Eggenberger, Mary: my Air Force recollections (November 3, 2006)
Interviewer: Smith, Allison
ABSTRACT: Mary Eggenberger Mary married her husband in 1956 and moved to 1 Wing in Marville France in 1961. (3:00) It was a huge culture shock for her. The amenities were a lot less than she expected, especially if you were not rich. (4:40). Things were different here: they had to carry identification cards around (5:00) and when she had her 4th child, after knowing the problems she had with the first they had to bring a doctor in and he was African. They wanted to know if she was okay with him delivering her baby (24:00). When they sailed over to Europe they were told they were ambassadors of Canada and to act like it, Mary felt that as Canadians they were more accustomed to accepting other cultures (8:50). Her husband was away a lot on secret missions and told her if she wanted to know about it read a Time magazine (9:20). Mary enjoyed living at 1 Wing and 3 Wing the best. At 3 Wing they had a Frau, an excellent women to help her out which gave her more free time. (13:00). At the squadron there was officers wives clubs, curling in the winter, and they had dinner parties and went to dinner out with the families. These dinners were really exciting for them, they got to try new and interesting food like frogs legs and snails with their friends (27:00). TAPE WAS INTERUPTED. It was in Europe that they learned to cook wonderful foods and organize dinner parties (00:11). The mess would have artists come in to show their work or teach courses, but Mary never went, the children were too young at the time. When she had free time she would travel around to the different locations with friends (2:40). When she was in France, all the women were forced to carry red cards around, like prostitutes, because they were dependents (7:00). Some things over the years have not changed, wives are still not invited to TGIF on Friday nights in the mess (11:30). Her husband would go to those on Friday nights and she was alright with that, he needed to prove to the boys that marriage hadn't changed him. Eventually her husband came home earlier and earlier.(13:15) In Europe the wives were the support, they kept up the men's morale (17:00). A lot of the women felt that they had to do things; socializing and entertaining was a big part of their life. She had to over come her shyness at first, but you learn (41:40). She had problems at first trying to fit into the role of military wife. Learning ranks was hard for her at first because she was not familiar with it, and she was told that for a husband to get ahead in the military his wife had to play Bridge and have the big social parties. She tried but she had no interest and was getting upset until her husband told her, if I have to depend on your Bridge abilities to get ahead its not worth it. (34:00). Because the Cold War was going on at the time, Kennedy was killed, and the wall was up, they felt tension at certain moments. Because her husband was away a lot she would have to take care of herself and the children if they were ever attacked. She managed to come up with her own plan in the event of an attack. When men died she worried that her husband could be next, the fear was always there. (8:30).
Interviewee: Eggenberger, Mary
An interview/narrative of Mary Eggenberger's experiences with the Canadian Air Force Division in Europe. Interview took place on November 3, 2006.
- In Collection:
- 2 sound recordings (MP3)
- 48.69096, 9.14062
- Original recordings (DVF) on compact disc (CD) in Special Collections.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- EM_508
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- January 23, 2013
- Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 16 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2013. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI
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Eggenberger_M_0508_01.mp3 |
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Eggenberger_M_0508_02.mp3 |
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