by Margaret Bristow

The following story is unedited, left in Margaret's own words.

In the summer of 1939 I was 19 years old, and met a young man Tommy Steel. He lived at Wymington, a mile from Rushden, Northamptonshire, England. My name was Margaret Perkins and I lived in High Street in Rushden and worked in a factory that made shoeboxes. Tommy and I became friends and he said if war were declared he would join the navy, which he did in August. Before he left he wanted us to get married but I chose not to marry him.

I also felt at the time that I wanted to become a nurse. I contacted the District Nurse and she agreed to take me with her on her rounds at the weekends. We did this on a bicycle on Sunday mornings. We visited people that needed dressings changed. On September 4th at 11:00 A.M. we were with an older man, [whom I now believe had Alhzeimers] when war was declared. I sat down feeling very upset.

Later, I talked with the nurse and was told that if I intended to do the training I would have to pay my own way in a hospital. At the time I only had the money I earned [my mother had gone to live with an aunt and uncle after my father had died. I had had to find rooms with a girl I worked with and paid room and board from a job. Our town was renowned for making shoes and boots and I worked making shoeboxes. Instead of the training I continued working in the factory.

By October I had heard from Tommy several times and learned he was on the Battleship Renown. I don't know if it was a destroyer or not but it was sunk by the Germans with a heavy loss of life including Tommy. He only lived two months into the war.

Life went on eventually. We had the odd raid and periodically the sirens would sound and we would go to a shelter outside and try and sleep. We did have a couple of bombs drop different times on our town but not on our street. There was lots of damage and injuries and also a couple of deaths.

Bill Bristow lived in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada and joined the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Regiment, and September 9, 1939. He too was 19. His birthday was October 14th and mine was October 17th. We both turned 20 that fall. He went to Val Cartier, Quebec for training and sailed for England in December 1939. Bill was in the 1st. Division Canadian Army Advance Party arriving in England on December 17, 1939 and spent that first Christmas at Aldershot.

In May 1940 the 1st. Division was moved to Rushden and billeted in private homes. The local people of the town were amazed at all the Canadian soldiers scattered over the town in the evenings. They had their training in the daytime. On a Sunday afternoon, at a band concert, I met Bill Bristow who was with another soldier. I too was with a friend. We sat and talked and arranged to see each other again. During the time they were in Rushden we met everyday and saw each other as often as we could. I took him to meet my grandfather

Denton who also boarded with some friends of his and they seemed to get along well with each other.

During this time things were developing on the warfront. The British Army was in France but was having problems. They were going to be brought out through Dunkirk. One morning the Canadians suddenly left. They had been in Rushden for approximately two weeks and Bill was a lance corporal. They had been taken to France to form a spearhead to help get the British troops out of France. When they returned to England they did not return to Rushden but were stationed south of London at Hurley. We wrote to another and early in July he came back on a 48hour pass and asked me to marry him. I said yes! But before he had come back to propose he had made a trip to Norway, although I never really found out why, and he had become a corporal. Raids continued and Coventry was bombed that summer. We were 35 miles away and could see the red glow in the sky in that direction.

Some brides were able to have the church wedding and white dress. Photo: Mr. and Mrs. More.

In August, another girl and I went to Hurley for a weekend. We didn't see much of them as they were doing serious training. Because we were both only 20 we had to get permission to be married, me from my mother and Bill from his commanding officer. We both received permission and made plans to marry in September. BUT the Battle of Britain had started. I obtained a license with an expirory date the end of October and my dear old grandfather gave me clothing coupons and I bought a white wedding dress with all the accessories.

Raids stepped up all over England! Planes were going day and night. Anti aircraft guns fired continuously and barrage balloons were flown in certain areas [large, large balloons with lots of wires to keep Germans from landing]. Life was hectic, leave was cancelled and letters were not regular. In the meantime we both had our 21st birthdays and it was the end of October. October 31st. was a Thursday and I had not heard from Bill in awhile so had not renewed the license on November 1st. [Friday] feeling that perhaps he had changed his mind. But on the evening of November 1st he showed up with a friend, Merle Shantz, to be best man. They had had to walk across London because of the air raids and damage and disruption to the buses. The two of them were covered in dirt and oil but we were very glad to see each other. Bill asked if we could still be married on Saturday but we no longer had a license.

The people where I was boarding found somewhere for them to stay and we spent Saturday and Sunday waiting until Monday to get another license. It had to be in effect for 24 hours before we could use it so we were married on November 5, 1940, Guy Foukes Day at the Methodist Church, Park Street, Rushden at 2:00 in the afternoon. The family [the Pages] where I lived put on a spread getting rations from friends or the black market. Two of my friends, Vera who was with me when I met Bill and another friend were bridesmaids. Bill had a 7day pass but by the time we were married we had three days together as man and wife. He was then stationed at Reigate, Surrey, south of London.

The army had taken over empty houses and had headquarters etc. in Reigate and billeted the men there. He wanted me to go down there and stay so we rented a bedroom [other soldiers did that as well] and obtained a sleeping out pass. There were many times when they were away training in Scotland or on duty but I did travel to Reigate to be with him.

My dear grandfather was good again and gave me coupons for a new coat. I had to cross London to get on a train for Reigate. Electric trains travelled south of London and when it snowed it made a screaming noise on the tracks. It had been snowing when Bill met me and it was a wet snow all over. As we were walking to our room the sirens started and the planes came over. A bomb fell in the next street. The German planes sounded different to the English ones so we knew it was a raid. When the bomb fell Bill threw me to the ground and fell on top of me. When we got up the coat was ruined. I was so angry with him but he probably saved my life. At the time I was NOT happy. I had not eaten and he had obtained a box of chocolates, I don't know how, but we ate them in the cold bedroom.

Life went on. Raids most nights. Some bombs close. He was away and on duty a fair bit but we did have Christmas together. We did have use of the kitchen where I was to cook but I had never cooked before and had only my ration card so Bill did get different things, I'm sure through the black market. Rabbits were not rationed so that Christmas I bought a rabbit. I had never cooked one before and he had never eaten one but we survived. Christmas in England before the war and during was never like it is here.

There were other soldiers' wives and girlfriends in the area and I made friends. We were there about six months and we had moved to different rooms. We were very happy even with the air raids. One night the bus depot in Croydon [about five miles away] was bombed. There were over 100 buses in it. You can imagine the way the sky lit up — WOW!

Bill was moved to Chipstead in houses on top of a hill. Chipstead was the end of the London Transport Bus Line. We could get the bus at the Red Lion, Chipstead and go right through to London. My army money at this time came in Canadian dollars once a month. Banks wouldn't cash the cheques so I had to go to London, Canada House, to cash it. I went with other girls and we would cash our cheques and have lunch at a Lyons Tea Shop. At that time they were on almost every corner and it was always an exciting day.

Some war brides made do with a civil ceremony in their Sunday or workday best.

The first place we lived in on the hill in Chipstead the people rented us a bedroom. These people went to the shelter every night but we stayed behind and listened to the sirens, planes and bombs. Then one night the roof collapsed and the windows blew in on us. A bomb had dropped on our street. We were not hurt but decided it was time to go to the shelter. It was an Anderson shelter in the back yard.

The Headquarters moved and we did also. I shared a house with a lady called Brenda Martin and her two children, [boy 10, girl 12]. Her husband was in the Navy. By this time I discovered I was pregnant with my first child. Bill had to spend six weeks at Caterham.

Camp about ten miles away in Surrey on a Sergeant's training course and just came home on the weekends. Brenda and I became good friends and I was content with her children.

During the war there were few people that had telephones. Most people did not go to the telephone booths on the street as they did to know how to use them. Also during the war, hospitals were used for wounded soldiers not pregnant women. They had babies at home or in homes or places that catered to maternity services.

By this time the raids were not quite so bad, we still had bombs falling around us but no more hits. I don't remember Christmas 1941 exactly but we had both had birthdays and were now 22. On January 21st, 1942 our daughter Anne was born in a private home for pregnant women in Purley about two miles away. She weighed 61/2lbs and was blonde and blue eyed, a real sweetie. Bill came to see us there and brought us back to Brenda's. It seemed so strange to have this little person in a crib beside my bed and hear the breathing and little noises she made. Bill seemed to be away more often but Brenda and her children Jack and Joyce just loved the baby.

When Bill came back from Caterham he had qualified as a Sergeant. Life went on and we learned to live with raids, planes and bombs. When Anne was three months old I took her on bus159 north to London. It was Anne's first long ride on a bus. My mother came south from Rushden and we met in Hyde Park where she saw Anne for the first time. I think at this time we must have talked for the first time about having Anne christened. In May or June Bill got some leave and we went to Rushden and had Anne christened in the same Methodist church we were married in [it was also the same minister. He seemed very happy to do it, perhaps because the best man had given him 20 pounds and told him good job at the time of the wedding]. Anne was christened in a white knitted dress that I had made and looked sweet. My grandfather Denton also saw her for the first time and she did not cry.

In August 1942, the 2nd Division and the Essex Scottish were involved with the Dieppe Raid and were almost wiped out. Bill was then transferred to the Essex Scottish as Company Sergeant Major [CSM] as an instructor for the new troops that were replacements from Canada. He was moved to Arundel Castle home of the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk. He is the head of the Roman Catholics in England. They were under canvas [tents]. I left my friend Brenda and moved to Bognor Regis on the south coast five miles away but easily accessible by train. I lived one street from the English Channel and the pier that was out in the water. The beaches were all barricaded against walking on them with lots of barbed wire and the ack, ack gun on the end of the pier was in action most of the time. It was shooting at a target that was in the water and when it was hit and demolished another target was put up for others to train on. Bill was not with me quite so much as he was busy training new troops that came over from Canada, some as young as 16 or 17. One boy George Remington from Blenheim was 16 and they became friends.

One day I had taken Anne for a walk along the Promenade for a couple of miles to see another girl who I had met and who was also married to a soldier. We had had tea and I was walking home and not really expecting Bill that night when a plane dropped a stick of bombs across the centre of the main street of Bognor Regis. The noise was terrible but I went on home. At this time Bill heard about the bombs and came to Bognor and was told I had gone for a walk. I was not yet back so he went to help pull bodies from the mess of bricks and damage on the street. He came back to the room later and I was there with Anne. He was so happy to see both of us he almost cried. Another experience we lived through was when Bill was moved to Middleton on the coast into houses right on the water about 2 miles east of Bognor. Next door to the Headquarters was a house with two old maids in it and they had a parrot that sat in an open window. The soldiers used to pass this window and took great delight in teaching the parrot 'swear' words. The two old ladies were furious. They complained but it was too late, you couldn't take the words out of the parrot's head.

At this time we rented a summer home on a side street. The people had left it empty and it was the first time we had had a house on our own. It was called Castlette. It had a turret type room upstairs with a lovely view. The only way to heat this house was the fireplace in the living room so we had to buy coal. This was September/October 1942. Bill was sent to Scotland for six weeks training and came back just for Christmas Day. One day in November just before dusk I was walking home with Anne in the pram when I heard sirens and a plane. It was German and quite low and I saw the pilot when I looked up. I pulled Anne out of the pram onto the ground, put myself on top of her, held my breath. The plane continued on toward Ford aerodrome about 3 miles inland where he unloaded his bombs on the airfield killing some and destroying planes. An experience not to be forgotten! I went home and thanked God that we were safe. I had no one to talk to until the next day when I could get out again. Bill did come back for Christmas but I don't remember what we had, maybe a rabbit again. He was away again and it was lonely in this house in winter with just a tiny child for company.

Bill decided I should move back into Bognor and I did in 1943 in the spring. Fynn Monroe was Quartermaster and had also married an English girl Elsie. They had twin boys born early in 1943. The four of us Elsie, Fynn, Bill and I and the children rented a house in Bognor to share. It worked great and the men sometimes came home together. Being the Quartermaster in charge of stores we all fared a little better. By this time I was pregnant with our second child and attended a clinic. Arrangements were made to have the baby at home with a midwife in attendance.

Life went on. Raids at times. The guns on the piers were going off continuously. Portsmouth and Southampton, west along the coast, were being bombed continuously also. I had kept in touch with Brenda Martin and we had met at times. At this time Bill was very busy with training replacements. Elsie was busy with her own twins; I made arrangements for Brenda to take Anne for a few weeks when John was born. She had her for about a month and they loved her and spoiled her.

John was born on Oct 28, 1943, and Bill saw him the next day when he was able to get into town. John weighed 10 lbs and had dark hair and eyes, my colouring. Anne was like her father. When Brenda and the children brought Anne home, she was fine until they went to get on the train and she cried to go with 'mummie' as she called Brenda ' having been with them about 4 weeks. We now had four children in the house but managed very well and spent Christmas all together. Early in 1944 we took John back to Rushden to be Christened in the Methodist Church we were married in and also where Anne was christened in. Also early in 1944 the Buzz bombs or doodlebugs as we called them started to come over the coast. These had no pilot in them and exploded on contact. They were launched from France. They got more frequent and Bill and I decided I should move back to Rushden with the two children. So I moved back in May 1944, before D-Day. My mother was still living with her aunt and uncle. She got me a couple of rooms with an older lady across the road from her — a Mrs. Knight who was Margaret Richardson's grandmother's sister-in-law. She had brought up a large family and got very fond of my children.

Bill went to France with the Essex Scottish right after D-Day. He was a Company Sergeant Major by this time. Bill was taken prisoner at Caen. I settled down with the children. My mother and grandfather loved the two children and they were very popular with everyone around. In July I received a telegram from the government saying Bill was missing and believed killed in action. You can imagine my feelings at this time. I had, all the time I had been married to Bill, been in touch with his mother and father in Canada and they received a telegram also.

When Bill and I were married we had sent the top tier of our wedding cake to them in Canada. It was probably September when we heard he was alive and in Stalag IVB. The letter was a form letter and he had crossed out what was not applicable. He had been wounded. His mother, in Canada, had heard from Mrs Remmington, George's mother, that George (Ace) had seen Bill lying in a ditch covered in blood and thought he was dead. I found out later it was not his blood and he was asleep. He had been wounded and was taken prisoner right afterwards. Because of this story at one time in Chatham town hall Bill's name was on a plaque with the names of Chatham and area boys killed in action. The plaque is not there now.

Bill and I did keep up a correspondence to a degree. His letters were mostly form letters and I don't know how many of mine were received or what was censored in them. We did send parcels, clothes if we could. One time I sent heavy underwear and a year later it was returned to England to my mother unopened. It never reached him. All this time the allies were advancing in France, Belgium, Germany, etc. Bill was moved (walked) several times to other camps ending up in Stalag XIIA, close to the Russian border.

In December 1944, the government contacted me and told me arrangements were being made for my children and I to travel to Canada. I had promised Bill if anything happened to him I would bring the children over to his parents and if I didn't like it I would return to England. I then had to make the decision quickly and decided to come. By this time I had a 3 year old and an 18 month old. I wrote to Bill of my decision but never heard back at this time. Communications were bad but I did try and get in touch with him. My mother and my grandfather, 84, hated to see me and the children leave but agreed with my decision. I was notified early in March 1945 that it would be very soon.

Like the Franconia, the Aquitania brought war brides and their children to Canada.

After I received train tickets to go to Liverpool I said my goodbyes with feelings I would not see my grandfather again. He died several months later in July 1945. We stayed overnight at the YMC in Liverpool. The next day we boarded the Franconia. This ship had just returned from taking Churchill and Eisenhower to the conference in Yalta. We spent about thirty hours in the harbour whilst other ships were loaded. There were five or six ships in the convoy. We had war brides, children and soldiers on ours but we were truly segregated. We set out in convoy across the ocean zigzagging to avoid Uboats, and they were there believe me. Actual sailing time was 14 days. Docking at Pier 21, Halifax, we had help with children in Liverpool and Halifax. There was no help on board ship so we helped each other. Because of Bill's rank I did not go into the long rooms of bunks but shared with a lady also with two children. We had two bunks each, top and bottom. I put the children in each end in the bottom bunk and we slept on the top one. The food was wonderful, things we hadn't seen for years and some we had never seen.

We spent a night in Halifax before setting out across the country. I lost track of my roommate and, sorry to say, never kept in touch with Brenda Martin for a number of years. Her husband did return, then she died, and the children never answered letters. Elsie and Flynn Monroe lived in Windsor and we did visit a few times until we moved to Gananoque. Back to the train trip, we travelled across the eastern provinces and we pushed into a siding in Quebec City for six hours. We could see the buildings of Quebec but couldn't leave the train. We changed in Toronto and arrived in Chatham at the beginning of April 1945. The War was still on. We were met off the train by Bill's parents, sister and husband, and were made very welcome.

Bill escaped from prison camp as the allied troops advanced and wandered around for a couple of weeks with other prisoners. I imagine the security was very lax at this time in the camps. The allies were quite close to the Russian border. He tells a story of eating raw turnips and potatoes in a field. He then found they were on an island and they were wandering around the same island a couple of days before they realized it. They were officially liberated on May 9, and taken to hospital in London. He had not heard from me so he got a pass and came to Rushden looking for me. He was told we were in Canada. He returned to Canada in August on the ILE-DE-FRANCE and began job hunting. He spent three months in the Veterans (Westminster) Hospital before joining the Chatham Police Force. He suffered from malnutrition and shrapnel in the shoulder. My mother came to Canada in 1948 and died in 1975. Bill died in 1965 due to his injuries. He was 45 and so was I.

This is my story, written in 2004.