Player Profile
Player Profile
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Margaret
(Irene )
McDonald
by Linda Patton
LP: I know you are a prairie girl, Irene. Tell me about your life growing up on the family farm?
IM: I was born on the farm at Ghost Pine Creek, Alberta, near the Red Deer River. Ghost Pine Creek is located between the towns of Three Hills and Drumheller. Generally speaking, our farm was a grain farm (wheat, oats, barley), although we did have some livestock, such as cattle, horses, pigs and chickens. The main market for our grains was in Three Hills, about ten and a half miles away.
LP: Were both your parents from this area?
IM: No, they had, separately, come from Ontario, met in Saskatchewan and married in 1906 in Alberta. Originally my ancestors came from England and Scotland, and my family traces back to Robert Burns. My father’s land was Northwest Territories at the time of his land purchase. This would be around 1904, before this area became Alberta. At that time, there were government schemes to purchase land and when I was born, my father owned 640 acres. My father was the eldest of a large family in Ontario and when he had finished school, he worked on a farm, the only child to be desirous of farming. He had seven sisters and one brother, each of whom had post-secondary education and became nurses or teachers. It was quite unusual at the turn of the century for these women to have an education.
LP: Do you have any siblings?
IM: Yes, I am the sixth of seven children. I was never a farmhand with outside work because I had four brothers. I learned to cook and bake before the age of twelve, and put these talents to good use during harvest time.
LP: Where did you attend school?
IM: I first attended a rural school called Lumni. The school property had been donated by my father, and the school was situated on the northeast corner of our farmland. Winters were cold, and I walked one mile to school, but other children walked 4½ miles. There was one teacher with nine grades. As we finished grade nine, each child in our family went on to high school.
I attended Western Canada High School in Calgary, where room and board was $25 per month. I also paid tuition from grade ten through twelve at $100 per year. I quickly learned self-discipline and how to budget. I was a product of the Depression, so when I went to high school it was to go as economically as possible.
LP: What subjects did you enjoy?
IM: I always enjoyed Mathematics and English. I was fortunate enough to have outstanding teachers to teach me Shakespearean literature.
LP: When did you know that you would like to be a teacher?
IM: In those days the opportunities for girls were limited to a secretary, nurse or teacher. I was following a pattern set by my aunt and chose teaching. I attended a teacher’s college in Camrose, Alberta, for one year. My first job in 1935 was in a rural school near Pine Lake, Alberta. I taught grades one to ten, inclusive, and was paid $840 per year. In addition to teaching, my other duties included janitorial work, priming the pump, pumping the water, building fires and keeping the premises clean. I worked at this school for two years.
LP: Have you an anecdote to relate from your early teaching days?
IM: Yes, I remember receiving a note explaining a boy’s absence because he was needed to help with farm work. The note was signed by his father, Alex Brereton, VC, who was one of the few Canadians given the Victoria Cross from WW I. I remember how impressed I was to be meeting a VC winner.
Each teacher had required inspections to evaluate their progress and to make their certificate permanent. After one long, and what was a successful, inspection, the inspector and I went outside, and as I shook his hand he turned sharply and asked, “Why aren’t those trees in leaf?” I thought, my God, am I responsible for Nature too?, but replied, “It’s been a very cold winter.”
On one occasion when a fierce blizzard blew in, I kept all the young children overnight in a one-bedroom teacherage with no telephone!
Another time, I had gone to Calgary for the weekend and had got a ride back from a neighboring teacher, who had offered to start the fire in the school. I started the fire in the teacherage and got the water pumped. In the morning when I went to rekindle the fire in the school, I realized that the teacher had accidentally carried my school key away with him. I knew there was a ladder beside the barn and with any luck I could put it up to a window and get in. I was concerned that the children were coming soon and would be cold. I successfully climbed through the window only to realize that the key was needed to open the door from the inside. School proceeded with each child coming in through the window. Naturally, this was the day the school inspector came. He declined to come in through the window!
LP: Where was your next job?
IM: Well, I thought I needed more education, so I returned to Calgary and attended the Garbutt Business College, where I took a full range of business courses. I was there one year and during this time I did substitute teaching in Calgary. In the years following, I attended university summer school in Edmonton, Waterloo and Victoria, completing my degree in Education. One of my more interesting aspects of teaching was a summer spent at Ryerson College in Toronto for education by television.
LP: Can you tell me about your duties and experiences during WW II.
IM: I left teaching and enlisted in the RCAF in 1943. First I went to the Rockcliffe Manning Depot in Ottawa, where we drilled, marched and were immunized for everything that was possible. We were paid ninety cents a day. There, I was fortunate to be selected to go to Guelph, Ontario, for a course in Cryptology. This was my initial move into the ‘secret’ work of coding and cyphering, where I learned to use the Enigma* machine which was the reason for project Ultra. The greatest enemy of this machine was dust. Every eight hours we had to clean this machine using carbon tetrachloride. Only now do we know how hazardous this chemical is.
Following my training, I was sent to Vancouver where I worked at camoflaged RCAF headquarters at Jericho Beach. We worked directly for the Air Ministry at Whitehall, England. This is where I met my husband, Donald, on a blind date. He had enlisted in 1939 and was permanent RCAF. He was responsible for technical equipment, supplies and parts for aircraft, as well as personnel.
From there I went to Edmonton, and the Japanese war was part of the messaging that we were performing. I believe I was sent to Edmonton so that I could fly into the north with codes, and so traveled by air in small planes to all of the locations where we had signals, e.g. Atlin, Beaton River, Whitehorse, and as far north as Aklavik on the Arctic Circle. I also went to Watson Lake on the Alaska Highway when it was just a sea of mud. At each of these bases, I was carrying book codes for the commander in charge. It was always a great surprise to the fellows when the girls stepped off the plane. This was my job from 1943 until the end of the war.
LP: When did you start your family?
IM: Donald and I married in 1945 in Edmonton at McDougal Church. Our reception was in the MacDonald Hotel and I still have our hotel room receipt, which was $6.50. This was a special rate given by CP hotels to servicemen. We had our honeymoon in Vancouver at the Hotel Vancouver for the same rate! While we were in the Hotel Vancouver there was a tremendous explosion. We thought we were being straffed, but it turned out to be an ammunitions ship in the harbour which blew out windows and did considerable damage from the waterfront up to, but not including, the hotel.
We lived in Edmonton where our only child, Catherine, was born. Donald remained in the RCAF until 1965. From Edmonton we moved to Toronto in 1948, where we purchased our first home. We had to have one-third its value as a down payment. The house cost $7700; Donald’s salary was $2500 per year. After eighteen months we moved to Calgary, where I went onto staff at Garbutt Business College and taught Typing and Business English.
LP: Please tell me about Donald’s posting to England.
IM: Yes, this came as a surprise to us both. In 1950 Donald joined the diplomatic staff. The war was over but not rationing. We had coupon books for meat, cheese, sugar and coal. We lived in Cheam Cottage in Surrey, England, where Thomas Moore had once slept. The walls were 12 to 16” thick with stone, with stucco on the outside. There was a plaque on the landing of the second floor which read, “Ancient Lights.” Upon reading the history of Cheam Cottage, I learned that this meant that no building could be erected which would shade that building from light. This is still true today. It was very cold there. We had two paraffin burners, similar to our coal oil lamps, one of which we named Beatrice and the other, Pot, because no matter how carefully we trimmed the wick, it smoked!
This was a significant time in England because of the deaths of King George VI and of Queen Mary, and especially the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. We were invited to many special events because of Donald’s position. While in England, we attended the Derby, which is not like any other horse race, nor is Ascot. We also watched the Oxford/Cambridge rowing race and saw tennis at Wimbledon. With our own car we were able to travel the length and breadth of England and extensively in Europe. We loved England and made many friends over four years.
LP: Where did you next go from England?
IM: Donald was called back to Ottawa and I taught at Ottawa Public School. I was invited to join a group of four teachers to teach academically gifted students and prepare curriculum for enrichment. I joined the International Council for Exceptional Children, became president of the Ottawa chapter for the CEC, and president of the Special Education Branch of the Ontario Education Association. During these 11 years in Ottawa, it was my honour to share a platform with some leading Canadian educationalists, speaking at conventions of Calgary teachers, the English Council in Banff, and conference on exceptional children in Ottawa.
While in Ottawa, we had a car and trailer and traveled the length and breadth of Canada and the United States. In 1965 Donald retired from the RCAF and took his first civilian job in Calgary. He worked as the northwestern representative of North American Van Lines. I returned to teaching and taught mainly English classes in junior secondary, which were called MPH (matriculation program honours). After three years, we moved to Victoria.
LP: Was this your first trip to Victoria?
IM: No, we had seen Victoria when Donald and I were stationed in Vancouver years before. Donald had decided that as soon as possible we would live there. With no banking experience, Donald applied for and got a job managing securities with Royal Trust Company.
I began to teach at Central Junior High School on Fort Street and while there, I was approached to become a teacher in Family Life Education, which included sex education. Until my retirement in 1975, this became my challenge. Speaking of sex publicly was not what was done then, and I was the first full-time teacher in Canada to undertake this role, working with medical interns, nurses and the medical director of the City of Victoria.
I recall an experience of being on open line for a half day with CJVI radio, where listeners were calling in with their questions and concerns. The success of the program was openness and communication, so I held PTA meetings in each school in the district each year, and parents were invited to sit in on these classes. It was also a privilege to be invited into the private schools and to St. Ann’s Academy to teach.
LP: When did you retire?
IM: I retired in 1975 to become a ‘woman of leisure.’ I took golf lessons and enjoyed winter holidays. I have traveled places like the USSR, Cayman Islands, Florida and California to name a few.
LP: Tell me about your volunteer work.
IM: In 1976 I volunteered with the Canadian Cancer Society and was invited to join their education program. I went into the schools talking about no smoking, health lifestyles and information about the many types of cancer and treatments. I took a year’s sabbatical from the Cancer Society upon the realization that volunteers, when doing Cancer Society business, were still smoking! After that time, I was invited back to serve on the board and to become a fundraiser within the Unit, then chair of the BC and Yukon Divisions, and later National Chair. I met Sheila MacDougall, also a Canadian Cancer Society volunteer and fellow bridge player, and together we enjoyed many challenges. The Cancer Society awarded me with an honorary life membership in 1995 and each April, which is Cancer month, I wear my Caduceus.
I also became interested in and volunteered with the Canadian Club. The Canadian Club is a national organization which brings speakers of distinction, and I have been awarded a life membership with that organization. I have also volunteered within my church, serving as chair on five or six committees, and receiving a life membership from the United Church women.
I have also tried to be of help within my community as part of a support group for the BC Council of the Family. The group is for parents whose children have been placed in foster care.
I still have time to be on the executive of the Retired Teachers of Ontario, and to attend local theatre and the symphony.
In 1993 I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had received a nomination, and was subsequently awarded the Commemorative Medal made for the 125th anniversary of Canadian confederation for my work as a volunteer. This was presented to me by The Right Honourable Ramon Hnatyshyn.
LP: When did you find time to learn bridge?
IM: My first formal lessons were from Margaret Hinton, but I had played some social bridge in Ottawa. Margaret taught the Audrey Grant course and encouraged me as a bridge player.
I remember that during play at one game, I took my cards out of the second board, rather than the first, from a stack of four boards. Bidding progressed, I was declarer in 3 diamonds and dummy’s hand came down. The lead was the Ace of Clubs. I called the director because the Ace of Clubs was in my hand! The director said, “Play proceeds and you must play with the hand you are supposed to have, i.e., board one.” I was pleased to see that there were three diamonds in that hand - I could have had a void! We went down only three for an average board.
I find bridge a challenging game, and intend to keep studying it as well as being a regular player. I have met many wonderful bridge players, for whom I have great respect, and who include me in their game. I proudly display my first medal won at a sectional tournament for coming first in our strat.
While keeping active, I will always make time for family and friends, especially those that need a helping hand.
LP: You have led a very interesting, busy, and rewarding life. I feel I can speak for the many people that you have helped and given to so selflessly when I say ‘thank you’, having personally been at the receiving end of your friendship and kindness for nearly 20 years. Happy bridging!
*(Enigma machine). Ultra. It saved the British at Dunkirk, beat the Luftwaffe in the skies over England, turned the tide at El Alamein, destroyed the Nazi U-boat fleet, outfoxed Rommel in the desert and kept Normandy from turning into a disaster. It allowed the Americans to win the vital battles of Midway and the Coral Sea, and to shoot down the plane carrying the great Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. It made some Allied generals look like super-geniuses, and others like bloody fools. And it placed a soul-crushing burden on both Churchill and Roosevelt.”
The above is taken from a book by F.W. Winterbotham, called The Ultra Secret (published by Dell in 1974. It explains why the city of Coventry, England, was sacrificed for the greater good. Churchill could have saved Coventry, for he had advance warning of the German air strike, instead he chose to sacrifice those lives rather than reveal to Hitler that the Allies had cracked the German “unbreakable” code of Enigma. The secret of Ultra was closely guarded for thirty-five years. The author was the man who ran the whole incredible operation. For anyone who has a particular interest in WW II history, this is a must-read.
It is interesting to note that the author mentions how the young mathematicians and scientists, who comprised the Ultra Special Liaison Unit in England, played bridge in the evenings to pass time.
Copyright:
ACBLUnit 431
James K. Foster,
July, 2005