Rosalind Hodgson served in WW2 before moving back to Vernon

Photo: Greater Vernon Museum and Archives

Rosalind Hodgson

An online petition asking the province to purchase waterfront Vernon property at 9747 Cameron Rd. and incorporate it into neighbouring Ellison Provincial Park currently has more than 10,000 signatures.

While it's the future of the 34-acres of land that is stimulating significant public discussion, the history of one of the women who used to call it home is just as engaging.

In 1946, the property in question, which included a 1912 historic house, was sold to Mayor and Mrs. Hodgson by the Dalziel family, who were moving to West Vancouver.

Although she was often called E.L. Hodgson, after her husband Eldred, who was a celebrated captain who served in both world wars and then as a fruit inspector in the Okanagan, Rosalind Hodgson’s name should be known for her own remarkable achievements.

During the Second World War, Rosalind, an immigrant from England living in Vernon, enlisted with the Mechanical Transport Corps and was immediately accepted after excelling in anti-gas, map reading, commissariat, first aid, driving and mechanical repair training.

She was accepted to a job as a vehicle driver, one that meant hard work, long hours and no pay. Indeed, unless they were driving transport lorries or ambulances, female drivers were required to be self-sufficient. They were expected to operate vehicles in England, or any other part of the Empire in need, including on active fronts.

But this did not dissuade Rosalind, she paid her own way overseas, saying that she wouldn’t even mind being sent to Kenya or the Far East. 

Rosalind drove army vehicles throughout the United Kingdom, and was attached to the Air Ministry in this capacity for some time. Her husband, Eldred, meanwhile, was stationed in Manitoba as Adjutant of the Artillery Training Camp at Shilo.

In 1943, the couple were granted leave together, and spent it pheasant shooting in the Okanagan — or, Eldred did anyway. Rosalind said that she didn’t much care for shooting and killing things “on this side of the Atlantic.”

After the war, the couple sold their property on Kalamalka Lake and moved to 9747 Cameron Road on Okanagan Lake, where they would remain until the 1960s. They later moved back to Cumberland, England. Rosalind passed away in 1973, and Eldred two years later, in 1975.