Stories I Found While Chasing Other Stories
While researching the memories my parents shared for for this book, I often followed small threads— a place mentioned in passing, a historical event happening in the background, or a person whose story briefly intersected with theirs. Sometimes those threads led to fascinating discoveries that helped me better understand the world they lived in. Others simply opened the door to interesting stories that didn’t quite belong in the book, but were too good not to share.
I’ve gathered a few of those discoveries here. I hope you enjoy exploring them as much as I did.
Tricia's Story
My mom, Tricia, was born in the midst of the Second World War in Liverpool, England. Her mother shared many anecdotes about those early years, but as I began writing her story, I wanted a clearer picture of the time and place in which those memories unfolded. That curiosity marked the beginning of my research.
Along the way, I came across many interesting articles, stories, and historical notes. Here I’ve shared a few of the links I discovered, along with a brief explanation of how each one connects—sometimes directly, sometimes only lightly—with Tricia’s story.
Epilogue
Many resources share accounts of life in Liverpool during the Second World War, but the National Museums Liverpool website stood out to me. In addition to historical information, it also includes recordings of people describing their experiences of the Blitz in their own words.
This is where my research began: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/museum-of-liverpool/blitz/liverpool-and-blitz
Chapter One
Tricia was still an infant when her mother Florence and her Auntie Kathleen went to work as "land girls" on a farm in Knotty Ash. I was curious to learn more, and this link was helpful: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/explore-by-topic/military-and-war/the-womens-land-army/
Chapter Three
I was curious why getting accepted to a grammar school, rather than a regular high school was unusual among my mom's peers. This website offered general information about English grammar schools in the 1950s and 60s: https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Girls-Grammar-School-1950s-1960s/
Chapter Four
Until we did this project, I hadn't known Mom had wanted to be a police officer when she was young. She said there was a Liverpool Police recruitment film on television that sparked her interest. I found the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0veMI0WU4UQ&t=11s
The Automated Telephone & Electric Company played a large role in Tricia's family, and over the decades, a significant role in telecommunications globally. If you want a brief history of the company, this link is for you: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Automatic_Telephone_and_Electric_Co
If a deeper dive is more your thing, this is a rocust history of the factory site on Edge Lane, where Harold and Tricia worked: https://www.britishtelephones.com/histatm.htm#chapter11
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Mom mentioned that on Friday's many of the women at AT&E arrived at work in curlers, in preparation for going out that evening. In the late 50s, dance halls were still in full swing, though the live bands would soon be replaced by spinning vinyl, and clubs would replace dance halls.
Here is a wonderful video telling the history of dance halls in Britain. I dare you not to grin when the ladies are describing their weekends back in their 20s! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhcZZ-5fs-0&t=10s
Chapter Five
I found a nice, succinct history of Alder Hey Childrens' Hospital in the Liverpool Echo, in honour of a new hospital being unveiled on October 1, 2015. You can read the article here: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/history-alder-hey-childrens-hospital-10169262
Chapter Seven
When Mom told me about Miss Forshall, I was immediately interested. Female surgeons weren't common in those days, and for her to be recognized internationally for her contributions to patient care was inspiring. You can read more about Miss Isabella Forshall here: https://www.liverpoolfootprint.co.uk/forshall-i
Chapter Twelve
When Tricia closed the clinic door in Namu in September 1970, she never imagined it was for the very last time – the cannery closed for good at the end of season.
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Here is an interesting article that shares memories of summers in Namu when the cannery was in operation, and how it has fallen into disrepair in the decades since: https://coastalfirstnations.ca/resources/making-it-right-and-restoring-memory-at-forgotten-namu-cannery/
Chapter Thirteen
I was surprised to hear Mom describe an award winning brass band in Bella Bella – it was quite a small community. I obviously had to look it up, and sure enough, they were a big deal: http://vabbs.org/FirstNations/bella_bella.php
Walter's Story
My dad, Walter, was keenly interested in the natural world around him from an early age, and that interest expanded to include the built environment, and how things worked, as he grew older. We have included some of his observations in the book, and of course there are more that I will share here.
Epilogue
The history of the Harms family through the generations has been documented in unpublished collections in the past. One published account of the settlement of Grigorievka, where Jake and Mary were born, is available for free through the Canadian Mennonite University: https://www.cmu.ca/docs/cmupress/CMU-Memories-of-Grigorievka.pdf
It adds the historical backdrop to our family's story.
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Chapter One
The image of massive zucca melons standing on end across a field must have been really something, to stick in a four-year-old's memory for the next seventy-odd years, so I looked them up. They are indeed interesting. https://www.timeschronicle.ca/the-way-we-were-zucca-melons-were-short-lived-osoyoos-farming-phenomenon-in-1940s-and-1950s/
Chapter Two
Walter loved the wild thunderstorms in Oliver when he was a kid, and he also loved the little helicopters that flew in after to shake the rain off the cherries with their wash. Here is a brief history of the beginnings of Okanagan Helicopters (since bought out by CHC) that Dad observed as a child in the orchards of Oliver: https://www.helis.com/database/news/chc_70years/
Chapter Four
When Dad described the process of forking hay into the loft of a neighbour's barn, I needed a visual example. I found this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6IADjzSCc
They use a tractor rather than a team of horses, but it gave me a better sense of the set-up and the process.
Chapter Five
Lacking my father's imagination for mechanical things, I struggled to describe his job as a Whistlepunk in a high-lead logging operation without a visual aid. Here is a diagram that simplified it for me: https://www.vannattabros.com/cable2.html
If you are looking for a rabbit hole to occupy you for the next twenty minutes, allow me to serve you this lumber industry safety video from the 1950s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP4IaJuSTMs
This, friends, is why this book project took two years to complete.
Chapter Eight
Ed Zalesky gave Dad his first flying job, and a tremendous amount of experience. Here is a brief history of Ed's interesting life: https://canadianmuseumofflight.ca/2022/06/20/ed-zalesky/
Chapter Eleven
Dad worked for a few interesting characters during his flying career, and Al Kulan was one of them. Kulan was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of fame for his prospecting successes, but despite his success – or more likely because of it – he was murdered in plain sight, in the Ross River lounge in 1977. You can read about it here: https://yukonnuggets.com/stories/al-kulan
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Chapter Fourteen
From one famous boss to the next. Bob Gauchie was already a household name in the North when Dad started working for him. He had survived on a frozen lake for 58 days after he ran out of fuel miles from anywhere and well of course. You can read about that here: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/pilot-bob-gauchies-story-of-how-he-survived-nearly-two-months-in-brutally-cold-wilderness-before-his-rescue
Bob had a recurring role in Department of Transport accident reports, here is the entry from when he crashed the Norseman (the first two entries are related to the Fire 6 crash that is mentioned in Chapter 17): https://www.baaa-acro.com/zone/northwest-territories?page=5
Chapter Fifteen
Dad also met Joe McBryan at Buffalo Airways. Joe went on to grow the Buffalo operation into the charter company that was featured in the reality TV series Ice Pilots NWT, and Buffalo Airways is still operating today: https://buffaloairways.com/
Chapter Eighteen
I found a photo of the Link Trainer that Dad used during his instrument rating training. When Dad called it "primitive", he wasn't kidding, but it got the job done: https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/the-worlds-first-commercially-built-flight-simulator-the-link-trainer-blue-box