Journey to Canada
In 1946, with World War II concluded in Europe and Asia, Eric’s life began its turn towards a new direction. Following the war, the English post-war economy was ailing. During the war, Eric had become a proud father of his first born son, David. 
He now had a young family to feed and provide for but, like many men his age, returned home from the war to find England had a shortage of jobs. During his service, Eric had proved himself to be a capable leader and was rewarded in the King’s New Year’s Honours List with The Most Excellent Order of The British Empire (MBE). In 1946 he was offered a permanent commission with the Royal Air Force, but it would require him to be stationed in India and East Asia without his wife Bobbie and son David for five years. He turned down the offer immediately, deciding instead to return to England to be with wife Bobbie and David, their four-year old son.
Following the war, English companies were required to re-hire employees who had left their job to enter the armed forces. Eric returned to the pharmaceutical company where he started work at age 16. He was given one condition, however, if he wanted employment: take a position in the far-away city of Toronto, Canada and leave England. Reluctant to uproot his family and leave his homeland, Eric tried to stay in England. He hoped to develop a modest family owned property into a small resort. When permission to develop the land was denied, Eric and his family were left with no option but to head to Canada. So he, Bobbie and young son David decided it was time to pack their bags for Toronto.
On July 31, 1947 Eric, excited about this new adventure, boarded a plane for Canada. The salary offered to him in Canada was higher than comparable jobs in England but he was not allowed to take his savings out of England. Transportation was difficult after the war, so Eric had to leave his young family behind until they could find tickets for a ship's berth. The plan was laid: Eric would start work in Canada, save some money and find housing while his family (Bobbie, David and Bobbie’s parents) stayed in England waiting for sea passage.
