The latest edition of Marie Donais Calder’s Other Side series pays tribute to the war brides who came to Canada following the Second World War.
The Other Side of Adventure is book No. 21 in the Other Side series. This edition continues to share the experiences of Donais Calder’s father Ed Donais, while he was stationed in Germany in 1946 after the Second World War. It also tells the stories of his wife, Frances, as she looks after their family in Alida.
But it also tells the stories of two war brides, Jeanne Perry of Estevan and Olive Amos of Redvers.
Perry was from Wales, and met Allan Perry during the Second World War. They were married, and in 1946, Jeanne Perry immigrated to Canada. At that point, they already a daughter, Sheila.
“Allan was waiting for her here,” said Donais Calder.
Jeanne and Allan Perry raised a family in Estevan, and she was involved with many aspects of life in the community.
Amos was from England and met Gordon Amos from Oxbow during the war. They were married in England, and she was 19 years old when she came to Canada.
“She didn’t know a soul, other than Gordon, and she located from a city in England to a farm in the Oxbow area,” said Donais Calder. “It was very difficult for her.”
They moved to a farm in the Redvers area in the 1960s. Donais Calder noted she became very close with Amos.
“It was my pleasure to be able to write about her and to honour her,” said Donais Calder.
While Donais Calder didn’t know Perry as well, she did meet her, and has friends in the Perry family.
In The Other Side of Adventure, Perry and Amos sail across the Atlantic Ocean from England to Canada. They faced many challenges together, Donais Calder said, and became very close in quick fashion.
“I think that happened to a lot of our war brides,” said Donais Calder. “They had to reach out to each other, since they were virtually on their own, and frightened and lonely. All of those emotions would have played into this.”
War brides overcame these obstacles, and Donais Calder believes their contributions to Canada should be celebrated.
“They stayed true. They didn’t turn around and run home. It wasn’t like they could pick up the telephone and call back home and talk to mom and dad,” said Donais Calder. “That wasn’t even possible. And yet they had strength and courage.”
Donais Calder noted she was also married at age 19, and moved to Medicine Hat, Alta. But she could call her mother back in Redvers if she was homesick.
“It was conceivable for my husband and I to get in the car and drive back to Redvers, so this makes me all the more appreciative of what these war brides experienced,” said Donais Calder. “They persevered and they went on with their lives and became wonderful wives and mothers and neighbours and friends, and I’m not sure if I could have done that in their shoes.”
Donais Calder was able to bring the stories together through her interactions with Amos and through Perry’s memoirs.
Amid all of the celebrations that are taking place this year for Canada’s 150th birthday, Donais Calder believes it is important to celebrate Canada’s war brides.
Olive and Gordon Amos are on the front cover of The Other Side of Adventure. Jeanne and Allan Perry will be on the front cover of the next book.
Donais Calder noted book No. 22 will share their journey from Halifax to southeast Saskatchewan.
