Sunday, July 14, 2019
Dear Edwina was a great friend to my Mum until she sadly passed away in 2008, and since then it’s give me great pleasure to keep in touch with her and to continue the friendship on my Mum’s behalf. Edwina has been a wonderful, caring and thoughtful friend.
Edwina and my Mum Jean first met in 1943 during the Second World War. My Mum was called up at the age of 19 and was directed to a Government Training Centre in Hounslow, UK, where with other girls they undertook an electrical course. They were taught how to wire a room, plugs and motors, and how to fix the wires on telegraph poles. At the end, they were sent to Defford airdrome, near Malvern in Worcestershire where laser devices were made and fitted in aircraft. This is where Mum met Edwina and together they lived in an Air Ministry Hostel at Great Malvern at the bottom of the Malvern Hills.
They became firm friends and stayed in regular contact even though Edwina moved to Canada with Jack. As a child I remember their visits to the UK, one particular occasion visiting Guildford Cathedral which was being finished and writing our names on bricks for a shilling to help towards completion costs.
Edwina never forgot birthdays and special occasions, and she continued to write to my dear Mum even when she (Jean) could no longer write due to Alzheimer’s. I used to read her letters to my Mum and she loved to listen.
I shall miss Edwina greatly and our occasional telephone chats but I know that she will now be at peace with her beloved Jack.
