Elizabeth “Betty” McLeod, from Toronto, was in a Volunteer Aid Detachment that went to the United Kingdom in World War II. She served as a transport driver for the Joint War Organization, the wartime union of the British Red Cross and St. John Ambulance. She transported wounded soldiers who had returned from France as well as Italian prisoners of war.
In the UK, she met another Canadian, Captain Jean Louis Debreiul (whose first name also appears as John and whose last name also appears as DeBreiul in some documents and records). Captain Debreiul (DeBreiul) was from Montreal and had joined the Canadian Army in 1935. He was in the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy.
Betty told the Toronto Telegram that when she met Jean in London, “It was love at first sight.” They were married on July 12, 1945, in London. This photo shows them at their wedding reception at St. John Ambulance Brigade Headquarters on South Audley Street, London. Jean is seated second from the left and wearing his Canadian Army uniform. Betty, of course, is wearing her white wedding dress. There other guests are wearing Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Army, and St. John Ambulance uniforms.
