Sheila Parfitt was born March 9, 1928 in Lowestoft, England. Lowestoft was a coastal city, so most of the men in the family were involved in the fishing trade, but with tough times in the Great Depression, Shelia’s family relocated to Ely, a cathedral town inland. From that period she remembers well the early events of the war, including Dunkirk, where fears of an impending German invasion were rampant. As they lived in a rural area they were not significantly impacted by the Blitz, but Sheila remembers hearing the news of the attack on Coventry – and seeing the Luftwaffe planes overhead. She also recalls the inspirationship speeches and leadership of Churchill – and the relentless worry and fear that characterized wartime life. As a teenaged girl in those years Sheila also wanted to have fun where she could, and on one occasion she met a Canadian airman named Bill Parfitt, whom she would later marry – becoming one of the many war brides who would leave Europe to start a new home and life in Canada. Sheila came over in 1947, and the two of them settled in Toronto and later North Bay, raising a family and finding their way in postwar Canada. Sheila was interviewed by Zach Dunn in March 2024, and Zach was kind enough to share this interview with us.
