Title: Transatlantic Love Story: Wartime Couple’s Legacy to be Honoured in Lincolnshire
A touching memorial service will be held next month at St Mary’s Church in West Butterwick. The service aims to celebrate the extraordinary love story of Joan Smithson and Lester Moyer, a couple who came together amidst the volatility of World War II.
Joan, from West Butterwick, encountered American serviceman Lester Moyer at a dance in Scunthorpe in 1942. Whilst stationed at the then RAF base in Kirton in Lindsey, Lester was assigned to Africa, compelling the pair to foster their growing romance through a series of love letters sent over the oceans.
Committed to serving her country, Joan, aged 17, enlisted in the Women’s Royal Navy and worked in the capital as a translator for French personnel where she personally experienced the terror of the city’s bombings. In contrast, at the end of the war, Lester journeyed not back to America but instead to England to marry Joan on the 20th of October, 1945 at the same church where their future memorial will take place.
Like many war brides, Joan had to endure a lengthy wait to join her husband in the USA. Her journey was hastened when she found out she was pregnant, which allowed her to travel to New York on a military vessel. The couple made their home in Reading, Pennsylvania, where they raised four children and eventually became the adored grandparents to seven.
Terrilyn, Joan and Lester’s daughter, reminisces about her parents’ early years: “My dad was a generous individual, supporting my mother’s family during the war, and was immensely liked by my grandparents. The move to America was difficult for my mum, but she found companionship in a group of fellow war brides, affectionately known as ‘the English girls’.”
Lester sadly passed away in 2016, with Joan following him in early 2019. In recognition of her parents’ bond and Joan’s final wish, Terrilyn will journey to England to spread their ashes at St Mary’s Church, the location of their wedding nearly 80 years earlier. The memorial service will take place at 10:30 am on Sunday the 18th of May and is open to the public.
“I’ve been organising this for years,” Terrilyn disclosed, “and now that all the plans are finalised, I’m delighted to be carrying out my mum and dad’s final wishes.”
This story was adapted by The Lincoln Post from original coverage provided by www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk.
