Bill and Jo Hawkins

When I married my husband, Flt Sgt. William (Bill) Hawkins, a Canadian on June 24th 1944, little did I realize what vast changes would take place in my life. Gradually it dawned on me that I would actually be leaving the little town of Chingford Essex, the town where I had been born, to travel across an ocean to a place called Canada. Barely heard of by me at that time of my life.

As the months passed, forms started to arrive from the High commissioner for Canada Office in London, travel certificates, immigration identification cards, passport applications and permits in general for just about everything you could think of, even one from the Foreign Office. Then came the time to start the packing up of all my worldly goods. My Mother produced an ancient trunk from somewhere and we acquired a smaller suitcase for me to be able to carry with me on my travels.

Finally departure day arrived. My trunk had gone on ahead and I just had my one piece of luggage to carry. I remember my Mother and I walking the short distance to our local train station where the train would take me up to London. It must have been very difficult time for my Mother, her youngest daughter to be leaving to go so very far away. I have thought of her many times since, walking back to an empty house by herself.

For me the adventure had just begun. I was met at Liverpool station by one of the many volunteer women who donated their time to help the wives and dependants of service men to reach their destinations. In London we changed stations and boarded a train at Kings Cross to head north to Glasgow where our ship would be waiting. We traveled at night time in total darkness, at that time we were not told where we were going and again the volunteers were with us. Finally as daylight arrived we reached our destination. Then transferred onto the tender and ferried out to the ship in the harbor. The Ocean Liner Aquitania that was to be our home for the next seven days. What a wonderful surprise it was for me to find my husband waiting for me at the top of the gangplank. It is a moment I shall always cherish.

The next seven days we spent at sea are now somewhat misted in time. I remember the cabin was packed tight with double bunks, no room for anything and no room for walking around. I remember a bath tub full of hot salty water that sloshed over as the ship rolled. The main dining room with long trestle tables covered in white cloths and always lots of white bread and dishes of real butter. I remember the weather was just about as bad as it could be, the ship pitched and rolled and the rains came down. Very few people made the dining room as the days went by. Fortunately I was one of the lucky ones who turned out to be a good sailor. Not so fortunate was my poor husband down on "E" deck, he was very unhappy. We lost the windows in our cabin and were flooded out, great trouble finding new quarters so everyone had to move over a little closer. But, we survived and finally sailed into Halifax Harbour to be told that we had been followed closely by submarines.

I have vague memories of finding my luggage in the "Pier 21" and then somehow I was on a train heading for Montreal and being met at that station by a man who turned out to be my father-in-law. He was always my friend from then on. Then to Ottawa where my husband and I stayed until we could decided where and what we were to do with our lives.

I have had a wonderful life in Canada. We have traveled across the country many times and it always presents a new experience for us to enjoy. I have always been glad I married that young man so many years ago.