Summary information
| Repository: | South Peace Regional Archives |
| Title: | Violet & Arnold Dryer fonds |
| Reference code: | 0553 |
| Date: | 1946-2013 (date of creation) |
| Physical description: | 6 pp. of textual records
7 photographs |
| Language: | English |
| Dates of creation, revision and deletion: | Processed by Mary Nutting, October 2013 Added to new database June 2022 – TD |
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
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 Aquitania 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.
Violet died in Grande Prairie on August 27, 2021.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of stories told by Violet for the War Brides project in 2006 and the 2013 Film & Story Tea. There are also seven photographs of Vi in her wedding dress and going-away suit over the years; 6 pp from a small notebook showing what she packed to travel to Canada, and detailing her expenses; and a copy of a newspaper clipping with the headline, “Three War Brides Arrive in Grande Prairie.”
Notes
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the fonds.
Access points
- Textual record (documentary form)
- Graphic material – photograph (documentary form)
Series descriptions
| Reference code | Title | Dates | Physical description |
| 0553.01 | Item – Violet & Arnold Dryer | 1946 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of photograph of Arnold & Violet Dryer posing behind their wedding cake on their wedding day in Wrecclesham, Surrey, England. Violet’s royal blue dress was purchased with clothing coupons as war rations were still on in England. |
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| 0553.02 | Item – Violet & Arnold Dryer | 1946 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of photograph of Arnold & Violet Dryer on their wedding day in Wrecclesham, Surrey, England. Violet’s royal blue dress was purchased with clothing coupons as war rations were still on in England. |
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| 0553.03 | Item – The Wedding Dress | ca. 1950 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of photograph of Violet Dryer wearing the royal blue dress which was her wedding dress, minus the decorative beads and with a new collar so that it looks like an ordinary Sunday dress. Violet is posing in front of a car with a small boy and a dog. |
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| 0553.04 | Item – The Wedding Dress | ca. 1950 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of photograph of Violet and Arnold Dryer with their two children posing in front of a car. Violet is still wearing the royal blue dress which was her wedding dress, minus the decorative beads and with a new collar so that it looks like an ordinary Sunday dress. |
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| 0553.05 | Item – Going Away Outfit | ca. 1950 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 4 x 6 |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Violet leaning against a fence wearing her tweed going away suit. |
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| 0553.06 | Item – Going Away Outfit | ca. 1950 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Violet posing against the railing of a bridge wearing the skirt from her tweed going away suit. |
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| 0553.07 | Item – Going Away Outfit | ca. 1950 | 1 photograph : b&w ; 4 x 6 in. |
| Scope and content:
Copy of a photograph showing Violet and two unidentified men (one is likely Arnold) in front of a house. One man is reading a newspaper or magazine on the steps leading up to the house. Violet is wearing the skirt from her tweed going away suit. |
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