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At a reunion in New York, Roy Murphy records New Zealand women who married American servicemen during World War II. Alwyn Owen introduces the programme in which they discuss attitudes to their native and adopted countries.
In 1986 Marie Stark (formerly Blaire) organised a reunion of her fellow north island New Zealand brides in New York State. Roy Murphy, a New Zealand freelance journalist living in New York also attended, recording the accounts of Betty Ainsworth, formerly Fowler; Joan Senio, formerly Smith; Molly Brill, formerly [Braehe]; Joyce Maranville, formerly Graham and Katherine Taylor, formerly Mullane, as they look back forty years with their husbands to their courtships during the war.
[The interviewees are unidentified but some can be identified from names mentioned in conversations].
Various stories about how each New Zealander met their future husband; most recall meeting at Army dances before inviting the American servicemen back home for tea to meet the family. Maranville explains how she broke off her initial engagement to a New Zealand soldier after meeting an American serviceman posted in Wellington.
One American serviceman explains how, after a period of incarceration, he was directed to provide a tour of the hospital to two New Zealand nurses and met his future wife. One couple describe how they met at a serviceman’s club dancing and playing table tennis and spent their two week honeymoon in a hotel on St Heliers beach.
One war bride says going to America was just a big adventure but observes "home" will always be New Zealand. Another declares how she wore old undies on board the boat, discarding them through the porthole and kept her good ones for arrival in the states. Cabins with windows were saved for families whilst windowless ones were designated for couples.
One couple describe how they met stowaways on board their boat headed for the states. It took five days to get from Auckland to Sydney after which they were instructed to wait a week in port whilst a train load of Australian war brides arrived to join them. Whilst moored at port they were under the jurisdiction of the Navy, so unless one knew an Australian family who could sign you out, you had to remain onboard. Those left onboard were in the company of the Red Cross offering classes on how to knit.
The Red Cross also gave the New Zealand women advice on what they should and shouldn’t wear on arrival in the United States of America, which was not well received and proved to be incorrect. Various bride arrivals are described; during a snowstorm, a missed meet and the worry of not being met. One woman tells how she sent a photograph of herself wearing what she would be arriving in and wondered if she would recognise her fiancée.
A couple of women recall the loneliness of their new environment and how it only diminished after making friends with other New Zealand brides to whom they could relate. One bride comments how in hindsight she realises now how naïve she was - not understanding on first arrival that she was being boycotted by the locals.
After becoming a citizen of America, one bride explains how at first she felt homesick, but years later now she no longer feels like a New Zealander. One bride describes how it seemed natural to follow her husband home, and whilst she loves living there, still thinks of herself as a New Zealander. Another says she is proud of being both a war bride and New Zealander, and though her longing for home remains, she has no regrets.