Photo supplied.
War time photo of Joan (Savage) Cowey in her Auxiliary Territorial Service uniform.
The second of four children, Joan was born in 1924 in a small cottage on the Bylsborough Estate near the village of Henfield, West Sussex.
During the war, the south coast of England was dotted with camps filled with Canadian soldiers preparing to fight in Europe. Every village sponsored recreational activities for the soldiers, and Joan and her girlfriend loved to go to the dances and meet soldiers many of whom were only a few years older.
Almost half of the men from the village of Henfield were killed or imprisoned at the battle at Dunkirk, inspiring Joan to help somehow in the war effort. In 1941, Winston Churchill decided to conscript women, aged 18 and older into the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1942 on her 18th birthday, Joan went to Brighton with her best friend and enlisted. Not content to service trucks, work in the war offices or be a chauffeur, she signed up to become a gun sighter on anti-aircraft guns. The training was rigorous; she had to recognize all of the enemy planes by shape and sound. She excelled.
While stationed near Sheffield, England she met Private Cecil Cowey who was with the 66 Canadian General Transport Company at a soldiers’ recreation hall. They kept in touch by mail even after Cecil and his company left for Normandy after D-Day.
Joan volunteered for duty in Belgium after the country had been liberated and was stationed in Wilrijk to protect the port of Antwerp where the contingent suffered many bomb strikes, killing and wounding many of Joan’s comrades. Whenever opportunities arose, Joan hitched rides with American and Canadian transport drivers to meet up with Cecil who was also in Belgium.
At the end of the war, Cecil gained permission from his commanding officer to marry Joan and the couple was married on December 20, 1945, in Worthing, Sussex, where her family had moved. She had not seen them for three years.
Almost immediately, Cecil was shipped back to Canada, leaving Joan behind. Finally, in August 1946, Joan got the word and with 24 hours to pack and say her goodbyes, she boarded the Queen Mary at Southampton, joining thousands of other war brides and their young children.
Cecil met her in Belleville and drove her to his mother’s house in Peterborough. The couple shared the house with Cecil’s sister and mother, but they received a somber welcome. Cecil’s father, who had worked at General Electric, had recently suffered a heart attack and died. His mother and two of his sisters were not pleased that Cecil had married a “foreigner” and neither was his girlfriend from Vernonville, where the family had a second home. Cecil’s mother wanted her son to take over the family homestead in Vernonville, but after one visit, Joan would have nothing to do with it. They found an apartment in Peterborough and Cecil continued to work at the De Laval Company. They had their first of nine children in 1947.
Joan would often walk uptown with her youngest children in tow, and as luck would have it, she began to meet other War Brides over cups of tea. Their accents were their calling cards. These women became her support group.
A widow since 1989, at age 94, Joan now lives in Fairhaven. Fortunately, the family was able to get her to Pontypool recently for a War Brides recognition ceremony. She smiles every time it is mentioned. It was a highlight for her. KG
