Rosemary Hutchinson (Kerr): Wartime Stories

HUTCHINSON (KERR), Rosemary Catherine "Rosie"

Rosemary Kerr was born on July 4, 1921 in Montreal, Quebec and attended Trafalgar School and then Branksome Hall in Toronto. In 1942, she enlisted in the RCAF, Women's Division, Motor Transportation Section and was posted to Torbay, Newfoundland. At RCAF Torbay Rosie drove ambulances, trucks, chauffeured the "Brass" and helped lay flarepaths for returning convoy escorts. Early in 1944, Rosie was posted to HQ RCAF Bomber Command in Yorkshire and subsequently to London, driving officers and delivering documents. She was discharged on March 19, 1946. In 1948, Rosie married Rowan Hutchinson, DFC (Squadron Leader, RCAF) and after living in Montreal and Toronto they settled in New Liskeard, Ontario, raising three children.

Rosie wrote stories of her wartime experiences that were published in Legion Magazine and collected, with the work of other authors, in the Legion's 'True Canadian War Stories'. From a near disaster dumping Torbay Station's garbage from a truck on a Newfoundland cliff to an evening out in London with severely burned young officers, her narratives were, on the surface, light-hearted and often funny, but did not hide the tragedies and heartbreak she had witnessed. Rosie passed away in January 2017.