that brought me here, was massive. We disembarked at Pier 21, and they moved us to rail cars near the ship for the night. As I lay there, I could see the ship’s lights rising high above the building. The next morning, when I woke up, the ship was gone. I’d never felt so alone. I remember being a bit homesick that first year and my mother-in-law, looked at me one morning and said ‘You girls knew what you were coming to’”. Evelyn, who had arrived in Canada with her own set of dreams and uncertainties, shook her head. “But we didn’t,” she replied. “Not really.” Vera, her eyes wide, agreed. “I had no idea,” she admitted. “The differences between England and Canada were staggering.” Margaret leaned back in her chair, remembering. “In England,” she began, “there were trains and buses, bustling cities, and familiar landscapes. Here, it was different. No public transportation, just vast open spaces, and wood stoves for warmth. We finally got a car, a funny-looking little thing with a rumble seat.” Vera grinned. “Sounds like fun,” she said. Margaret nodded. “It was,” she confirmed. “Back in England, I drove an ambulance during the war. But here, we cycled everywhere.” “Some think we were brave to leave England and come to Canada,” Vera mused. Margaret’s eyes softened. “You know,” she said, “our mothers were the brave ones. They didn’t stop us from going out with the soldiers, sailors, or airmen. My mother always said, ‘Have a good time and be good.’” Evelyn chuckled. “And we knew exactly what that meant,” she added. Margaret sighed. “We left behind everything familiar in England,” she said. “45,000 British and European women made the journey during those six years of war.” Evelyn nodded. “We all share similar experiences,” she said. “Meeting and marrying Canadians, crossing the Atlantic, sometimes with children, and settling into new homes, adapting to the Canadian way of life.” And so, in the quiet kitchen, the three War Brides continued to share their stories, threads of courage, love, and resilience binding them together across time and oceans. They were more than brides; they were pioneers, forging a new path in a land far from their birthplaces, guided by the memories of their bravery and the promise of love that had led them here. The stories of the three women are from interviews of Yarmouth County WWII British War Brides. There stories were first told in the Wartime Heritage (440 Production) stage production of Tribute to Courage (2002-2003) Read the story of an Australian War Bride: A Journey To Remember Gwen West (Australian War Bride) Also see 2006 as Year of the War Bride