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| Click image for larger view. Kay Ruddick appears in a group photograph with Prime Minister MacKenzie King on board the Queen Mary, August 26, 1946. Photo courtesy Kay Ruddick. |
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| Click image for larger view. Dutch War Brides on the Lady Rodney, November 14, 1946. Photo courtesy of Leah Halsall. |
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| Click image for larger view. Escort Officer Lt. Leah Halsall aboard the Lady Rodney enroute from Southampton to Halifax, November 13, 1946. Photo courtesy of Leah Halsall. |
August 31, 1946
"Amongst the prominent civilian passengers aboard is the Rt. Hon. WLM Mackenzie King, returning from the Paris Conference. During the voyage the Prime Minister has chatted to many of the brides and has been a familiar figure exercising on the deck. On the morning of 30 August, Mr. King, in a short speech of welcome congratulated the brides who won the hearts of Canadian soldiers, the men on their choice of brides, and Canada on the splendid addition being made to its citizenship."
When she wasn't on board the war bride ships, Kay worked at the Mostyn wives' hostel, one of several London hostels where war brides from all over the United Kingdom and the European continent stayed the night before departure to Canada. The Mostyn, as the Escort Officers called it, contained 750 beds, most of which had to be made every day when a draft of war brides and children were in residence. In addition to making beds, Escort Officers were expected to serve breakfast and supper to the brides and their children, which could be quite an experience with hundreds of toddlers underfoot.
In an interview Kay did with CBC broadcaster Joan Marshall of Moncton, Miss Marshall described a work day at the Mostyn brides' hostel:
Sometimes the Escort Officers would work straight through the night, especially if was just before a ship sailed and the hostel was full. On those days, the dining rooms would be crowded with tables and chairs, as close together as they could be, leaving just enough room for the Escort Officers to walk around. They would wait on the brides and children and it would be quite an adventure manouevering between the tables and picking their way over youngsters who inevitably wound up on the floor or the portieres. Then, when supper was over, they would clear away the dishes and put the chairs back and set the tables for breakfast.
As Kay's diary will attest, life as an Escort Officer was not all hard work. In between shi fts at the bride's hostels, they could hop on the tube and tour the many historic sights of London such as Buckingham Palace.
In the evenings, there was an endless list of things to do, all exciting and wonderfully overwhelming to young women like Kay from small towns across Canada. Shakespearean theatre, dates with British officers, or free seats in the Royal Family's private box were just some of the entertainments that were literally at their fingertips, and Kay never missed a chance to see it all! Escort Officers also had ample opportunity on their time off to travel throughout the United Kingdom and the continent, where they could visit European capitals such as Paris and Amsterdam, which had been inaccessible during the war years.
Kay's diary sounds like a virtual travel-guide to Europe, and at a time when the black-market was booming, she was able to swing more than one deal for the price of a pack of contraband cigarettes. On one such trip on October 1, 1946, Kay and some friends went on a delightful day trip through the Dutch countryside that included Vollendam, Delft, the Hague, Waaseaar, Lienden, Sassenheim, Lisse, Hillengom, Hemsted, Haarlem, Halfnneg, Amsterdam and Monnidendam. In her diary, Kay wrote:
October 1, 1946:
Beautiful day and beautiful weather. Lada, Merle, Jean, Isabel, Jeanette and ship's stewardess made up the party. The whole day cost us just 7 packages of cigarettes, In other words, 70 cents!.... Our trip today is one we will remember. On their last trip to the continent before returning to Canada in late October, 1946, Kay and two friends flew to London from Paris. From the plane, they could see the shores of France that only one year before, had been the site of the D-Day landings. Kay wrote:
October 21, 1946
France looked beautiful flying over it and at times we were high above the clouds and the sun shining on them made a beautiful picture. Shortly after leaving the coast of France, the shores of England came into view. Looking down at the Channel and the coast of France we tried to imagine what it must have looked like on D-Day. Landed at Norhol airport at 11:45. Breakfast in Paris and dinner in London.
Within days, Kay's nine-month odyssey came to an end when she boarded the bride ship Letitia for the very last time. A week later, the ship pulled in to Halifax Harbour and as the wives and their children disembarked, Kay and the other Escort Officers stayed on board waiting for their final orders. After nearly a year of working with the war brides on two continents, the ending was bittersweet. In her diary, Kay wrote:
November 2, 1946
Sighted land at breakfast. Can't believe it is our last time we will be pulling into Halifax. Red Cross came on board quite a while after we landed...They handed us a bill and a one- way ticket home. After going on nine months, it seemed a funny ending. Ironically, Kay's travels ended in the same place they began when she arrived at the Moncton train station the next day. Like a child returning to school after a glorious summer vacation, the thought that it was finally over must have been difficult to accept, but Kay took it all in stride.
Her final entry, dated November 3, 1946, speaks volumes of Kay's experiences that year and of the wonderful journey that she still calls, "the most exciting time of my life!":
November 3, 1946
No time for hated goodbyes or time to think this would be the last of the Letitia and the Escort Service. Waved goodbye to Merle and Lada at the station and I was on my way home for good. Mom, Dad, Bob, Uncle Tom and Stewart were down to meet me. Mom had a macaroni scallop ready for us and it seemed darn nice to be home!
This article was written by Melynda Jarratt
Click here for a complete list of the 94 Red Cross Escort Officers who worked with the Canadian War Brides between 1945 and 1947.
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