Valentine’s Day. What better day than today to remember the WWII love story of my grandparents? Peter and Kathy Inkster married in 1942, just a few months before he was sent overseas as a member of the No. 16 Canadian General Hospital.
Pete carried a photo of “Kaye” with him throughout the war. It was perhaps taken on their honeymoon or during their first few months of married life in 1942. In it, Grannie’s hair is curled and coiffed, and she wears a long sealskin coat over a two-piece skirt suit, with stylish black heels. Her purse is clutched under her arm. She grins with happiness, her cheeks and eyes are crinkled. The photo is now worn, trimmed on the corners, and attached to cardstock. On the back Pete typed this poem: “FOR HONOUR AND FOR HER. She loves you, trusts you, breathes In prayer your name; Soil not her faith in you by sin or shame.” This reminder would last him through 3 ½ long years until he saw her again.
For the first couple of years his unit was stationed at hospitals in Cuckfield, an hour south of London, then north at Marston Green, near Birmingham. During leaves, Pete visited nearby historic sites: Leamington Spa, Stratford-on-Avon, London. He bought picture postcards and sent bundles of them home so Kaye could see what he had seen. These she pasted in a large scrapbook. According to Art Mann, one of the men he served with, Pete spent much of his free time writing letters. Kaye did the same, sending parcels that perhaps contained such items such as knitted socks, hygiene essentials, and candies.
Grandpa wore a gold signet ring until his death; his initials, PAI, are barely visible and the band is worn thin, but the engraving inside is as legible as the day it was sent to him overseas: “To Pete Love Kay 25.12.43.” Grannie once told my dad that they were lucky—only one package ever went astray.
Although Pete and Kaye corresponded regularly, few letters remain. Dad remembers boxes full of letters in the attic at their house in Nanaimo. As a pre-teen he would sneak up to read them: “They were typical love letters between a husband and a wife,” Dad answered when I asked what they contained. Which told me nothing, yet everything.
What does remain is a large painting. Although he was far away, Pete wanted to surprise Kaye on their anniversary. He sent money to his twin sister, Celine, to buy a special gift for Kaye on Vancouver Island. Celine had impeccable taste. Her husband was a manager at Woodward’s, a high-end department store in Vancouver. The story goes that Celine chose a large landscape oil painting, then telegrammed her brother: “Send more money.” Pete must have done so. The painting hung prominently in my grandparents’ home all through their lifetime, then in my parents’ home. Now, it hangs in my house at the top of the stairs, and I think of my grandparents and their wartime parting every time I see it.
Sources:
Art Mann interview, August 20, 1997.
Danny Inkster phone interview, November 13, 2022.
Comments