War Brides...The end of an era...

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

This will probably be the last gather up of these marvelous women that married our heros and came to the colony to bring up families....many of our Canadian MLU member's mothers may well have been war brides..
I know Pier 21 well ..having landed there myself in '56...and playing there ,growing up in my hoodlum youth in Halifax..

Media Advisory - More than 200 war brides will board Via train to Halifax to celebrate the Year of the War Bride at Pier 21
MONTREAL, Nov. 2 /CNW Telbec/ - VIA Rail Canada cordially invites the
media to meet the war brides who will take a special VIA train, boarding from
different cities across Canada, on their way to Halifax to celebrate the Year
of the War Bride. Eight provinces have designated 2006 as the Year of the War
Bride.
More than 200 war brides will ride the train from Montreal to Halifax on
November 6 for celebrations in their honour, including some 18 couples who
will renew their wedding vows after 60 years of marriage.
Canada's war brides are women from Europe who married Canadian soldiers
during World War II. These women crossed the Atlantic to join their Canadian
husbands after the war, the majority of them setting foot on Canadian soil for
the first time at Pier 21 and travelling by train to settle in communities
across Canada. Pier 21 National Historic Site will host the celebrations in
Halifax, marking the spot where they first got off the boat some 60 years ago.

SCHEDULE
--------
Monday, November 6
------------------

War brides and their families will board VIA trains in the following
cities, on their way to connect with the official War Bride Train in Montreal.
In many of these cities, community receptions are being planned at VIA Rail
stations to mark their departure:
<<
06:00 AM - 1 boarding train in Windsor
06:44 AM - 4 boarding train in Chatham
07:44 AM - 24 boarding train in London
09:11 AM - 17 boarding train in Kitchener
09:35 AM - 2 boarding train in Aldershot
10:10 AM - 2 boarding train in Guelph
10:19 AM - 2 boarding train in Brampton
11:30 AM - 8 boarding train in Toronto + 45 connecting passengers from
points west in the Corridor
12:13 AM - 4 boarding train in Oshawa
12:51 PM - 8 boarding train in Cobourg
01:29 PM - 30 boarding train in Belleville
02:11 PM - 1 boarding train in Kingston
02:58 PM - 4 boarding train in Brockville
03:10 PM - 17 boarding train in Ottawa
03:48 PM - 5 boarding train in Cornwall

These women will join some 76 war brides and their families already
gathered in Montreal Central Station for the overnight trip to Halifax. By
that time some 200 war brides and about 150 family members will have gathered
for the trip to Halifax. On-board the train, there will be a ladies barber
shop quartet and a historian from Pier 21 who will record the war brides'
stories.

06:44 PM - official war bride train leaves Montreal en route to Halifax

Tuesday, November 7
-------------------
After leaving Montreal, more war brides and their families and friends
will board the special VIA train in the following cities and towns, on their
way to Halifax.

07:16 AM - Campbellton
08:54 AM - Bathurst
10:10 AM - Miramichi
11:44 AM - 60 passengers will board in Moncton; a choir and bands will be
present
02:48 PM - Truro
04:20 PM - train arrives in Halifax station; honour guard and marching
band

Wednesday, November 8
---------------------
War bride reunion celebrations at Pier 21 in Halifax

10:00 AM - non-denominational church service
01:00 PM - vow renewal ceremony involving 18 couples
02:00 PM - sing-along, marching bands, bagpipers are part of the
festivities
Evening - gala dinner at Pier 23 for about 400 guests
>>



For further information: Seychelle Harding, Corporate Communications,
VIA Rail Canada (in Montreal), (514) 871-6119; Catherine Kaloutsky, Corporate
Communications, VIA Rail Canada (in Toronto), (416) 956-7683; Ron Jackson, VIA
Rail station (in Halifax), (902) 229-3285; Stefani Angelopoulos, Pier 21
Society, Halifax, (902) 425-2320

[Phil Waterman]

Don't remember how I found this site but it is interesting bit of history.

http://www.canadianwarbrides.com/vads1.asp

Cheers to the Ladies

Alex, thanks so much for posting about this!

It's so awesome to read that this was made to happen for these amazing women. I can only imagine how the love and romance made such a huge difference for our Soldiers experiences over there. So far from home, so far from "life as they knew it before war" and for so long ... I only wish all of the soldiers had had someone special over there for them, especially for the ones who sacrificed their very life.

And what amazing courage and commitment of these women to their loves to marry them and leave everything familiar and everyone of their life, family, and things, habits, environments, behind, to join their new husbands and go to an absolute foreignness to everything and everyone. And some of these women didn't speak ENGLISH YET!!! Wow. That's faith, commitment, and courage. I know that not all of the stories ended happily, but I know that many many did. Adapting must have been pretty hard at times through the years. These women were pioneers spirits. Can you imagine the homesickness bouts these women went through? They're all amazing creatures!

Karmen.