Wendy Bertsch

(Dodging Shells gave you Tommy’s letters to his sister, from the front. Kathy’s letters in response tell of life in wartime Toronto.)

December 13, 1944

Dear Tommy,
…..The most horrendous blizzard hit Toronto a couple of days ago. We’re snowed in! Twenty-two inches of snow has fallen within two days. Visibility the first day was absolutely zero and the wind was so strong that it knocked a street car right over on Queen Street, trapping 170 people inside and killing one of them.
…..It’s terrible, Tommy. The radio has reported several other deaths already…many of them heart attacks. People are literally shovelling themselves to death!
…..They’ve managed to keep a few of the main streets open with volunteers shovelling but for a while, Yonge Street was just one huge drift with a single track cleared for pedestrians. People have been seen skiing down Bathurst Street.
…..When Dad opened the door to go to work yesterday morning, he walked into a wall of snow. It had drifted right over the doorway during the night. I cooked up a batch of porridge and he tackled the barrier. The first bit had to be brought into the house in basins and melted in the sinks and bathtub – there was nowhere else to put it – and even a few feet out, the snow was up to our waists. Dad managed to clear a two foot corridor out to the road, with help from me while he warmed up with a Blizzard Breakfast. That’s a huge bowl of hot porridge smothered in brown sugar…for energy. (I said so, that’s who!) It had been an ugly feeling, being trapped like that. The path was just a symbol of family honour by then. We knew from the radio that there was no point heading out to work. Most businesses were closed. Hell, even the munitions factories were closed that day.
…..They had firefighters delivering emergency milk and fuel because, of course, no delivery vans could get through. There are people running short of food all over the city, but don’t worry…we’re doing fine. Although we have had to nip into our Christmas supplies a bit.
…..About mid-morning, there was a knock at the door and an exhausted little woman asked to use our phone. She was a teacher at Grace School, over by Dundas Street. She’d fought her way this far, but she just couldn’t make it the last few blocks to the school, and she wanted to call them to say that she wouldn’t be there. There was nobody there to take the call. She had stopped here because it was the only house she could get to. All the others were still completely snowed in. I guess they had no emergency porridge on hand.

(Dodging Shells gave you Tommy’s letters to his sister, from the front. Kathy’s letters in response tell of life in wartime Toronto.)

…..I barely had a chance to take it home and hang it up when who should gallop up but Prince Charming! Okay, it was actually Larry, the Accounting Manager, and he just kind of strolled into the personnel office…but rumour has it he’s rich, and he certainly is easy on the eyes. And he asked me out for dinner, and dancing at the Palais Royale. (I’m sure you see the connection now.) Well, why not? After all, I already had an elegant evening wrap, didn’t I?
…..I knew better than to wait for a fairy godmother to wander by and spruce up my wardrobe for the occasion. I transformed that silk altar cloth you sent me into an elegant evening blouse, and whipped up a long black velvet skirt to wear with it. I figure if you make the stuff yourself, you can be pretty sure it’s not all going to disappear at midnight. I mean, I don’t mind walking home barefoot if my shoes disappear, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to take the risk of running around Toronto at night in my underwear. Continue reading →

(Dodging Shells gave you Tommy’s letters to his sister, from the front. Kathy’s letters in response tell of life in wartime Toronto.)

…..Every year, the Canadian National Railway has its annual picnic at Crystal Beach, and May Cameron’s dad works for the CNR so May invited me along this year. We took the train (naturally) from Union Station, and Mr. Cameron ever so discreetly disappeared as soon as we entered the gates…not to be seen again until we met him for the trip home. I don’t know what he did with his time…but I’m sure it varied dramatically from our day.
……When we arrived, we could hear the tell-tale sounds of organized games – three-legged races and the like, I dare say. You will appreciate just how little I would be attracted to that particular brand of fun, so I promptly steered May toward the Peace Bridge beckoning us from Fort Erie into the United States. I must say, she wasn’t at all hard to convince. We walked across the bridge to Buffalo, just for the excitement of saying that we’d been out of the country for a bit, and then decided to do a bit of window shopping while we were there. Wouldn’t you know it, as we were browsing through an appealing little clothing shop, a stunning natural linen blouse leaped right into my hand, quite against my will.
…..“Oh, Kathy,” May suggested, uncooperatively, “it’s beautiful! Try it on.”
……“No. I’m not buying anything.”
……I tried it on. Continue reading →

(Dodging Shells gave you Tommy’s letters to his sister, from the front. Kathy’s letters in response tell of life in wartime Toronto.)

August 15, 1944

Dear Tommy,
…..It’s been such a long time since your last letter! But it warms my heart to know that you guys have to learn a little something about cooking for yourselves. It will make you attractive husband material some day.
…..I was surprised to be invited to Lil’s wedding last month. I don’t see as much of the elevator operators as I used to – socially, at least – since I started working in the office. Lil was the homely one.
…..Lil was so worried that all the other girls would snap up the soldiers when the war ends…I think she was determined to beat us to the punch. When we heard that Eleanor’s fiancé was being shipped home soon, she may have panicked. (He’s been wounded, but he’ll recover and they’ll be able to get that home Eleanor has her heart set on.) Continue reading →