SECOND WORLD WAR
Migrations, Marriages and Memories

1: “So, Let Me Tell You About . . .” (HISTORICAL WRITING/STORYTELLING)

Many NOFU members spent more than six years in the United Kingdom and hundreds of them were wed during that time. Some foresters who married Scottish women became UK citizens and went on to make a new life in a new country. Research one such couple and tell their story.

2: 800? That’s a Big Number! (WRITING)

Most members of the NOFU who wed in the UK returned to Newfoundland or Labrador with their war brides. In fact, it is estimated that as many as 800 war brides from Europe married Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who had served overseas and made the Dominion of Newfoundland their new home. Identify a woman who married a forester, such as Mary Gardner who wed William B. Sooley of Heart’s Delight. Share their life story through a poem, artwork, essay or speech.

3: Reflect—Feel—Share (SPOKEN WORD/JOURNAL)

View the Land and Sea episode, “The Women Who Crossed an Ocean” (https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1.2602525). Create an audio journal in which you discuss your feelings about the stories shared in this episode.

4: 76–76–83 (MODEL BUILDING)

The Newfoundland foresters in Scotland have a multi-thread history when it comes to love. By the end of the war, it was estimated that 350 NOFU men had married Scottish women and had 400 children. On one afternoon alone—in August 1946—76 foresters, 76 wives and 83 children disembarked from the Swedish repatriation ship SS Drottningholm at St. John’s. Build a 3-D model of this ship (digitally or non-digitally).

5: (Un)Successful in Love (PHOTO ESSAY)

Create a picture book of the voyage of the SS Drottningholm in 1946. Use history and your imagination. What stories might you include? Consider “successful” and “unsuccessful” love stories—about, for example, the people who were embarking on a new life as a couple, as well as those whose hearts had been broken.

6: Memory Wall (HISTORICAL NARRATIVE)

Do some research to discover if there were any Indigenous foresters who returned to the island of Newfoundland or Labrador after the Second World War. Present your findings. Here is one resource you can consult: https://qalipu.ca/indigenous-veterans-memorial-wall/.

7: Daniel & Elizabeth: A Love Story (SCREENWRITING/FILMMAKING)

Create a movie trailer for a NOFU forester/war bride love story, such as that of Daniel Kelly (NOFU #1448) and Elizabeth (Mulliadh) Ormiston Kelly.