During the war over 600,000 men joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and 424,000 went overseas to fight in Europe or were housed at military training camps in England. A large percentage of the wounded soldiers spent time at hospitals in the British Isles or travelled there while on leave. Many soldiers fell in love with the women they met during their extended stay. By war's end Canadian soldiers were marrying British and European women at the rate of 300 a week, over 1000 per month. Thousands of war brides came to Canada after the First World War in an immigration scheme that was paid for by the Canadian government. In January 1919, the Government of Canada passed an Order in council offering the dependents of Canadian soldiers free third class passage from their home in Europe to their final destination in Canada. The majority of the dependents lived in the United Kingdom. The Department of Immigration and Colonization repatriated over 54,500 soldiers' dependents to Canada in all. Approximately 17,000 returned to Canada between July 1917 and November 1918. After the armistice a further 37, 748 came to Canada by the end of 1919. Those who travelled between 1917 and mid January 1919 were not given free transportation but were offered a special rate on a secure ship. By the end of 1919 they could be reimbursed for their passage based on 3rd class rates by applying to the government. These statistics, however, are for the number of soldiers' dependents that arrived in Canada after WWI. A large number of the dependents were the wives of Canadian soldiers who travelled to Britain to be near their soldier husbands. Many of these dependents were British born and had recently immigrated to Canada before the war. A number of Canadian wives also travelled to the UK after their husbands were injured. There are no official figures given for the total number of Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers who married abroad and returned to Canada with a war bride and/or children. Also not included are the many young women who travelled to Canada after the war to be married at their own expense. It has been difficult to ascertain just how many women came to Canada as war brides during this era. By November 1918 reports in the Canadian press estimated that there were at least 20,000 women who had never been to Canada before. By mid August 1919 that number swelled to 35,000. Many families travelled to Canada together on troopships, known as dependents ships, but were berthed in separate locations on the ship. They would meet on deck in the morning, attend activties and if possible, take all their meals together. Later, if the weather permitted, they would spend time on deck. Many wartime romances were rekindled with dancing on deck "C". http://ww1warbrides.blogspot.com/
