Wonderful wartime weddings

War had its happy moments, too - among them the excitement of falling in love and marrying the boy or girl of your dreams. Check out these fabulous wartime wedding photos on my blog today.

http://www.elinorflorence.com/blog/wartime-weddings

 

You might be interested on this thread: http://www.ww2f.com/topic/29305-ww2-wedding-day-pics-of-soldiers-nicer-times-it-would-seem/?hl=%2Bolive+%2Bcochrane#entry358245

 

Theres quite a lot written on this subject (and a couple of songs too) - Whilst i share your sentiment Elinor, there is a sad side to these couplings...Many travelled to a place that didnt accept them, they knew few people, felt isolated and many marriages failed, stranding women in desperate siuations - I wouldnt have mentioned it if it wasnt so prevalent. But im sure a good many flourished and are to be celebrated.

 

Yes, not all wartime weddings had happy endings, for a variety of reasons. The homesickness of war brides must have been excruciating.

Thank you, Michelle, for the link to the earlier thread. Some great photos there!

 

Thanks, Lou! We connected through the Canadian War Brides Facebook page. And she's from Saskatchewan, which is always a great common bond.

 

I've just had a look on IWM website & found some great pics of wartime weddings.

Newly-weds Mr and Mrs Gathergood examine American tinned meat, which features (amongst cakes and biscuits) as part of their wedding feast. Both are eating a sandwich at their reception, which was held at 'Dr Johnson's House' in Gough Square, London during 1941. Mrs Gathergood's mother is curator of the house.

AMERICAN CANNED FOOD BEING EATEN IN LONDON, ENGLAND,UK, 1941. © IWM (V 104)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

Newly-engaged Marcelle Lestrange and her fiance Flying Officer Harold Lackland Bevan look in a jeweller's shop window for a suitable engagement and/or wedding ring. Because of the scarcity of gold and jewels, jewellers are only allowed to sell a certain quota of jewels each quarter, many selling out at the very beginning of the quarter. Gold had been stopped for wedding ring manufacture, but is now released in small quantities, but gold wedding rings are very hard to find, particularly in the cities.




WAR BRIDE: EVERYDAY LIFE IN WARTIME LONDON, MARCH 1943. © IWM (D 12847)IWM Non Commercial Licence

Newly-engaged Marcelle Lestrange and her fiance Flying Officer Harold Lackland Bevan looking for a suitable engagement and wedding ring in London during March 1943.

 

Warrant Officer Antoni Markiewicz of No. 302 Polish Fighter Squadron and his bride Yvonne Munday inspecting what was left of their wedding presents after the wedding reception house was bombed while they were getting married at a church somewhere in Southern England.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205232790

 

A newly-married couple pose for the camera as they leave St Mark's Church, Silvertown after their wedding. Their wedding photographer can be seen in this photograph, as can several of their guests watching the proceedings. Taken 1944.




PARISH PRIEST: THE WORK OF THE VICAR OF ST MARK'S CHURCH, VICTORIA DOCKS, SILVERTOWN, LONDON, ENGLAND, UK, 1944. © IWM (D 21199)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

GI Brides: The wartime wedding of Carl Mazzola, twenty year old boatswain's mate, second class, USNR from Detroit, Michigan, United States, to Julie Pope from Fulham, London, at a church in Kensington, London.



http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205125072

 

Newly-engaged Marcelle Lestrange looks at a wedding cake in a shop in London. The assistant explains that the icing effect is made of painted cardboard and rice paper and lifts off to reveal the real cake below. According to the original caption: "The cake underneath the trimmings is less full of currants than a pre-war cake and must not cost more than 35 cents a pound".


WAR BRIDE: EVERYDAY LIFE IN WARTIME LONDON, MARCH 1943. © IWM (D 12849)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

Love all the photos, thank you, Owen!

 

Elinor, thank you for posting! I enjoyed your blog very much and all the effort you took to help explain each photograph. My wife and I are recently married, it's hard to imagine what that would have looked like in the midst of a world war.....wow.

Mark

 

Re longevity, my parents wartime marriage lasted 53 years and only ended when my father died, and I know of many over the 50 or 60 year mark.

Other sources:
http://www.canadianwarbrides.com
http://warbrides.com
http://members.shaw.ca/francislyster/warbride/
http://uswarbrides.com

You will also find information at Library and Archives Canada