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I was born in Birmingham, England at the close of the
Second World War. My father, Rodgie Stewart (born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan),
was an instructor pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was sent
to England in 1940 to train pilots overseas. My mother, Betty, was
raised in Birmingham, and at the age of 19, joined the English Air
Force as an office clerk. My father returned to Canada in the fall of 1945 while
my mother and I remained with my grandmother in Birmingham. In August
of 1946, my mother and I immigrated to Canada on the ship, the "Queen
Mary", docking in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We then traveled by train
to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where we once again joined my father. |
The "Queen Mary" carried many English war brides who left all that was dear to them back in England to embark on a new life with their Canadian husbands. My own mother was only 23 years of age and bid goodbye to her mother and six brothers and sisters, taking a giant leap of faith into the unknown. She never saw her family again. However, she always commented she did not regret coming to Canada and that my father was well worth her decision to leave all that was familiar to her in the country of her birth. |
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I am about three years old in this picture, which was taken in a photograph studio in Winnipeg in 1948. |
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| Ann at age 15 (1960). | Ann & John on their wedding day September 28, 1979 |
Weddings Past and Present - an interesting web site in the U.K.
The Early Years - 2000 - 2001-
2002
She
and my father met one another on an aerodrome near Chester, England,
and were married in April of 1944.