Kathryn McGill was born July 21, 1925 in Glasgow, Scotland. She grew up there in the 1930s, and by her account she had a good life, going to school, performing acrobatics and enjoying the odd day at the zoo. Her father was a carpenter who had a disability that kept him out of the Great War, but he provided for his family. When the war came, the teenaged Kathryn took work in a clothing factory, and in short order she went onto the production line sewing heavy khaki uniforms for the British army. Living in a big city, Kathryn and her family experienced the Blitz in the early days of the war, but they made do with rationing and other wartime circumstances, like everyone else. While she worked and watched her classmates go to war, Kathryn dreamed of being on the stage and made the best of her wartime life, going to dances and meeting the soldiers and sailors who passed through Scotland on their way to southern battlefields. Kathryn married after the war; her husband had been in the merchant marine. Together they made their life in postwar Canada. Kathryn McGill was interviewed at her home in Brighton, Ontario by Scott Masters in September 2024.
back to Community Members