1x1 Films of Vancouver, B.C., has announced that they are raising money for a film documentary about warbrides, based on Most Excellent Citizens.

For further information, esp. for how you might contribute, see 1x1 Films' fundraising page:

Click here for Indiegogo

Watch this space for how the documentary proceeds.......

Follow the link to see "ESWYN'S ALPINES" cared for by Eswyn's Alpine Caretakers.

From her son Terry: "Sun beamed down as we cut the ribbon and unveiled the plaque in Nanoose. Pictures of the attached. Thanks to Achinback for a fine plaque. The link below is to my effort at making a blog for our leisurely trans-Canada excursion which starts NOW!"

Click here for Eswyn's Alpine Caretakers

Terry

MOST EXCELLENT CITIZENS
Canada’s War Brides of World War 2
by Eswyn Lyster.

This amazing story of young, brave English war brides ought to be a prime source for those interested in Womens Studies, World War 2 and the story of new immigrants.

Eswyn Lyster tells a poignant, sad and often hilarious story of young women in love. There is a mass of information here about the regular life of regualr working people whose lives were revolutionized by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Canada and American military in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s.

Eswyn took seventeen years to research and verify these stories of young women who met Canadian soldiers, fell in love, got married and at the end of the war moved to a new world. These stories include Eswyn’s and it is her voice, her zest and her wit that make this book notable. It is not a dry recitation of the facts, it is a series of vignettes told by many women, including Eswyn’s, that make this valuable.

This book is divided into two main sections. One, the arrival of the soldiers and the meetings with the young women. And the varied parental responses. The other section is about the departure to an unknown country, the arrival there and subsequent shock.

There is a third, shorter section, which is the most doucmentary, about the war brides of other nations.

This book is about powerful women who were pioneers. They were immigrants - nearly 50,000 women with 25,000 children - who came to Canada in about 5 years. Eswyn shows their emotional and physcial strength as they struggle to get to Canada and as they struggle to make new homes in a foreign, sometimes hostile, new land where the language and customs were often baffling.

Most of therse women were successful. Their marriages survived, their children thrived and their grand children were plentiful. Some didn’t make the transition and returned alone to England. Being uprooted is not easy, but many women like Eswyn had the ‘grit’ to make it work.

MOST EXCELLENT CITIZENS is a warm and loving testament that, to paraphrase Shakespeare, “doesn’t leave out the color of her hair.”

Hi Terry,

I just cannot believe the research your Mother put into the book. I found it extremely interesting as I was in London until January 1945.

We are quite honoured to be on the front cover and hope it will help the sale of the book. I am sending one to my sister in London as her name is in the book and being only two when we were bombed out she doesn't know anything about what really happened in London. She and my Mother were extremely lucky to be under some stairs when four bombs fell in our street and neither my Mother or Dallas were injured, although they were covered in debris and Dallas looked like a black baby.

It is sad that your Mom did not live to see the book published but I know she would have been very satisfied with her work. Thank you so much for sending it to me.

Joan

Most Excellent Citizens: Canada’s War Brides of World War II (Paperback)
I assisted Eswyn Lyster on an earlier draft of Most Excellent Citizens and spent 10 wonderful days with her in Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island in the spring of 2007. Although she did not live to see the book in print, she would be extremely proud of the final product.

Simply put, Most Excellent Citizens is an excellent book. It is a wonderful read, full of new and interesting War Bride stories, names and histories that even I had never heard of in nearly 25 years of documenting the Canadian War Bride experience.

Eswyn's own story is woven throughout the chapters and she recalls her own experiences as she grows into a responsible young woman in the midst of World War Two, joins the WRNS and marries a Canadian serviceman. I can see her, throwing back the blackout curtains on the morning of June 6, 1944 to see the skies darkened with hundreds of Allied planes on their way to France. There are dozens of photos, and sidebars full of useful and fascinating information. Of interest to the children of War Brides, the book also contains a map which shows the many Canadian haunts in London, from the Beaver Club and the Maple Leaf Club to the War Brides hostels and even the location of the Wives Bureau.

Eswyn began writing Most Excellent Citizens in the early 1990s. She battled cancer, a stroke and failing eyesight to complete it before passing away last July. The book is a testament to Eswyn's tenacity, scholarship and writing skills that she was able to pull it off - a lesser person would have given up long ago, but they weren't Eswyn Lyster.

Most Excellent Citizens stands out among all the War Brides books that have been written thus far, including my own two on the subject, and I encourage everyone who is interested in the Canadian (and American) War Bride story to read it.