A wartime scrapbook kept by Alice Spackman of Okotoks, Alberta, stuffed with letters, photographs and clippings, is the foundation for a new book titled She Made Them Family. It’s a fascinating glimpse of life in a small prairie town during World War Two. I became acquainted with Anne Gafiuk of Calgary through our mutual love of […]
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There’s a reason why it’s called The Greatest Generation – and Yvonne Valleau Wildman of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, aged 92, is a shining example. She had a hardscrabble childhood, served her country with the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War Two, farmed for six decades, and raised seven children. I was first contacted by Yvonne’s […]
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Georgina Harvey was a young woman from a well-known family in Kelowna, British Columbia, when she joined the air force in 1943 and trained as a photographer. Her photo album reveals a fascinating slice of life in uniform. Georgina Harvey was born in Kelowna to the distinguished Harvey family, still a well-known name in that community. The stately brick house where […]
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When I began to research my wartime novel about an aerial photo interpreter in the Second World War, the woman who made the most impact – not only on my book, but on the world we live in today – was the brilliant, beautiful Constance Babington Smith. (My wartime novel Bird’s Eye View is fact-based fiction, the story of […]
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Danesfield House is now a luxury hotel, but during the war it was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force, renamed RAF Medmenham, and served as the headquarters for aerial photographic interpretation. It has personal meaning for me, too. My wartime novel Bird’s Eye View is fact-based fiction, the story of a Canadian woman who works at RAF Medmenham as a photo […]
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Lou Marr called herself “the original turnip who fell off the back of the truck” when she joined the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division and became a photographer. The job demanded hard work, but it also allowed her to fly right along with the men in training. For this farm girl, it was the thrill […]
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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. It was a lovely summer evening on June 5th, 1942. At seven o’clock, the sun was still high in the sky. RCAF Leading Aircraftsman Alan Scott Light was taking his bright […]
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After reading about my love for the old Star Weekly magazine, a local collector of all things vintage named Ken Hatt lent me eight original wartime issues for my reading pleasure! Here’s a peek inside. Ken Hatt of Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia is an inveterate collector who owns numerous vintage magazines, including eight Star […]
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Was there ever a period in history when romance was so exciting, so terrifying, and yet so wonderful as during wartime? The men were so handsome in their uniforms, and the women so desireable. No wonder thousands of passionate love affairs and wartime weddings took place during those heady years. Here are photographs of some […]
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Homesick servicemen found comfort and community in church during the war years, especially at Christmas time. And after the war ended, hundreds of churches both large and small installed stained glass windows to thank their defenders. This lovely example erected in the Welsh town of Pembroke Dock features the badges of units from the British […]
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