War Brides: Jean Spear

Listen to a podcast with war bride Jean Spear, as she recounts meeting her husband during the war, immigrating to Canada, and being named a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

48,000 war brides arrived on the shores of Canada in ships like the Aquitainia, shown here.

An aspiring journalist, Jean Spear was working at a magazine in London, England when the Second World War broke out. As she walked to her office one morning, she found that the building had been bombed overnight and reduced to a pile of rubble. Like many young women, Jean found new work in a factory producing war materials.

Jean soon met and fell in love with a Canadian serviceman and the couple wed in 1942. Jean became one of the 48,000 war brides who immigrated to Canada to be with their new husbands.

In her new home in Ottawa, Jean became an elected executive of the ESWIC (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Canada) war bride club — one of the first in Canada. While working and raising family, Jean remained active with ESWIC and war bride work. In 2006, Jean was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire.