What do you think?
Rate this book
Captured Hearts: New Brunswick's War Brides
Imagine you're a young woman caught up in the ugly reality of war. You meet and fall in love with a young soldier from a foreign country. You marry and your world is upended: when the war ends, you leave all you've ever known behind - your family, friends, and way of life - to begin a new life in Canada.
This is the story of hundreds of women who made their way to New Brunswick at the end of the Second World War. Between 1942 and 1948, young women from all over Europe came to this part of Canada with their servicemen husbands. Some married Aboriginal New Brunswickers; others married French-speaking Acadians; still others married New Brunswickers of British descent. In this compelling volume, wives, widows, fiancées, and those who and returned to Europe after failed marriages tell compelling stories of prejudice, perseverance, kindness, hope, defeat and triumph.
Captured Hearts is volume 12 in the New Brunswick Military History Series.
This is the story of hundreds of women who made their way to New Brunswick at the end of the Second World War. Between 1942 and 1948, young women from all over Europe came to this part of Canada with their servicemen husbands. Some married Aboriginal New Brunswickers; others married French-speaking Acadians; still others married New Brunswickers of British descent. In this compelling volume, wives, widows, fiancées, and those who and returned to Europe after failed marriages tell compelling stories of prejudice, perseverance, kindness, hope, defeat and triumph.
Captured Hearts is volume 12 in the New Brunswick Military History Series.
- GenresCanada
148 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2008
32 people want to read
About the author
Melynda Jarratt
4 books3 followers Melynda Jarratt is the leading authority on the history of the Canadian war brides of the Second World War. Originally from Bathurst, Melynda has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Master of Arts in History from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. She wrote her Master's Thesis on the New Brunswick war brides of the Second World War and has continued to document their story for more than twenty years. Melynda also has a diploma in Digital Media and Design and runs her own information technology company in Fredericton specializing in heritage, arts, and culture. She runs the authoritative website on the history of the Canadian war brides at www.CanadianWarBrides.com.
Melynda has written extensively on the history of war brides for print, television, radio, and internet media. She has worked as consultant for the Queen Mary II History of Cunard Exhibition, Statistics Canada Portraits of Canada, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Canada Post. She has appeared in television and radio documentaries as subject-matter expert for History Television, Radio-Canada, TFO, CBC, and BBC-Radio 4. She is the co-author of Voices of the Left Behind (Dundurn 2006) and War Brides: The stories of the women who left everything behind to follow the men they loved (Tempus 2007). Melynda was the driving force behind the Year of the War Bride in 2006 and organized its 60th anniversary launch at Pier 21 on February 9, 2006. She also curated an exhibition on New Brunswick war brides at the York Sunbury Museum in Fredericton. She has appeared six times before the Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and the Senate Committee on Science and Social Affairs as an expert witness on war bride citizenship. She played a leading role in the passage of the "Lost Canadians" Bill C-37 in April, 2008. She lives in Fredericton with her husband, Dan Weston.
Melynda has written extensively on the history of war brides for print, television, radio, and internet media. She has worked as consultant for the Queen Mary II History of Cunard Exhibition, Statistics Canada Portraits of Canada, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Canada Post. She has appeared in television and radio documentaries as subject-matter expert for History Television, Radio-Canada, TFO, CBC, and BBC-Radio 4. She is the co-author of Voices of the Left Behind (Dundurn 2006) and War Brides: The stories of the women who left everything behind to follow the men they loved (Tempus 2007). Melynda was the driving force behind the Year of the War Bride in 2006 and organized its 60th anniversary launch at Pier 21 on February 9, 2006. She also curated an exhibition on New Brunswick war brides at the York Sunbury Museum in Fredericton. She has appeared six times before the Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and the Senate Committee on Science and Social Affairs as an expert witness on war bride citizenship. She played a leading role in the passage of the "Lost Canadians" Bill C-37 in April, 2008. She lives in Fredericton with her husband, Dan Weston.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 4, 2020
Of course this gets 5 stars from me. My grandmother is in it. 😏🧡
May 25, 2016
This was a great little read on some history from my home province!! I enjoyed it, and learned some things I never knew before!
January 1, 2019
During World War II, there were many Canadians soldiers stationed overseas. It was a time for living for the moment and during off-time there was no end to the possibilities for fun and romance.
As months passed and the number of weddings increased, both British and Canadian authorities started getting concerned that too many marriages were being done in haste so the rules made tougher. The soldiers had to fill out a "Permission to Marry" form and have it endorsed by their commanding officer. If the bride and groom were under 21, they had to get their parents' written permission. The bride-to-be had to get a letter of recommendation from her employer and take a medical from a Canadian military-approved doctor. They also had to be interviewed by the padre of the soldier's unit to see if they fully understood the implications of marriage.
When the war ended in 1945, the first priority was to bring the soldiers home to Canada and the transportation of the war brides and their children had to wait until the next year. A survey done in 1947 used New Brunswick as a "typical example" and determined there had been 1,820 marriages between New Brunswick soldiers and their war brides and that 1,760 wives were still in the province (only two had returned overseas and obtained divorces).
When many of the war brides arrived in New Brunswick, they discovered that life wasn't what they had been used to or expecting ... no running water, no electricity, outhouses, hard rural lives, they didn't speak the language (ie French), etc. Many stayed and grew to love it while others stayed because they had no choice.
I'd read "War Brides" by this author and liked it. That book was a collection of stories of Canada's war brides ... some of the stories were told by the brides themselves, others by children or grandchildren. This book focuses on New Brunswick. I liked this book too and found it interesting ... it's hard to imagine what it was like during that time and being a war bride.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2019/01...
As months passed and the number of weddings increased, both British and Canadian authorities started getting concerned that too many marriages were being done in haste so the rules made tougher. The soldiers had to fill out a "Permission to Marry" form and have it endorsed by their commanding officer. If the bride and groom were under 21, they had to get their parents' written permission. The bride-to-be had to get a letter of recommendation from her employer and take a medical from a Canadian military-approved doctor. They also had to be interviewed by the padre of the soldier's unit to see if they fully understood the implications of marriage.
When the war ended in 1945, the first priority was to bring the soldiers home to Canada and the transportation of the war brides and their children had to wait until the next year. A survey done in 1947 used New Brunswick as a "typical example" and determined there had been 1,820 marriages between New Brunswick soldiers and their war brides and that 1,760 wives were still in the province (only two had returned overseas and obtained divorces).
When many of the war brides arrived in New Brunswick, they discovered that life wasn't what they had been used to or expecting ... no running water, no electricity, outhouses, hard rural lives, they didn't speak the language (ie French), etc. Many stayed and grew to love it while others stayed because they had no choice.
I'd read "War Brides" by this author and liked it. That book was a collection of stories of Canada's war brides ... some of the stories were told by the brides themselves, others by children or grandchildren. This book focuses on New Brunswick. I liked this book too and found it interesting ... it's hard to imagine what it was like during that time and being a war bride.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2019/01...
April 24, 2025
Please excuse the cheesy title of this one. It's actually a pretty interesting non-fiction account of a few of the thousands of women who married Canadian soldiers during WW2. I had no idea there were so many of these women. Young men who suddenly found themselves in war-torn countries, combined with young women left behind in those places, added up to produce a whole generation of unusual new families. The government of Canada had a whole department in charge of the care and transportation of the wives and children of their servicemen. This book gives the facts and figures, but also a few stories and some photos to bring it all to life.
July 31, 2019
This is a really good “snap shot” about War Brides. If you are interested at all in the ya next, definitely add this to your reading list.
November 19, 2015
The tiniest bit scholarly and repetitive, but this is true to life military families. Loved the stories from the brides. Definitely worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews