In his latest blog post, Ken recounts how he discovered the story of Vera Beresford, a war bride from Manchester, England. She had married Arnold Norman Richard Burfield, a Canadian soldier. Arnold was killed in action in Sicily barely a year later, on 23 July 1943.
By examining his military service file, Ken discovered a memo indicating Vera and their son Norman arrived in Canada on voyage W-779 on 6 January 1945.
Voyage W-779? Ken’s source for finding the ship’s name was new to me. Searching for W-779 at https://www.scribd.com/document/431744390/TrainShipSchedules39-45 reveals the ship was the Mauretania.
Searching the ship’s name at Library and Archives Canada and knowing the arrival date reveal that the voyage documents are on unindexed digitized microfilm reel C-5717, available at Canadiana/Heritage. It has one of the lowest file numbers, HQTS 63-303-779-1, of all those on the microfilm, suggesting it’s early on the reel. Ken found Vera and Norman listed in image 200.
This meticulous process highlights the importance of thoroughness and strategic searching.
Vera remarried, moved back to England in 1960, and lived there until her death.