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Elinor Florence (Company name) Elinor Florence

Bestselling Historical Fiction Author

Wartime Art, Photography, Books, Music

Emmett Watson was a First World War veteran and talented illustrator who created many inspirational cover images for the wartime Toronto Star Weekly magazine.

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The Star Weekly artists who created these beautiful Toronto Star covers have been mostly forgotten, so it was a delightful surprise to hear from a woman whose great-aunt, Elizabeth Cutler, was a regular contributor to the magazine. Sheree Meyer of Orlando, Florida shared with me her memories of her talented Great-Aunt Betty.   The Inside […]

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A case of mistaken identity thwarted Jim Milne’s plans to fly against the enemy, so he spent the war in Canada as a navigation instructor instead. When not on duty, he sketched some very amusing cartoons in his flying logbook! Now 97, Jim Milne lives with his wife Betty in the pretty mountain resort of […]

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A treasure trove of photographs showing members of the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division performing their wartime duties has fallen into my hands. Although women weren’t allowed to fly or to engage in combat during the war, they filled many other valuable roles and these photographs show them hard at work. People often ask […]

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The Christmas season was especially lonely for the homesick men and women serving overseas in wartime, as well as their families on the home front. Here are just a few examples of the many thousands of Christmas cards and letters that winged their way between loved ones in both world wars. When I went searching for images […]

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Ruth Owen Whitelegg of Brantford, Ontario, trained as a photographer for the Royal Canadian Air Force and served at RCAF Centralia, Ontario, during World War Two. Her photo album gives us a fascinating glimpse into wartime history, crammed with snapshots of life on a Canadian air training base. Ruth was born on March 12, 1925 to parents […]

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Because my focus is on women’s lives during World War Two, I’m always delighted to unearth little-known stories about their adventures. Here are four of the best.   MARGARET HERMESTON This petite photographer achieved monumental significance by becoming the first female photographer in the Canadian Army. Her name was Sgt. Karen Margaret Hermeston of the Canadian Women’s Army […]

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For hundreds of thousands of families around the world, 1945 marked the first happy Christmas celebrated together after the sad and lonely years of war. After the war ended in May 1945, it took months to transport all those men and women home again, and some didn’t arrive until just before Christmas. My own father, who […]

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Georgina Harvey’s RCAF photo album reveals a fascinating slice of life in the wartime air force, compiled by a young woman from a well-known family in Kelowna, British Columbia who joined up in 1943 and trained as a photographer. Georgina Harvey was born in Kelowna to the distinguished Harvey family, still a well-known name in that community. […]

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Seventy-two years after my uncle RCAF pilot trainee Alan Light died in a training accident, I discovered a dramatic oil painting that shows the last moments of his life.

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