Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Dryer, Violet
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Violet Remnant
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1927-present
History
Violet Remnant was a 16 year old shop assistant in Wrecclesham, Surrey, not far from the Canadian Army Base in Aldershot, when she first met Arnold Dryer at a dance in the village hall. Arnold's squadron was billeted nearby in the Village of Rowledge. When his squadron moved, they began a correspondence which lasted throughout the war.
At 18, Vi joined the Air Force, working as a clerk in RAF records in Gloucestershire. When the war ended, they were afraid that Arnold would be drafted home, so with four days notice they planned a wedding. Vi purchased a royal blue dress for her wedding and a tweed going-away suit with clothing coupons because war rations were still on. Her mother used her coupons to buy Arnold some dress shoes because all he had was army boots.
After the marriage, Arnold was indeed sent back to Canada, and he returned to farming in the Hermit Lake area west of Grande Prairie. Vi waited for permission from the Canadian Wives Bureau to join him. She was discharged from the Air Force and put in time helping at the local post office. She had to be ready to go with only a couple of days notice.
In June 1946 she sailed on the Aquatania with another bride bound for Grande Prairie, Betty Eskdale. Her sister-in-law, Mrs. Robert Dryer, sailed at the same time, but on a ship of wives with babies. The war brides were processed through immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, and from there took a train across Canada. Vi arrived in Grande Prairie on July 4th, to be greeted by the entire Dryer family.
The event was recorded by the Daily Herald-Tribune with a front page article with the headline, "Three War Brides Arrive in Grande Prairie." Neighbours also welcomed the bride with a wedding shower, and the young couple settled down to farming in the Peace Country. Although Vi was "homesick off and on" over the next year, she enjoyed farm life and the many good neighbours.
Places
Wrecclesham, Surrey, England
Grande Prairie, Alberta
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
Wife of Arnold Dryer
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
South Peace Regional Archives
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final
Level of detail
Partial
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Description created by TD on April 22, 2015.
Language(s)
- English