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Alice Wylde

Recollections of wartime work in the Fire Service and marrying a Canadian soldier.

Joining the Fire Service

Alice explains why she joined the Fire Service.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Alice_Wylde_1.mp3

Daily duties

Alice recalls her duties in the Fire Service.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Alice_Wylde_2.mp3

Employment in Canada

Alice talks about finding employment in Canada to fund her return to England.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Alice_Wylde_3.mp3

'An exciting life'

Alice talks about her experience of the war.

http://www.memoriesofwar.org.uk/multimedia/Alice_Wylde_4.mp3

Photo:Alice Wylde on her wedding day in 1943 with her husband Larry Tveten.

Alice Wylde on her wedding day in 1943 with her husband Larry Tveten.

Alice Wylde

Born in 1920, Alice Wylde (nee Smith) was twenty years old at the outbreak of the Second World War. Shortly after the start of war she joined the Fire Service and was stationed on Walworth Road, London. Alice recalls being called up for service, 'I was called up and they wanted me to go in the Land Army and I didn't want to dig potatoes so I joined the Fire Service'.

As a member of the Fire Service, Alice was required to work long shifts and it was her duty to know 'where every man was...what they were doing and where they had to go. If they were off or on and if there was a raid and there was a fire...you had to know what appliance to send out to what particular fire...[H]eavy units for big fires and stirrup [pumps] for small fires'.

Alice lost her father in 1940. At the age of forty-eight he had joined the Queen’s Regiment in 1939. He was stationed at Kenley Aerodrome in Purley. Alice recalls how: ‘In the first daylight raid on Sunday morning 1940 he got shot down coming out on his bike [to] come home to Walworth Road for his Sunday lunch'. He passed away three days later in Redhill Hospital. Alice's father had a military funeral at Westmorland Road and was buried in Honor Oak Nunhead Cemetery.

Alice married a Canadian soldier in 1943 and moved to Canada as a war bride with her two young children in 1946. Along with numerous other war brides, Alice travelled across the Atlantic for four days on the Queen Mary arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Life in Canada was in many ways different to life in wartime Britain. Departing the Queen Mary, Alice was met by her in-laws and taken for a meal. 'We got off to have a meal...the steak they gave us was, well, we couldn’t eat it. It was too big. We all had rations here. And it was a great big steak and...we couldn’t eat it all cos our stomachs weren’t used to it'.

After four years in Canada, Alice wanted to return home. 'I wanted to come home so I thought I’m gonna find a job and I’m gonna pay every time I get me wages I’m gonna put it in the travel agent and when I got enough I’m going home'. Alice returned to Britain with her two daughters in the 1950s.

Photo:Photograph of Alice and Larry on their wedding day with guests.
Photo:Photograph of the wedding party at Alice's brother's wedding. Alice pictured on the left wearing her Fire Service uniform.
Photo:Photograph of Alice, her husband and their two children in 1946.
Photo:Alice pictured with her two children and her sister in Trafalgar Square in 1946 before travelling to Canada.
Photo:Alice and her husband in the garden of their house in Canada.
Photo:Alice's daughters with their grandmother at Lake Louise in Canada.
Photo:Alice Wylde in July 2012.
Photo:War memorial at Camberwell New Cemetery Brenchley Gardens commemorating among others Alice's father, W.A. Smith.
Photo:Alice's father's inscription 'Private W.A.Smith'.
Downloads

Interview with Alice Wylde
Interview with Alice Wylde (197k)
To read the full transcript of Alice's interview please press the above link.

Joining the Fire Service
Joining the Fire Service (131k)
Transcript of audio clip with Alice Wylde.

Daily duties
Daily duties (132k)
Transcript of audio clip with Alice Wylde.

Employment in Canada
Employment in Canada (133k)
Transcript of audio clip with Alice Wylde.

'An exciting life'
'An exciting life' (133k)
Transcript of audio clip with Alice Wylde.

This gallery was added by Malin Lundin on 14/03/2012.
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