Pte E. Elizabeth Knowles Webb

Handsome Canadian Soldier-Meets-Pretty Scottish Lassie

It was during the terrible times of WWII when our parents met. Our dad, Wilfred Raymond Webb, born on Dec 14, 1918 in Bishopton, Quebec, was first stationed in England. It was at the time of the Blitz when Hitler bombed London, and he was among the soldiers who tried to help the citizens of a devastated city. He was then stationed in Scotland in the summer of 1943, where he met his future bride, Betty. Our mother, Elsie Elizabeth Knowles, was born on April 18, 1923 in Aberdeen, Scotland. She was at a dance at the Palais de Dance where our dad saw her from across the room and said, that was the woman he would marry. And he did, on June 23, 1944.

When the happy day came, our parents had only four days leave to get up to Aberdeen, get married, and then back to their units. Our mother was stationed on gun sites all over England to help plot the enemy course and forward information. They always moved at night to foul the soldiers. Our father shipped out to fight in Normandy, Germany, and Holland. You could say this was the best and worst time of his life. He had just gotten married, but then had to leave, not knowing when he would see his new bride again.

When the war was over, after being gone for five years, our dad came back to Canada first. He arrived in New York on a hospital ship in April 1945. Thankfully, he was not one of the wounded.

Our mother followed on March 6, 1946, arriving in Halifax among many War Brides on the ship "Mauretania". It was a rough journey taking seven long days. Mom said the only meal she missed was when she stood in line for chocolate and she still loves the sweet stuff to this day. It didn't take long after arriving to find out how enormous Canada was, and that she still had another few days on a train before seeing her husband again.

Our parents settled on a farm in Bishopton, Quebec, where this city girl who couldn't boil water, had a lot to learn, including handling animals such as cows, horses and pigs. She was afraid of all but the baby pigs, which were so cute. Here, for the first four years with no electricity or running water, they started their large family of seven children. Four of which were born on the farm. After eight years of living in the country, they sold the farm and moved into a house in the small town of East Angus, where they remained for the next twenty-four years. Gradually, one by one, everyone moved to Ontario, including our parents. And now so far these seven children have given them fifteen grand children and eight great grand children.

I think it took a lot of strength and courage for our mother to leave her family and come to a strange land. A land where she knew no one but her new husband, whom she had only seen once in nearly twenty-one months of marriage. It was also eighteen years before she saw her family in Scotland again, whom she missed dearly. Her Youngest, Donna, accompanied her on that trip and she celebrated her second birthday while in Scotland.

Our dad who passed away in May 2006, loved to play cards, as does our mother still. Whenever he won, he would tap his head and say "That was Technocracy". We had no idea what he meant, but thought it was a funny word.

We are very proud of our background and what our parents have accomplished. We would not change growing up in a small town for anything. Today's generation could learn a lot from the way our parents lived and the struggles they had.

Thanks Mom and Dad

Your loving Children

Beverly, Jo-Anne, Marshall, Deborah, Alan, David, and Donna.