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War Brides

During the war, some soldiers serving overseas fell in love and married European women they had met. In 1940 alone, 1,221 Canadian soldiers and airmen had married while serving in Europe. While the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Navy had no restrictions on marriage, the Army tried to discourage marriage by having the enlisted men and officers ask for permission to marry. By the end of 1946, almost 50,000 Canadian soldiers and airmen had entered into service marriages. Most of the 'war brides' were British, but Dutch, Belgians, Italians, Danes and even Germans married service men and women. For some, the trip across the Atlantic was tough physically and emotionally and the adjustment to life in Canada was difficult. Between 1944 and 1946, 62 000 members of service families came to Canada.