Pier Perspectives Blog

  • Colour-Coded Quarantine and a Boy at Play

    British evacuee child, Keith Alan Freeman made the best of his wartime quarantine experience.

    His story starts with words that I hope children today will echo when they grow up and think about these challenging days.

  • No eggs or butter? Baking during difficult times is nothing new.

    During the Second World War and reconstruction period, the Canadian Government wanted to fulfill its commitments to England by providing a vast quantity of food supplies for troops and civilians. Therefore, from 1942 to 1947, a system that was completely new to Canadians: rationing was imposed.

  • How a Chicken Pox Quarantine Brought one Family to Canada

    Canada would have lost Margarita Bruehler nee Sosnowsky to Paraguay if her brother hadn’t come down with the chickenpox.

    Margarita’s early childhood memories are dominated by her family’s escape from Russia in 1943 and life in the battleground of German occupied Europe.

  • Quarantined on the Journey Over to Canada

    Being quarantined while travelling to Halifax with her baby was frightening for British war bride Audrey (Hawes) Doyle Ash. Audrey was onboard the Queen Mary when she and Patrick were put into isolation with others.

  • Finding Humour and Strengthening the Family Bond During Quarantine

    Herman Blom had secured a job as a welder in Saskatoon and the family was on their way, but their brief quarantine left him jobless.