Elinor Florence, Author

Bestselling Historical Fiction Author

I’ll Be Home For Christmas 1945

For hundreds of thousands of families around the world, Christmas 1945 marked the first holiday celebrated together after the long and lonely years of war.

Colourful illustration of the back of a serviceman's head and shoulders, wearing a brown uniform and cap, being embraced by a blonde woman on one side and a little blonde girl on the other side.

Although 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 was serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in India when the war ended, didn’t get home until the following spring. He spent Christmas 1945 in England, and always said it was the best Christmas of his life. Read his story here: My Dad’s Best Christmas: 1945.

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Christmas 1945 Homecoming

As millions of servicemen returned home, the newspapers were filled with images of happy reunions.

Here Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Moore is greeted by his wife Dorothy Dee Moore and seven-year-old daughter Nancy, while a young nephew looks on. This photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for The Omaha World-Herald. It was taken by Earle Bunker in the town of Villisca, Iowa, population 1,100.

A family beside a parked train shows a returning serviceman bending over and embracing a little girl in checked dress and pigtails, his wife in a light-coloured dress covering her face with her hands, while a little boy in striped overalls watches.

 

Children always played a big role in homecomings, even those who were too young to remember their fathers. This British baby looks absolutely delighted to be in his father’s arms! (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

A grinning British soldier with his kit bag over one shoulder holds his grinning baby in one arm, the baby wearing a knitted bonnet and shawl.

 

This American baby looks a little apprehensive about a strange man kissing his mother. Children were sometimes spoiled by their mothers while the men were away, and had a rude awakening when their dads got home!

A man kisses a woman passionately while holding a baby in one arm, the baby looking away with seeming indifference, while a sign in the background reads STATEN ISLAND TERMINAL.

 

This little guy doesn’t want his mother getting all the attention!

A pair of men's legs in uniform are in close proximity to a woman's legs in stockings and high heels as the pair embraces, while a little boy in jacket and cap clings to the man's leg and looks up at them.

 

This little boy John Murdoch looks thrilled, even though he wasn’t old enough to remember his father. British soldier Hector Murdoch arrived home on his birthday, after three years in Japanese captivity. John and his mother Rosina decorated the cottage with flags and signs to welcome him home.

A woman and a little boy rush down the front walk, their arms outstretched, toward a soldier in uniform carrying a kit bag, while their small house in the background has a Union Jack and a handmade sign reading WELCOME HOME HECTOR.

 

Another man who suffered terribly in a Japanese prison camp was Louis Zamperini of California, who hugs his mother while his sisters wait their turn in an emotional homecoming reunion. Zamperini spent more than two years being tortured. His story was told in the book Unbroken, and later made into a movie.

An American serviceman embraces an older woman while two other younger women look on, one of them smiling and one weeping, and two other servicemen watch from the background.

 

Russian soldiers, too, were excited to be home after a dreadful war in that country with an incredible loss of civilian life. Here this Soviet father rushes to greet his little girl, probably grateful that both had survived. Christmas 1945 would have been a happy one for this family.

A laughing Russian soldier in uniform opens his arms wide to greet a little girl in a flowered dress and bow in her hair rushing towards him, her arms outstretched.

 

German soldiers were equally welcomed by their loved ones. This is a wonderful photo capturing the excitement of a German woman who couldn’t contain her joy at having her soldier home again.

A German soldier in uniform is seen from behind, embracing a woman, and nothing is visible of the woman but her legs outflung on both sides of the soldier as he lifts her off the ground.

 

Lucky was the soldier whose girlfriend was loyal enough to spend years waiting for him, as did this one in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

An American soldier lifts his girlfriend off the ground as they passionately embrace outside a train station marked NEW HOPE while another smiling man and woman watch.

 

And here’s another touching image of a girl throwing herself on her British boyfriend. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

A woman in short jacket and checked skirt lifts one high-heeled foot off the floor as she embraces a returning serviceman in uniform carrying his kit bag.

 

Of course the first thing the servicemen wanted to do was to eat all their favourite home-cooked meals, like this British soldier. His wife is so glad to have him home that she is even cutting up his meat! (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Christmas 1945 — A man in uniform seated at a table holding a cup in one hand gazes lovingly at his wife, who is seated next to him, smiling back at him while she is cutting the food on his plate into pieces with her knife and fork.

 

The guys who didn’t have a wife or girlfriend waiting for them didn’t exactly suffer — they had plenty of attention from the opposite sex!

A returning serviceman is seated in an open vehicle with his hands on the steering wheel while a young woman with flowers in her hair smothers him with kisses, his face covered with lipstick kisses, while a bevy of pretty girls watch and wait their turn.

 

Servicewomen, too, returned to Canada and the United States and other far-flung countries. This photograph shows members of the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division relaxing on deck as they sailed home to Canada. Nancy Lee of Edgewater, British Columbia, is the second from the left.

Read Nancy’s fascinating story about driving a three-ton truck for Bomber Command in Yorkshire here: RCAF Rancherette Blazed the Trail.

Christmas 1945 — A row of women, some wearing Royal Canadian Air Force uniforms and others in civilian clothes, lounge in a row of deck chairs on a ship, their laps covered with blankets, all smiling at the camera as they sail back home to Canada.

 

Graphic artists loved to use sentimental images of the men coming home. They were featured heavily in advertisements, like this Back Home for Keeps illustration. In this case it is advertising a new home, for all those newlyweds who were longing to start their new families — hence the Baby Boom, which was probably well underway by Christmas 1945!

A coloured advertisement for a real estate company shows an illustration of a young man in uniform embracing a pretty girl in a green dress with the headline BACK HOME FOR KEEPS.

 

Nobody could create a sentimental illustration like the American artist Norman Rockwell, who kept up a steady flow of images throughout the war. Here’s his famous magazine cover called The Homecoming, showing the entire neighbourhood welcoming home their native son.

Norman Rockwell illustration titled The Homecoming shows a young soldier standing outside a brick tenement building while his mother runs toward him with her arms outstretched and a number of adults and children watch, cheering and laughing.

 

It wasn’t just men who returned home – British children who had been evacuated to the countryside and even as far away as Canada and Australia came home to their families. This photograph shows the joy on everyone’s faces as they are reunited at last. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Children wearing overcoats and caps rush toward a crowd of men and women waiting on a railway platform, all smiling and cheering with their arms outstretched to greet each other.

 

There are numerous stories about returning servicemen being met by their family pets — and even animals they had met overseas. After the war, soldiers who fell in love with dogs while fighting in Europe hated leaving them behind, so the Blue Cross set up quarantine kennels to bring them back to the United Kingdom. Here a sailor greets his dog. (Photo Credit: Blue Cross)

A sailor in uniform squats on the pavement to embrace his shaggy dog, while a young girl in a dress and rubber boots smiles as she also pets the dog.

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STAR WEEKLY AT WAR

The Star Weekly was a Canadian newsmagazine published by the Toronto Star. During the Second World War, a colour illustration with a wartime theme appeared on the cover each week.  This one shows wife, daughter, son, and family dog embracing the returning Canadian soldier – who brought home a German helmet as a souvenir! See my entire collection of Star Weekly covers here: Star Weekly at War.

Star Weekly magazine cover dated August 18, 1945 has illustration of smiling soldier hugging his blonde wife in a red dress and hat, while a little boy, a little girl, and a dog all cluster around him, he has a German helmet with a swastika hanging on one arm.

About Elinor Florence<br>

Letters From Windermere

I’m a lover of history and all things vintage. My passion for the past is reflected in my novels, my collections, my travels, my home on Lake Windermere, and the monthly letter that I have been sending to my dear followers for the past eleven years. You are warmly invited to join my list. I don’t ask for anything but your email address. However, you are welcome to tell me something about yourself because I love hearing from my readers.
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Lest We Forget

While researching my wartime novel Bird’s Eye View, I interviewed people who lived through the greatest conflict the world has ever known, both on the home front and overseas.
I uncovered some truly inspirational stories, indexed here by subject.
Please feel free to read, reflect, and share.
Please Note: All stories and photos are copyrighted to Elinor Florence unless otherwise indicated. You are welcome to copy and share them as long as you give me proper credit.

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