Was there ever a time when romance was so exciting, so terrifying, and yet so wonderful as during wartime? The men were so handsome in their uniforms, and the women so lovely. No wonder thousands of passionate love affairs and weddings took place during those heady times.
Here are photographs of just a few.
Here both the bride and groom are wearing skirts! Eswyn Lister was one of the first war brides to arrive in Canada, when she married Stu Lister. (Photo courtesy of the Canadian War Brides Facebook Page.)This lovely photo of an unidentified couple just embodies wartime romance.Army uniform and shy bride in Leeds, England. This couple who married in Leeds, England is unidentified, but I love the bride’s shy smile and her huge bouquet of roses. It wasn’t only grooms who were in uniform. Ernie and Joan Howe of Cambridgeshire, England were both in the armed forces when they married on October 3, 1942, and to date they are still married! (This photo was published on their 70th wedding anniversary, in the Cambs Times newspaper.)A ruffled organdy gown with huge sleeves, a three-tiered wedding cake and a handsome groom made this wartime wedding especially beautiful.Rose became a war bride – one of thousands of English girls who married men from overseas during the war when she married and Horace Boulay of Belledune, New Brunswick. I love the little flower girls, and the veils on all the women. (Photo courtesy of the Canadian War Brides Facebook Page.)No information is available about this glamorous couple, but they look like movie stars. The bride is wearing a birdcage veil and carrying a large fur muff, complete with a tiny face. She was in the height of fashion back then!This Australian wedding photo was unearthed in a historic collection; the names are unknown. The little attendants are adorable, even if they don’t look very happy!Did you ever see two people look so radiant? The bride is gorgeous in her simple green dress and corsage, and the young man is just beaming with pride.Here’s a very stylish wedding. The lovely bride resembles Grace Kelly in her elegant satin gown, carrying her armful of lilies.Jean Morley of Claremont, Ontario and Harvey Maclean were photographed on their wedding day in a Halifax, Nova Scotia, dockyard chapel. They had one night together before Harvey was shipped out. (Photo courtesy of The Memory Project.)This English bride named Doris is so overjoyed to have her soldier safe and home again that she doesn’t care about his missing leg. She married her French Canadian sweetheart and moved to Montreal, and they had a very long and happy marriage. Doris is carrying a silver paper horseshoe for luck, which was common among war brides.British society girls also married in wartime, including Deborah Mitford, aged 21, one of the famed Mitford sisters, who married Andrew Cavendish in 1941 and later became the Duchess of Devonshire.This bride wore a smart purple suit and a hat with a feather in it when she married her handsome Canadian soldier. Cathie and Glen Elliot are pictured here on their wedding day, Christmas Eve, 1940, in Aberdeen, Scotland. Cathie is carrying the silver paper horseshoe for luck. (Photo courtesy of the Canadian War Brides Facebook Page.)Not all war brides came to Canada. Claire Dunlop travelled all the way to New Zealand following her wedding to Pilot Officer Allen Dunlop on September 16, 1944. (Photo courtesy of the Auckland City Harbour News).During the war Ruth Moll and her sister Gladys pooled their ration tickets to buy a wedding dress they could share. First Gladys wore the dress, then it was altered for Ruth, shown here at her wedding to Lieutenant Bert Schmidt on December 7, 1943, in Albury, New South Wales. (Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial)Were they sisters, or just best friends? No information is available about this wedding. But don’t the girls look beautiful, and aren’t the boys smart in their uniforms?Charles Miller of Bald Rock, Nova Scotia married his war bride Violet in a lovely wedding on January 12, 1945 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Note the matching bridesmaid dresses, and the huge bouquets of flowers, even in January. (Photo courtesy of The Memory Project.)An unidentified gunner marries a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service in London, October 1939. Her friend decorates the bride with a lucky horseshoe. (Photo credit: National Museum of Photography)
Canadian soldier Paul Dumaine of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec was taken prisoner of war at Dieppe on August 19, 1942 and he never saw his fiancée until the war ended in May 1945. In an effort to end the war sooner, Joan herself joined the women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service in England after Paul became a prisoner. Here they are on their wedding day on July 4, 1945, just weeks after the war ended. Paul was still very thin and weak from his long confinement, but both of them look so happy that their long separation is over at last. (Photo courtesy of The Memory Project.)
Happy Valentine’s Day to all lovers, young and old!
Elinor Florence
– Career journalist Elinor Florence, who now lives in Invermere, has written for daily newspapers and magazines including Reader’s Digest. She writes a regular blog called Wartime Wednesdays, in which she tells true stories of Canadians during World War Two. Married with three grown daughters, her passions are village life, Canadian history, antiques, and old houses. You may read more about Elinor on her website at www.elinorflorence.com.
Elinor’s first historical novel was recently published by Dundurn Press in Toronto. Bird’s Eye View is the only novel ever written in which the protagonist is a Canadian woman in uniform during World War Two. The heroine Rose Jolliffe is an idealistic Saskatchewan farm girl who joins the Royal Canadian Air Force and becomes an interpreter of aerial photographs. She spies on the enemy from the sky and makes several crucial discoveries. Lonely and homesick, she maintains contact with Canada through letters from the home front. The book is available through any bookstore including Lotus Books in Cranbrook, and also as an ebook from any digital book provider including Amazon, Kindle and Kobo. You can read more about the book by visiting Elinor’s website at www.elinorflorence.com/birdseyeview
Canadian soldier Paul Dumaine of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec was taken prisoner of war at Dieppe on August 19, 1942 and he never saw his fiancée until the war ended in May 1945. In an effort to end the war sooner, Joan herself joined the women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service in England after Paul became a prisoner. Here they are on their wedding day on July 4, 1945, just weeks after the war ended. Paul was still very thin and weak from his long confinement, but both of them look so happy that their long separation is over at last. (Photo courtesy of The Memory Project.)
Elinor’s first historical novel was recently published by Dundurn Press in Toronto. Bird’s Eye View is the only novel ever written in which the protagonist is a Canadian woman in uniform during World War Two. The heroine Rose Jolliffe is an idealistic Saskatchewan farm girl who joins the Royal Canadian Air Force and becomes an interpreter of aerial photographs. She spies on the enemy from the sky and makes several crucial discoveries. Lonely and homesick, she maintains contact with Canada through letters from the home front. The book is available through any bookstore including Lotus Books in Cranbrook, and also as an ebook from any digital book provider including Amazon, Kindle and Kobo. You can read more about the book by visiting Elinor’s website at www.elinorflorence.com/birdseyeview
