Dee
05-13-2007, 04:42 PM
War brides board Via train Headed to Ottawa for opening of new museum exhibit (http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=28872&sc=89)
The war-bride train had not yet departed, and already the stories were coming out.
Marjorie Wallace, 86, of Bridgewater talked yesterday about coming to Canada from England in 1945 to be with her husband, after his kneecap was blown off by a piece of shrapnel.
She was one of about 100 war brides quickly shuffled onto a ship bound for Pier 21 to see their seriously injured husbands. The Second World War had just ended a month before, and there was no time for the ship to make proper accommodations for her seven-month-old daughter.
"Oh, it was awful. If I had known how bad it was going to be, I would have waited to have her," joked Wallace.
Now, 62 years later, her daughter is by her side to take a train ride to Ottawa with 70 other Maritime war brides and their family members.
They're some of the 44,000 women who came from Europe as wives of Canadian soldiers at the end of the Second World War.
This train will take the brides across the Maritimes to Ottawa for the opening of a new war-brides exhibit Sunday at the Canadian War Museum.
The exhibit will feature paintings by Calgary Artist Bev Tosh, herself a daughter of a war bride.
This is the second such train put on by Via Rail. The first took place in November to commemorate Remembrance Day.
The train is made up of 80 per cent new participants who, Like Wallace, couldn't make the train last year. She's always loved train rides, and this will be her first in 28 years.
"I'm excited to see the new war museum," she said. "I can't wait to see Bev Tosh's new paintings."
Ron Jackson of Via Rail said the last train was so successful, the company wanted to do it again.
"They sit and talk and share stories for hours. It really brings back memories," said Jackson. "You see them reflecting on everything that happened up to this point as they stare out the window."
The war-bride train had not yet departed, and already the stories were coming out.
Marjorie Wallace, 86, of Bridgewater talked yesterday about coming to Canada from England in 1945 to be with her husband, after his kneecap was blown off by a piece of shrapnel.
She was one of about 100 war brides quickly shuffled onto a ship bound for Pier 21 to see their seriously injured husbands. The Second World War had just ended a month before, and there was no time for the ship to make proper accommodations for her seven-month-old daughter.
"Oh, it was awful. If I had known how bad it was going to be, I would have waited to have her," joked Wallace.
Now, 62 years later, her daughter is by her side to take a train ride to Ottawa with 70 other Maritime war brides and their family members.
They're some of the 44,000 women who came from Europe as wives of Canadian soldiers at the end of the Second World War.
This train will take the brides across the Maritimes to Ottawa for the opening of a new war-brides exhibit Sunday at the Canadian War Museum.
The exhibit will feature paintings by Calgary Artist Bev Tosh, herself a daughter of a war bride.
This is the second such train put on by Via Rail. The first took place in November to commemorate Remembrance Day.
The train is made up of 80 per cent new participants who, Like Wallace, couldn't make the train last year. She's always loved train rides, and this will be her first in 28 years.
"I'm excited to see the new war museum," she said. "I can't wait to see Bev Tosh's new paintings."
Ron Jackson of Via Rail said the last train was so successful, the company wanted to do it again.
"They sit and talk and share stories for hours. It really brings back memories," said Jackson. "You see them reflecting on everything that happened up to this point as they stare out the window."