In Depth
Canada's war brides
Your stories: Margaret Mitchell Button
Last Updated November 7, 2006
CBC News
RMS Aquitania arriving at Pier 21 in Halifax on April 10,1946. Margaret Button is seen in the inset photo in the light-coloured coat. "She said she was given [the coat] new for the arrival in Canada," Larry Button writes. "My mother recalls it being a momentous trip and arrival in Canada as Canada's new Governor General - war hero Alexander of Tunis - was on board. (Canadianwarbrides.com)
Larry Button, of Dundas, Ont., sent CBC.ca pictures and documents about his mother, a war bride.
Margaret Mitchell Button met Thomas Button while he was serving at the Flying Instructors School in Montrose Scotland. She was born in Berwick-upon-Tweed and grew up in County Durham. The two married on June 2, 1945, days after Thomas Button received permission to marry.
Larry's father returned to Canada in July 1945 and his mother followed in April 1946 aboard the Aquitania.
"My father died in 1982," Larry Button said. "However, my mother is still living in the same house we moved into in Dundas, Ont., in 1955. "She raised seven children and now has 22 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She still retains her love of nature and of gardening from growing up in rural England."
A copy of a Toronto Star article with a picture of Margaret Button at Toronto's Union Station. "My mother recalls that another war bride on arriving at Union was told by her Canadian husband to return to Britain as he'd found someone else. My Mum found a Red Cross worker to comfort her distraught companion."
A letter from the Red Cross to Thomas Button's mother in Hamilton announcing Margaret's arrival.
A letter granting Thomas Button permission to marry Margaret.
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