How a recording from the Second World War travelled from one coast to the other
In the 1940s, William McIntyre recorded a love note for his sweetheart, which has stood the test of time
A voice reaches out from the past in a crackled recording.
"Hello Kit. I have talked to you by telephone, by telegram, by mail, but this is the first time I have had an opportunity to talk to you by a record."
It's the voice of William Edward McIntyre, who was stationed at CFB Chatham in northeastern New Brunswick, in the early 1940s.
The recording was meant for his sweetheart, Kathleen (Kit) Byers, who lived in Hamilton, Ont.
"It's rather difficult to compose a letter that has to be read by a censor and then played to one's best girl in front of someone unknown. Get what I mean sugar?" he goes on to say.
The Second World War-era Pepsi-Cola record was recorded at a time when CFB Chatham was booming. It was also home to the No. 10 Air Observer School, which McIntyre lists as his return address.
From 1941 to 1945, the base was training navigators and air observers to travel overseas for war, said Kevin Anderson, the executive director of the New Brunswick Aviation Museum.
"They had lectures on navigation, meteorology, radio code and photography, so students would have to develop their navigation accuracy in order to go onto bombing and gunnery school," Anderson said.
Eventually, William Edward McIntyre, who was known as Ted, married Byers.
Linda Thomas said her uncle and aunt led a happy life together, living in Ontario and Florida before moving to British Columbia.
The McIntyres have both since died, but their love story doesn't end there.
A love story that stood the test of time
It would take a few decades — and a bit of luck — but the wartime recording resurfaced after an extraordinary journey.
Twenty years ago, Tara McLeod stumbled across the recording next to a dumpster near her apartment building in Burnaby, B.C.
It lay forgotten until recently, when McLeod decided to contact the Canadian Military Family Magazine to see if anyone could help track down the family.
The magazine went on to write an article, which was shared on social media and caught the attention of Pam Wong, who lives in Sarnia, Ont.
Wong is a genealogy buff and thought she could help solve the mystery.
It took her about 24 hours to find one of Ted McIntyre's relatives. It was his niece Linda Thomas, who lives in Almonte, a town in eastern Ontario.
She contacted Thomas, who reached out to the Canadian Military Family Magazine. Thomas was eventually put in touch with McLeod, who had the recording at her home in B.C.
'It gave me goosebumps'
But Wong's involvement in the mystery didn't end there.
Coincidentally, she had been planning a trip to B.C. to visit her daughter and offered to meet with McLeod and pick up the record.
When she got there, the two women played the recording.
"To hear the voices that went with all of the things that we had been finding, it pretty much gave me goosebumps," Wong said. "I describe it as a 75-year-old love story, so it's pretty amazing."
After returning to Ontario, Wong set up a meeting with Linda Thomas and her sister Denise Barber. It took a while to meet because the three women live in different parts of the province.
But it was worth the wait.
"To put a piece of memorabilia in somebody's hands, I like the tactile thing," Wong said.
"It was very exciting to give it to Linda and Denise."
An emotional experience
Linda Thomas said hearing her uncle's voice was emotional.
"I couldn't believe that it was him, but the more I listened to it, yes, his mannerisms and the way he did talk to Auntie Kit, it sounded like him and I just couldn't believe it," she said.
Thomas has some keepsakes of her uncle and aunt, including some of their letters.
But having the recording is extra special.
"I couldn't believe it. … Just thinking of everything, like where it started, and where it's been."
Thomas's family had no idea about the recording, but she said that isn't surprising.
"She [Kit] was a private person so we would never have known anything about it."
But she said it's a miracle the recording found its way back into the McIntyre family.
"I can't believe that it was found by somebody and came all the way back across country and ended back up with the family," she said.
Pam Wong agrees.
She said there were many coincidences at play, but it all came down to timing.
The recording has also brought an unexpected gift — a new friendship among three women, who helped bring a long-lost recording back to its rightful home.
