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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-emilien-dufresne-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:

Hometown:

Area of Service:

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

What duties did they have?

Interesting stories

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

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"In Düsseldorf, we passed a group of women on the side of the road. They tried to give us water but the Germans wouldn't allow it."

Transcript

I was in Cloridorme [ Quebec]. There was a troop from the Royal 22nd Regiment that was going around, recruiting soldiers. I joined them. I went around all of the Gaspésie region with them. I finally enlisted in Quebec City [with the Régiment de la Chaudière]. [My parents] took it poorly. My father was a veteran so he knew what to expect. It wasn't the same for my mother though; she didn't like it at all.

[On D-Day], the first ships were blown out of the water. We lost a lot of men. We landed in the water, up to our shoulders. We had to drag ourselves up to the seawall. Our job was to overtake the 88 [millimetre] cannons. We took them and we advanced but our group advanced too far. We had dug in for the night and the Germans caught us and took us prisoner. That ended the hostilities, those ones anyways. It was hard though.

We started walking from Courseulles-sur-Mer to Paris. We walked all the way to Paris. It took us a couple of weeks. They led us through the biggest villages. We were prisoners, so they were showing us to people. It was publicity for them. When we arrived in Paris, they loaded us onto animal trains. There were about forty of us in there. We spent eight to ten days in the train, going to Germany. You can only imagine what we endured. There were no toilets in there. It wasn't very hygienic.

Because we were Canadians, we weren't treated as poorly as the Russian [prisoners]. They were treated very differently. At first, we worked in a sugar factory. We worked there for six months. The Russians were approaching, since we were on the Polish border. So they made us walk again. I received news only twice from my parents, through the Red Cross. It wasn't often.

In Düsseldorf, we passed a group of women on the side of the road. They tried to give us water but the Germans wouldn't allow it. Two English prisoners moved towards them, against the orders of the Germans, and they were shot. They shot both of them.

Some [guards] were a bit more tolerant than others. There were some Serbs who were guards, they were pretty tough. One of the guys with us was a Frenchman who was in the German Army. He had befriended us since he knew that we spoke French. We saw that he was a Frenchman. We made him cry the whole time that he was with us. We asked him a ton of questions. What was he going to do after the war? He was in the German Army. He wouldn't be able to go back to France anyway. He probably regretted his decision.

Anyway, you need to have morale strong spirit. You can't let yourself go. You have to make it. I knew I was going to get out of there one day, and that's how it happened. One day we got out. It went like this: on April 9, 1945 the Americans arrived that morning. I was in a camp with Australian prisoners. They thought it was the Russians coming. I realized that it wasn't the Russians, it was the Americans. We all left the camp and went to meet the Americans. There weren't any guards left anyway. They had all left. It was a great day. [The return home] was complete euphoria. Within about ten minutes the house was full of people. I was the first to arrive. There were quite a few of us soldiers in the parish. It took some time.

I followed in my father's footsteps. He didn't talk to us about the war, and I didn't speak of it either. I said to myself, we'll get out of here. A Frenchwoman was touring Canada. She stopped at the motel behind our house. We talked. She told me that in Canada people knew that a war had taken place, but they didn't know how it happened. It's because they didn't experience it. They can't know how it happened. So that's how I got the idea to write the book. That's when I started slowly to write.

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Emilien Dufresne was a solider with the Royal 22e Régiment during the Second World War. He was one of 14,000 Canadian soldiers who stormed Juno Beach on 6 Ju...

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mp-johanna-raymond

STUDENT NAME: Kelly Montalvo

Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Area of Service: Royal Canadian air Force(RCAF)

Rank: roles suggest she likely held a non-commissioned rank, possibly as a leading Aircraft woman or Aircraft woman first class

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Fort William ,Ontario

Significant battles or events they experienced?

Her served was part of Canadian's Cold War -era military operation

When?

served from 1951 to 1955

What duties did they have?

RCAF Women's Division roles: Administrative support ,communications or clerical work,base logistics or personnel coordinate.

Interesting stories

her served spanned multiple Canadian province , giving her a unique opportunity to travel and be an example for women in uniform.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

strength and commitment to your service.

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-joyce-paynter-andrews-primary-source

STUDENT NAME: kelly Montalvo

Hometown: Sutton Quebec , Canada

Area of Service: Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC)

Rank: roles as driver and motor mechanic suggest she likely held the rank of Private.

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Joyce served inside Canada , specific in Montreal , Quebec .

Significant battles or events they experienced?

She did not participate directly in battlefield operation, but her support work was vital to the war effort.

When?

served w w 2 in the years 1942 -1945

What duties did they have?

Diving military vehicles , transporting troops and personnel, maintaining and repairing army trucks and vehicles .

Interesting stories

broke norms and helped demonstrate women's capabilities in military service.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

strong sense of duty and patriotism

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Transcript

I think the Battle of Britain was the worst; that would be in 1940 when Hitler thought that he was going to take over England. We were sort of bombed every night, every night, every night, night after night and I think it was almost maybe six months every night we would have to spend in the air raid shelter. Yeah, it just never let up.

I got the offer for a job with a doctor and his wife to take care of their children. They had one little girl who was two and then there was another one on the way, so I went to work for them. And I used to take the bus or my bicycle because it wasn't too far away from my own home. It was in another area. So this evening, I was on my way home from work and I was on the bus; and all these Canadian soldiers were stationed in my hometown in Sutton and I didn't want anything to do with them. [laughs] They were a rowdy bunch. [laughs]

So, anyway, on the bus, there was two or three of these soldiers and then there was a bad air raid started. So we were all told to get off the bus and go to an air raid shelter. And, of course, everything was blacked out, so I couldn't really see who this man was, so we went to an air raid shelter; and then after the all clear sounded, he asked me if he could walk me home. So he walked me home and then that was about it. And then I used to see this fellow around the town at different times and he would say hi; and my brother was in the British army and he was always bringing these Canadians home for a meal or something or other, so I just thought it was probably somebody that my brother knew or something, or other.

Anyway, he asked me one time if I would like to go to a show with him, so. And I was only 16 at the time, so. We started going together and then we became engaged; and then he wanted to be married and so, because he knew there was a possibility of him going to Italy, and my mother didn't want me to get married because I was only 17. Well, 17 and a half when I was married, so.

I guess maybe the reason was, she was married to a Canadian during the First World War; and he was fighting in France and he come over from France and they were married, and he went back to France and he was killed. So she never talked too much about it, but maybe that was the reason. Yeah.

We were married in 31 July 31, 1943 and I guess it would probably be maybe late August or September that they shipped out for Italy, yeah, to fight in the Italian campaign. And then in October, when I was 18, 1943, there was conscription in England, you know, where they could call you at age 18. So my brother joined when he was 18, so he joined the British army, so I thought, well, I'll go volunteer too. So I did. But then the British army, they told me I was now a Canadian, that I should join the Canadian army and I said, well, how can I do that? And so they gave me some information and I applied, and was accepted. Yeah.

It was great, even the war was still on, you know, and there was a lot of bombing, particularly in London because we were stationed not too far from Buckingham Palace. But I was with Canadian military headquarters, serving in London, after I took my, I think it was six weeks, six or eight weeks basic training course. As I said, I was trained for battle. I was taught all about bombs and booby traps and, of course, we all had gas masks and then we had to go through a gas chamber and take the gas mask off for so many seconds. I guess probably that they were sort of scared that, like during the First World War, that they might use gas, you know, in the Second [World] War, so we were trained for all of that.

And then I can remember that they had this old building and they filled it full of smoke and we had to crawl in there and carry somebody out. Yeah, we were trained like the men. I think it was mostly an English sergeant major that I can remember. He was very strict and you know. I was even taught how to drive a tank. Well, you know, shown how to, if you might be, because at that time, as I said, they thought that Hitler was going to invade England. That was in 1944, at the beginning of 1944.

When the war was over, in 1945, VE [Victory in Europe] Day, my husband, he was on his way home on what would be leave because he'd been over there since 1940, he'd been over in England and then, I think it went on a point system, if you were married, you know. And so he was on his way. I think he was crossing the English Channel on VE Day. So I got to see him for two or three days and then he left for Canada; and he left in June. So the officer said to me, you know, they said, we'll try and get you away as soon as we can. But, of course, I was sent to camp in Aldershot, but they were trying to get them in home, I guess, and so he arrived home in June and I said, I went to what they called a holding camp in Aldershot in England and waited there.

On a Sunday evening, we were pulling into Halifax Harbour on Friday, the thirteenth of July. All we could see was all these lights and that was one thing that amazed me, you know, all the lights after almost six years of blackout. That was one thing that surprised me more than anything.

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"... and all these Canadian soldiers were stationed in my hometown in Sutton and I didn't want anything to do with them. They were a rowdy bunch." See below ...

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-william-bill-bill-davis-primary-sourcce

STUDENT NAME: Khatima Sana Adel

Hometown: Not mentioned

Area of Service: Canadian Army, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division

Rank: Not mentioned

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Tasked with clearing the east side of the Scheldt estuary to open the port of Antwerp

Faced extremely heavy casualties; non-infantry units like anti-aircraft and signal corps were pressed into infantry roles

Participated in a dangerous assault on the town of Woensdrecht, at the narrow neck of the peninsula

Attacked across exposed farmland (polder land) under heavy machine-gun fire

Company reduced to 19 survivors after intense fighting

Company commander was shot in the head but survived and later practiced law

Where in the world did they serve?

Canadian Army, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division

Significant battles or events they experienced?

Battle of the Scheldt, especially the fight on the Beveland Peninsula and Walcheren Island (October 1944)

When?

October 1944

What duties did they have?

Infantry soldier involved in direct assaults under intense enemy fire

Interesting stories

His company commander was shot through the head, yet survived, which was a source of amazement and dark humor.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

Described the battle as “the dirtiest job” with heavy losses, emphasizing the horror of the fighting. He also highlights the importance of humor to survive the terrible conditions of war.

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Transcript

The dirtiest job the Canadian army had was to open up the Scheldt because the Allies desperately needed the port of Antwerp. Antwerp is in Belgium, but most of the Scheldt was in Holland. So the 3rd Division was given the job of clearing the west side and we [2nd Canadian Infantry Division] were given the job of clearing the east side, which was the Beveland Peninsula and the Island of Walcheren. And that was the dirtiest job that we ever had [Battle of the Scheldt].

And at that time, we were taking casualties so heavy, the army broke up anti-aircraft units and signal units and sent those guys into action as infantry men. The poor devils never had a hope in hell of making it home. It was really horrible.

After we fought our way out of Antwerp, we were given the job of sealing off the bottom of this peninsula and by taking a town called Woensdrecht, which sat at the very neck of the peninsula. That was one of the occasions when the order came down from up above, that this was how we do it and no ifs, ands or buts, just do it.

And we moved in, we left our reserve position about 2:30 in the morning [of 13 October 1944] and marched to where our takeoff spot was and about 6:00 or 6:30, we made the attack and we didn't make it 50 feet and we were cut down by heavy machine gun fire and I don't know, everything you could catch.

So we went back to our starting point, which was a ditch going down a road and then again, about noon hour I believe it was, they ordered in a second attack. We were going across a thousand yards [914 metres] of so-called polder land, where the Dutch had built dikes all around and then drained the water out and they used those for vegetable farms.

We went across there, a thousand yards, with no cover, no nothing. The only thing that was there was beets. How the hell we ever got across, I don't know, because the Germans were dug into a big dike at the other side, which contained the railway and a roadway, the only way to get to Walcheren [Island]. We stayed there until, I don't know, 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and the word finally come to pull out and all that was left of my company, were 19 of us, 18 of us walking.

Our company commander, Popham, had been shot earlier in the day in the head. I was the senior one left, so I went to take his map case and any papers he might have and he scared the hell out of me, he was alive. So I put a dressing on his head and we walked out back to the clearing area where they had ambulance Jeeps to take people back to the hospital and they loaded us in trucks and took us back where we'd started from the day before.

That guy was shot right through the head and he lived and practiced law in Montreal for many years afterwards. (laughs) He was a tough beggar.

You may find this hard to believe but it wasn't the fighting that bothered you. You would give your right arm to have a decent night's sleep in a nice warm, dry place. That became the objective. The Germans were in the way of keeping you from having that. It wasn't the fighting really that bothered most people. It was the conditions. It was a terrible, terrible fall and winter in Holland, the worst they'd had in 50 years.

We were moving up to a little town called Goes in, on the Beveland Peninsula. And everybody took to the ditch all of a sudden and I jumped in and then went back to see what was going on. One of my guys had fallen on the road and the boys all thought it was a sniper had hit him. He just fell asleep walking and fell down. It was raining and snowing and everything. But that's how beat up the guys were.

So when we got out of there and they took us to Cuijk [The Netherlands] , it was like being on a holiday for us, you know. Four or five days in the line and out for maybe three days or even a week, and just doing, cleaning weapons and doing a little fieldwork. To us, it was just like having a holiday.

War is a terrible thing. And people survive the war by having a little humour. Oh, they used to do all kinds of silly things when we'd be out of the line. I had a fellow with me that, today they call it post-stress disorder or something. In those days, we called it bomb-wacky. Guys would just go kind of nuts and run around and do different things but this fellow had already been back to what they'd call the sleep camp.

If you went bomb-whacky, they'd send you back to this place, give you a needle and put you to sleep for 48 hours. They're supposed to keep you there for a few days until you settle down and send you back up. The second time, they were supposed to put you in a labour battalion, so you didn't go back and do any fighting. But we were so short of guys that they'd give you the 48 hour sleep, hand you a rifle and send you back.

Now, this fellow had been back twice and the other platoons didn't want him because he'd get up in the middle, as soon as any shells or mortar shells landed, he'd start running around and hollering. But he was a good soldier otherwise. I said I would take him. When he'd get up, I kept him with me, if he tried to get up and run around, I'd just bat him one and knock him out and we became very good friends. And on more than one occasion, he saved my skin.

We used to call him the Duke, because when we were up in Groesbeek [Netherlands], where they'd drop the paratroops and the gliders, there was thousands and thousands of parachutes hanging in the trees and on the ground. We were collecting them up. I sent a bunch of the silk home to my family. There was the best of silk in those days, in parachutes. He made himself like a cravat and wore around his neck. He always looked like a dandy.

And everybody used to have some kind of German weapons, Luger pistols or what have you, and the order come from up on high, "All German weapons were to be surrendered." So we were in this little town of Cuijk, and there was a pub next door that sold beer that was about as strong as water but better than nothing. We were standing there, about 20 of us, when the MPs [military police] rolled up in two or three jeeps. Everybody had a German pistol or something. The sergeant of the MPs said, "You have to surrender those or I'll put you under charge."

And the Duke pulled off a John Wayne. He was wearing two pistols. "If you want these, you've got to come and get 'em." Of course, the MPs are looking. Here's 20 guys armed to the teeth. They just got back in their jeeps and drove off. Those kind of things became rather legend in the army and gave everybody a good belly laugh.

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William (Bill) "Bill" Davis (Primary Source)

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"War is a terrible thing. And people survive the war by having a little humour." See below for Mr. Davis' entire testimony. Please be advised that Memory Pr...

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-nellie-rettenbacher-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:  Khatima Sana Adel

Hometown: Nicola Valley, British Columbia (born on an Indian reserve)

Area of Service: Canadian Army, Military Police

Rank: Corporal

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Enlisted in June 1943 in Vancouver during WWII

Completed basic training in Vermillion, Alberta

Worked at Officer’s Training Centre near Victoria, B.C., and at army barracks in Victoria and Chilliwack

Trained as military police at Camp Borden, Ontario

Served mostly in Vancouver on patrol duties

Supervised a team of 3–4 women military police

Enforced curfew and ensured order among female soldiers at barracks

Experienced some pushback from female soldiers but managed through calm communication

Maintained strong camaraderie with fellow soldiers, attending reunions decades later

Where in the world did they serve?

Canadian Army, Military Police

Significant battles or events they experienced?

service was primarily focused on military police duties within Canadian army bases during World War II.

When?

(1943–1946)

What duties did they have?

Her service was primarily focused on military police duties within Canadian army bases during World War II.

Interesting stories

Managed misbehaving soldiers at barracks, sometimes calling officers to maintain discipline

Faced some challenges enforcing authority as a woman MP but always had support from male MPs nearby

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

Proud of her military service and her family’s support

Never faced discrimination despite being of mixed Indigenous and white heritage

Enjoyed her time in the army and the friendships she made

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jack-henry-hilton-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:

Hometown:

Area of Service:

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

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What duties did they have?

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-margaret-guildford-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:

Hometown:

Area of Service:

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

What duties did they have?

Interesting stories

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-leonard-braithwaite-primary-source

STUDENT NAME: Sachin

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Area of Service: Royal Canadian Air Force, No. 6 Bomber Command

Rank: Not Mentioned

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

- Yorkshire, England, during World War II

Significant battles or events they experienced?

- Served during World War II

When?

- Joined the RCAF in 1943 and served until the end of World War II in 1945

What duties did they have?

- Maintained aircraft engines to ensure they were flight-ready

- Handled and prepared safety gear for aircrew, possibly including parachutes, oxygen systems, etc.

Interesting stories

- Faced and overcame racial discrimination just to be accepted into the military.

- After the war, he achieved many historic firsts, including becoming the first Black MPP in Canada and the first Black bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

- He helped end racial segregation in Ontario schools by challenging outdated laws in his first speech to the Legislature.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

- Demonstrated courage and determination in both military and political service.

- Likely felt pride and resilience in serving during WWII despite facing racism.

- His post-war achievements show a deep commitment to justice, equality, and public service.

- An inspiring example of someone who fought both global conflict and local injustice.

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John Baptist James "John the B" Marchand

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John Baptist James "John the B" Marchand

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-john-baptist-james-john-the-b-marchand-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:

Hometown:

Area of Service:

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

What duties did they have?

Interesting stories

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

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"These crazy guys going from one side of the road to the other, they were being peppered with artillery. That was our last real fight."

Transcript

My name is John Marchand. I was born in Vernon, 1921. When we became infantry, we were eight, nine battery and they called us the same, 8/9 109 Infantry Battalion [later renamed The Lanark & Renfrew Scottish Regiment]. And then our first job was crossing this river [in Italy], attacking. And lieutenants and sergeant-majors are telling us, oh, it's just, it's just an ordinary river, it might be 10 feet deep in some places. But if you want to take a big running jump, you'll hit land, in the water. And I was a Bren gunner, a machine gunner, and they said, keep your arms up out of the water if you can. And we took our running jump and everything but I, as a Bren gunner, we have these pouches, Bren clips in it, and you had your pack on your back with your food and your spare socks and things like that in it. Then you have your water bottle on the side and your first aid thing on your front here. And then take a running jump, hit nothing. And by the time I got to the bank, this is two o'clock in the morning, and by the time I got to the bank, they were already shooting at our direction.

Being the Bren gunner, I emptied all the water and everything and took it out and put it [the gun] back together again and got to the bank and then the guy next to me said, that building there, there are flashes coming out of the building, get them first. Every machine gun has a tracer bullet, has a light and where we see the lights, you'd have to shoot at those lights. And that's what I was doing. Only thing is, I wasn't standing up. The bank of the river was there and I was just tall enough, maybe bent just a little bit with my gun on the ground and there was bushes around there, reed and that. Had my head beside, not aiming, just moving the tracers. I'd shoot at them, empty a whole round and get a new one, put it in and then they'd spray us, the shrubs along the banks, you could hear them just breaking and you know, being hit by bullets. And then there'd be another blast and somebody would say, oh yeah, on the left, and I'd fire at that. And then that would go out and would quit. Then over here, another one, in the same place again. And it was just like that for, oh, I don't know, half an hour I guess.

Anyway, before our other guys were crawling in from the sides going towards this building, when it got to where they were throwing grenades, then we knew they were there, our guys were there. And then when they were throwing grenades, they'd quit firing at us, then we'd get up and we'd go get closer to them. And that was our first fight as infantry.

Inland from Ravenna was the intersection, the tanks already got to that part, armoured services, all the trucks, the supplies. And when we went through, 2:00 in the morning, to go further ahead past them, we got halfway across the field and we were shelled, so was our digging in right there. We couldn't move because of the shelling and there was a ditch across the field that they was firing at us from. So we just dug in right there, it got daylight enough to where our artillery could see where they were, they started shelling that part. But we didn't move in there until the following evening, got dark again. Then we'd move up to the ditch where they were.

While we were pinned down in the field, there's a little building in the middle of the hill that they used for maybe storing their equipment or something, we crawled into it, to have a bite or something. And mostly to bandage some guys up that had arm cuts or leg cuts or whatever. Anyway, I was in there with this, his name was Leroy, and we were in there, this was probably in the afternoon, daylight, this building had quite a lean-to, like I had to bend over to go into it, it had a lean-to on it but it was open on both sides. And he walked out for some reason and as soon as they seen somebody move, they start shooting at him. Of course, they hit him. We brought him back in. We have a thing that has a, it's a needle on it, break that thing and stab him and then press it into him, some kind of painkiller [morphine]. We gave him that but he was bleeding chest and his back. Put all of our bandages, put everything on him.

And then by that time, we got word to the medics and medics of course are allowed to go because they have the big red cross, white circle on them. So they came, two of them came and put him on a stretcher and took him away. From that time after they moved Leroy, then we moved up to the next ditch, then the tanks, Germans started firing at us again and they were hitting the bank on that side, we're on this side. And then when they broke through to where the banks were hitting the second wall, then they started peppering us with mortars. And that's the nearest I got to being hurt I guess, was that it hit so close that it popped right out of your little [fox]hole, popped right out and moved you over about five or six feet. And you couldn't hear, you couldn't see, you couldn't breathe. You had to crawl back into the hole again.

We called for artillery gun and this time, air support. And once they started dive bombing them, then guys went through us and went ahead. And then on our way back to the intersection, they were shelling that intersection and before we got to the intersection, guys were going from this side of the road to this side, on our way across and the shrapnel would take one leg off and you'd hop across and dive off the road. And we seen stuff like that. These crazy guys going from one side of the road to the other, they were being peppered with artillery. That was our last real fight.

And growing up, nine and ten years old, I was with the guys going rounding up wild horses and then all through my teens, I was breaking horses. And then 15, I went to logging camps and it was always 15 or 20 big rough six-foot, 250 pound guys and everything. And you get this knack I guess is that even if you're small ... there are some things you can do. And there's little ways and means that you go about doing it. And you use that same thing in hiding and protection and things, with a real enemy. What it is really, it's machine gun bullets. You can't hide from the artillery and mortars but you can from the people actually shooting at you. It was a job that had to be done, thank the guys that did. And that's about it.

Archival Material

Book a Speaker

The Memory Project is a volunteer speakers bureau that arranges for veterans and Canadian Forces members to share their stories of military service at school and community events across the country.

Request a Memory Project speaker at thememoryproject.com/book-a-speaker.

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John Baptist James "John the B" Marchand (Primary Source)

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John "the B" Marchand from Okanagan Reserve #1 was a Bren gunner during the Second World War. He served in the infantry from 1943 to 1945. Learn more abou...

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mp-alan-freeman

STUDENT NAME: Sachin

Hometown: Not Mentioned

Area of Service: Western Europe, including Normandy (France), Belgium, Holland (Netherlands), and Germany.

Rank: Not Mentioned

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve

- Normandy (France), Belgium, Holland (Netherlands), and Germany

Significant battles or events they experienced?

- D-Day landing at King Beach in Normandy

- Tank battles in the Normandy hedgerows

- Crossing the Nijmegen Bridge

- Rescuing a hidden Jewish family in Varsseveld, Holland

When?

- During World War II

What duties did they have?

- Operating and fighting in a Sherman tank

- Engaging in battles across Western Europe

- Participating in the liberation of territories occupied by the Nazis

Interesting stories

- Alan’s tank was hit, and he was badly burned, but he survived.

- A young boy in a Dutch village asked him if he was Jewish, then led him to a hidden family.

- He was blessed by the mother for saving them.

- Decades later, he reconnected with members of that family in Canada.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

- He felt a strong connection to the war through his family’s military history.

- He was deeply moved by the rescue of the Jewish family and the later discovery that they had survived and some had immigrated to Canada.

- His humor and bravery are evident in his storytelling, even when describing dangerous and traumatic events.

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-george-macdonell-primary-source

STUDENT NAME: Khatima Sana Adel

Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta

Area of Service: Canadian Army, Royal Rifles of Canada

Rank: Sergeant

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Trained as infantry and light machine gun specialist at Wolseley Barracks.

Assigned to Royal Rifles of Canada in Québec City as a weapons instructor.

Deployed to Hong Kong in 1941 as part of “C” Force to defend against Japanese invasion.

Fought in the Battle of Hong Kong, resisting Japanese forces for three weeks.

Captured after Hong Kong’s surrender; spent nearly four years as a POW in Japanese camps.

Forced into slave labor, including working in Japan’s largest shipyard and in mines.

Witnessed acts of sabotage by fellow prisoners to damage Japanese war efforts.

Endured extreme starvation, illness, and harsh conditions until liberation after Japan’s surrender in 1945.

Where in the world did they serve?

Hong Kong and Japan (prisoner of war camps)

Significant battles or events they experienced?

Battle of Hong Kong (December 1941), imprisonment and forced labor in Japan

When?

1941–1945 (World War II)

What duties did they have?

Infantry, weapons instructor, prisoner forced laborer

Interesting stories

The sabotage of the Japanese shipyard by fellow Canadian prisoners that disrupted vital Japanese war production.

The refusal to surrender voluntarily in battle and the fierce fighting despite overwhelming odds.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

MacDonell emphasized the bravery, determination, and resilience of the Canadian soldiers, highlighting their refusal to surrender and their toughness in the face of extreme hardship.

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Transcript

My name is George MacDonell. I was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1922. I was the fifth generation of Scottish immigrants. My first ancestors arrived in Canada in 1824. My mother was a nursing sister in World War I and she was a nursing sister just behind the front lines of the main trench warfare lines in northern France. My father was a major in the army. They met in London during the war, were married after the war, and I was their only child.

I was sent to Wolseley Barracks, where there was a high-class boot camp for young army recruits. There, I was trained as infantry under the best instructors in the Canadian army. I became very interested in light machine guns and within a few months in this very demanding, tough training centre, I became a lance corporal. A few months later, I became a corporal and one day, the commanding officer sent for me and said, you're going to be sent to a new regiment being formed in Québec City and you will go there as a sergeant. And you will report to the commanding officer of the Royal Rifles of Canada, which is now being recruited in Québec City.

And so from the training centre, I went to the Royal Rifles of Canada, which had just been mobilized and which needed weapons instructors. I served in that regiment until it was suddenly nominated in the fall of 1941 to proceed immediately to Hong Kong. And with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, the Royal Rifles formed "C" Force, under the command of Brigadier Lawson, and we proceeded across the Pacific Ocean to Hong Kong.

Within a month or so, the Japanese attacked Hong Kong in overwhelming force; their navy, air force and a massive Japanese army attacked Hong Kong. Within three weeks, the island was overrun and the governor was forced to surrender the island to the Japanese. However, the Canadians, who were penned up by that time after fighting the entire period extremely well, refused to surrender and only did so when the governor interceded personally and forced us to lay down our arms. So we did not surrender by raising our hands or throwing away our weapons. We had determined never to surrender but, finally, accepted the orders, obeyed the orders from the governor.

Then began almost four years in the Japanese prison camp. I spent the first year or so in Hong Kong and then I was shipped to Japan. We were in Yokohama, Japan, in a camp called Camp 3B, and we were working in Japan's largest shipyard, a vitally important war industry building much needed Japanese freighters and naval vessels. In order to strike back at the Japanese, these two young men, Staff Sergeant Clarke and Private Cameron, decided that they would commit sabotage through arson, damage the shipyard so that it could not produce the ships that it was scheduled to complete. And they did that by starting a fire that was timed to occur when the prisoners were back at their camp, about two miles away, during the night, under the blueprint factory and the place where the wooden forms are patterned, it's called the pattern shop. And since in those days there was no electronic storage of information in computers, once you burned the blueprints and the patterns that came from the blueprints, there was no way you could build a ship or do anything in that shipyard.

The shipyard employed thousands of people and it was the most vital war effort of the Japanese, destroyed by two young Canadians. And they did it in utter secrecy, they told no one but they pulled it off successfully and they even saved their own lives by doing so undetected.

We were moved to a camp in northern Japan called Ohashi and it was there, working in a mine, again as slave labourers, that we were when the emperor of Japan surrendered to the Allied forces. Now, the Japanese army was furious at this surrender and in fact, revolted, tried to capture the emperor and continue the war but they failed. And so we were left in a very dangerous position, surrounded by hostile Japanese troops and without any arms and extremely ill: so badly starved that we were in the last extremes of starvation and one form of illness after another. And so we were in a very dangerous position. We were fed by air after a week or so when the American forces spotted our camp from the air. It took almost a month for the Americans to assemble the appropriate forces and a naval force to come to a nearby port to pick us up. So that period was a very dangerous one and one where we were in a very precarious position for about 30 days.

The story, however, is not about how the Canadians were defeated. It's about how they fought and how they behaved against impossible odds. And it's about the mettle they showed when it was apparent that there was no hope and there was no possibility of a successful outcome. They never surrendered and they fought like tigers.

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My name is George MacDonell. I was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1922. I was the fifth generation of Scottish immigrants. My first ancestors arrived in Canada in 1824. My mother was a nursing sister in World War I and she was a nursing sister just behind the front lines of the main trench warfare lines in northern France.

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-edward-fey-ed-lee-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:  Sachin

Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia

Area of Service: Special Operations Executive (SOE), also known as Force 136 in Asia

Rank: Private

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

- England

- India

- Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)

- Was prepared to be deployed in Japanese-occupied Asia, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Significant battles or events they experienced?

- He did not engage in traditional battles, but was trained for guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines in the jungle.

- Prepared to parachute into enemy territory, but the war ended before he was deployed.

When?

- 1944-1946

What duties did they have?

- Wireless operator sending information form the jungle using Morse code.

- Trained for parachute drops or submarine missions though not deployed

- Lived among natives, gathered intelligence, and prepared for long jungle missions alone

- Ready to use cyanide pills if captured to avoid torture

Interesting stories

- He was originally going to go by submarine, but changed to parachuting—only to find the war was over.

- Trained in dangerous tree rope exercises without safety nets

- The locals who helped him were just 14–18 years old

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

- Faced discrimination which influenced his choice to join the Army instead of the Air Force.

- Understood the deadly risks of secret missions.

- Showed bravery and calmness in dangerous training.

- Felt a sense of duty and pride, especially as a Chinese Canadian helping to fight in Asia, where he could blend in and contribute in ways others couldn’t.

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"European agents could not operate near the main population centres in Asia because of their skin colour and inability to speak the local language. Who can the British call to operate in Asia as SOE?"

Transcript

I was 18 years old on my last year at grade 12 at Vancouver Technical School. Grade nine, I joined the Air Cadets until I reached grade 12, but I did not finish grade 12 when I enlisted in the army. Why I did not enlist in the air force - because of discrimination at my time. My brother and my brother-in-law enlisted in the air force at that time. I do not know how they got in. Of course, I did not try, but I heard if you joined the Canadian Army, you have a better chance to volunteer for SOE [Special Operations Executive] overseas program under the British Army. So that is why I joined the Canadian Army.

The SOE, Special Operations Executive, in Asia, was known as Force 136. The life of secret agents [in Asia] was quite different than in Europe. There was no solid organized group of local people fighting the invaders. Most of the native people in the Japanese-occupied territory such as Hong Kong, Malaya (now called Malaysia), Siam [Thailand], French Indochina [Vietnam and Cambodia], Netherlands East Indies [Indonesia] and Philippines. However, SOE had to enlist the support a local Communist guerillas to fight against the Japanese. Furthermore, European agents could not operate near the main population centres in Asia because of their skin colour and inability to speak the local language. Who can the British call to operate in Asia as SOE? The British agents come to Canada to ask the Canadian government if they could ask the young Chinese Canadians to volunteer for special SOE service under Force 136.

We sail from England through Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, Red Sea and Indian Ocean. They transferred a few small groups of men to various places. I was transferred to Poona [India] by train. Arriving in Poona, I have been training for combat such as obstacle courses, tree climbing above 30 feet high. The tree has a small platform. Another tree platform, approximately 30 feet away; there is a rope. Purpose of this exercise is to swing to the other platform. No one on the other side to catch you. If you cannot make it, you will fall to the ground with no net.

After this course, we left Poona and travel by train to Meerut. In Meerut, we are training for wireless operator. This course takes approximately three months. It consists of Morse Code and decipher. I have signed up for submarine, instead of parachute jump. I waited so long for submarine; therefore, I want to switch to parachute jump. When I apply for parachute jump, it is too late; I didn't know the war is over. The last trip I traveled to Colombo in Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka, which is the final destination. From there, you could be called any time for duty into the guerilla warfare in Japanese occupied territory by parachute into the jungle individually, not by group. You'll be in the jungle for three to four months until someone relieve you.

The native will be there to receive you and carry your equipment. These natives are from age 14 to 18. We are there to gather information and report it to a headquarter by Morse Code. This is for wireless operator duty. The demolition groups and interpreter in Japanese speaking group are inside the Japanese territory, occupied camps. They have much danger job than wireless operator. If you're still alive and get caught by Japanese soldier, you will try to take two Cyanide pills to prevent the enemy torturing you. After they try to get the information from you when you are captured, you are not qualified as prisoner of war, you will be shot immediately. I didn't leave the Asia part until 1946 in March.

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Edward Fey "Ed" Lee joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a volunteer for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) overseas program. He served from 1944 to 1946. Be...

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-percy-junior-jackson-primary-source

STUDENT NAME: Amin Hassan

Hometown: Lucasville /Nova Scotia Canada

Area of Service: He served in the Neterland.

Rank: Master Warrant Officer.

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve? Netherland.

Significant battles or events they experienced? Halifax

When? 1944

What duties did they have? peackeeping

Interesting stories reunited with his brother who hasn't seen him for long time.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions. He was so happy when he met his brother because he was so close to him.

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"I walked right up to my brother in Holland. And he was down in a little pup tent in an area in Goor, and he was just running on, doing a little peg, pound a peg in his little tent. And, he looked around at me, then he put a couple more whacks, looked around again, he was stunned, like, and he said, "What the heck are you doing here!""

Transcript

Well, my name is Percy Jackson, and I'm 83 years old. I was born on the 19th of December, 1926. I was born in Lucasville [ Nova Scotia], which is - just to be born, because we were living in Windsor, Nova Scotia, and I decided that I couldn't wait to get home, so I was born in a farmhouse in Lucasville. And I was always an honours student, until I quit in Grade 10 to join the forces. Because my father went in the forces, the war came, my brother, who I idolized, he was my mentor, he was my hero, he was everything to me - taught me everything, he was seven years older than me, he went in the armed forces overseas. I was devastated. I was lost. I said, "I have to get in the army. I have to get in the forces, I have to get over there, and either rescue my brother or follow my brother. And find him."

So, what happened was, that I tried to get in at 14. So I was - I had all the children's things. We were the only - first of all, we were the only coloured family in that town, there was no other people. We were the only ones in school, the only ones in church, the only ones there. And when my kids look at those school pictures, they look and they'll say, "Well, where are the rest of the black people?" You know, there was none, just us.

I tried to get in the forces, to follow my brother. But, when I went there, the guy says, "I'm sorry, but we have your birth certificate and you can't get in." So I said, "Okay." Very disappointed. So I went back home. I tried it again at 16, walked into Halifax recruiting, no problem whatsoever. I passed 100 percent and everything. And my IQ was high. And I went through everything and then after the examinations and everything was over, they said, "Congratulations, you passed, you are now in the forces, all you have to do now is go back home for a couple weeks and we will call you. Get your business done and come back and we'll call you." So I says, "I don't have any business to attend to." "Oh, you don't, you want to stay right now?" I said, "Yes!" - went around the line again, in, phase one done. Then, I went in the forces and took my basic training in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. I was a model soldier. And I couldn't be nothing else, because my uniforms had to be pressed properly, my shoes had to be shined really good, and it was my discipline and my own respect that I did this, because it was instilled in me to be the best. And I guess my superiors recognized this and they made me a section leader, within one month in the forces. They made me a section leader. That was in 1944. Then, at Christmas, at the end of - just after Christmas, I left after Christmas to go to, I said, "We're ready" - all my training was done and they had me. They said, "Well, now you're going overseas." My mission - I'm on my way!

The North Nova Scotia Highlanders Signal Platoon prior to going overseas, July 1941. The 25 men are wearing respirators and steel helmets. These men landed together in Normandy on D-Day.

And all I could think about, my mission was, to go find my brother. But I was supposed to be part of reinforcements for The North Nova Scotia Highlanders. So we went down, we got down in there, I went up into it with my unit - they were in Holland. And I joined the unit and then all of a sudden, I was taken away. I found afterwards, I didn't know what happened near the end, but I found afterwards - my mother had written a letter, that she said, my brother, who was in the [1944] D-Day raid - who was wounded, about four days after the invasion, passed him up, at a field hospital, in a British field hospital, and he went back into action again. And he was wounded again, in the Liberation of Holland. So she said - she knew I was in the forces, so that's what surprised me. But she probably might have, so she thought, you know, "Well, look, I'm going to do a favour, because he has no business there."

So anyway, when they took me from my unit, and they put me in a little tent there, administration tent, and I said, "Well, what am I doing here?" They said, "Never mind, just sit there." So, they sit there, and I sit there and I sit there and then all of a sudden, I was getting kind of, I was saying, "What am I doing here?" I said, "All my friends, you know, my guys, my fellows I trained with and everything, I'll never be able to find them, they'll be gone. Where are they?" And I started to cry. They said, "No, everything's going to be alright, but we have to, we found something wrong in your documents and we have to check and correct that." So I said, "Yeah." Sat there for a while.

I said, "Are we ready yet, because I want to go where my unit is, I'm getting lost." I said, "I'll never be able to find them, they're gone." They said, "Just be quiet." And then all of a sudden, again, they said, "You're going to come with us." So they took me into Belgium, into an old army barracks that was there, where a lot of other soldiers were there, I don't know what they were doing there... Anyway, we went there, and they kept me there. They just gave me jobs to - they didn't say what I was doing, and I wondered where my unit was. I was suspicious, and I said, "Well, maybe, they found out my age."

So anyway, they give me a job, just cleaned out the room, doing that and just like that... Everything. Finally, they come and they told me what happened. And then, but in the meantime, what happened was, May [1945] came - the [European] war ended. And then I was on my way back to my unit. And then, I went there, and I was looking for this person, looking for that person. I had a good friend there, Gallant, we were always together, and I said - he was from Prince Edward Island - and I said, "Where is he?" And I'm running around, looking for him. They said, "He was killed on the last day of the war." Well, I blamed everybody for that. I blamed everybody. I said, "There now, if I'd have been here, he wouldn't have been dead." Well, that's crazy, you know what I mean...

Anyway, I get over that sort of thing, and I found my brother in Holland. I walked right up to my brother in Holland. And he was down in a little pup tent in an area in Goor, and he was just running on, doing a little peg, pound a peg in his little tent. And, he looked around at me, then he put a couple more whacks, looked around again, he was stunned, like, and he said, "What the heck are you doing here!" Well, we had a nice greeting. But when I went back to my unit in Amersfoort [Netherlands], they told me all about what happened, why they took me away. They had no choice. So they said, "But, we're going to keep you here now, the war is over, and what do you want to do? Do you want - you have three choices, do you want to go home, or..." - the war was still on in Japan, so they said, "You can go home, and have a leave, go down in the southern states and train in jungle warfare. By that time, maybe you'd be old enough and you can go to the Far East if you want to." So I said, "I don't want to go home." So I chose to stay in Germany for a year and a half, in the occupation forces. Also, just after the war, when I was in a place called Werne, Germany, and we were going up in the Oldenburg section - Oldenburg, Kleve, Osnabrück, Hamburg, all those cities were just leveled. There was nothing but a pile of brick and stone.

Then there was this, I looked over one time near Werne there was this side hill, on a nice beautiful day. Sun was shining nice. And there was some German soldiers out on the grass, in the sun, and I looked and some of them had no arms, some had no legs. And then it struck me. I said, "My goodness, these guys were somebody's husband, somebody's brother, somebody's child or something." And I was saying, "My goodness! My goodness! Everybody loses in war." Then right then I says, "War is not to be glorified, war is hell!"

My mission was served, for finding my brother. Also, my mission was served because I really, really, really enjoyed being in the military. We were all the same. Same uniform, we dressed alike. We slept in the same quarters. And I retired, altogether, at the end, as a Master Warrant Officer.

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"I walked right up to my brother in Holland. And he was down in a little pup tent in an area in Goor, and he was just running on, doing a little peg, pound a peg in his little tent.

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-lewis-louis-chow-primary-source

STUDENT NAME: Sachin

Hometown: Wetaskiwin, Alberta

Area of Service: Behind enemy lines in Southeast Asia during World War II

Rank: Not Mentioned

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

- Kandy, Ceylon (Sir Lanka)

- Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Significant battles or events they experienced?

- The dropping of the second atomic bomb, which likely helped end the war before Chow's mission became even more dangerous.

When?

- During World War II

What duties did they have?

- Communicating in Morse code

- Parachuting into enemy territory

- Hiding and working with local Chinese to gather intelligence

Interesting stories

- He parachuted into enemy territory at night with only one hour of training.

- He had to be prepared to cut himself free from trees using a Gurka knife.

- He faced an 80% death rate if caught, as spies were executed on the spot.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

- Chow clearly recognized the extreme danger of his role.

- His survival seemed miraculous, and he acknowledged he likely wouldn't be alive if the war had continued longer.

- He expressed a sense of duty despite the risks, highlighting the bravery and sacrifice of Chinese Canadian soldiers during the war.

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-edith-marion-garden-primary-source

STUDENT NAME: Daria Vovkohon

Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta

Area of Service:

Ottawa

Claresholm

Fort Macleod

Queen Charlotte [Islands]

Vancouver

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Across Canada

Significant battles or events they experienced?

While she did not participate in direct combat, her posting to the Queen Charlotte Islands

When?

joined in 1942, discharged in 1945

What duties did they have?

sales, financial responsibilities, organizing social events

Interesting stories

She recounted selling 40 hot dogs at once

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

She enjoyed time on the Queen Charlotte and natural beauty

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-gordon-harrison-primary-source

STUDENT NAME: Daria Vovkohon

Hometown: Montréal

Area of Service: Japan and Korea

Rank:

He got the rank of Corporal

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Japan and Korea

Significant battles or events they experienced?

--- (no information given)

When?

Served in the Korean War in 1952–1953

What duties did they have?

Responsible for leading soldiers, keep discipline and safety of doing orders

Interesting stories

He recalled how the Canadian soldiers would sometimes share their rations with local Korean children

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

His lasting impressions of war on those who serve

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-roland-rolly-gravel-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:

Hometown:

Area of Service:

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

What duties did they have?

Interesting stories

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-leslie-les-mccreesh-primary-source

https://www.wardfuneralhomes.com/memorials/leslie-mccreesh/2842056/obit.php?&printable=true

STUDENT NAME:

Hometown:

Area of Service:

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

What duties did they have?

Interesting stories

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-ida-may-skinny-lackey-nee-skinner-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:  Amin Hassan

Hometown: England

Area of Service: CWAC

Rank: woolwoth's on portage avenue in Winnipeg.

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve? London England

Significant battles or events they experienced? she joined in the women's Auxiliary corps

When?1941

What duties did they have? doing stocks at inventory control.

Interesting stories: The first 100 women came from the corps were put right to work in what they were able to do

Thoughts/feelings/emotions some of her friend were dead cause of a bomb that was really sad.

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Ida Lackey in Canadian Women's Army Corps battledress, London, England, 1944.
(Courtesy of The Memory Project/Ida May Lackey)

" When the bomb hit, I was in the middle of the building between two doors. So I was just spun around with the blast, but I wasn't hurt."

I enlisted in Winnipeg in 1941. I did join the Canadian Women's Auxiliary Corps. I believe it was then named CWAC [ Canadian Women's Army Corps] and it was incorporated in 1941 into the regular army. I enlisted in September and became a member of the military in October 1941 in Winnipeg.

I worked at Woolworth's on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg. I was doing stock and inventory control, doing records. When I joined the army, I believe, the first 100 women who came from the corps were put right to work in what they were able to do. We didn't have any basic training because we had already had our training.

I went then to work right in the Ordnance Corps, taking stock of all the military equipment. And I was there until I was drafted for overseas. And I believe that was in 1943 because I wasn't sent straight from Winnipeg, I did go to Camp Shilo, from Winnipeg, and I worked out there for quite a while.

So I was assigned to the RCEME, the Royal Canadian Electrical [and] Mechanical Engineers as a clerk typist at Fairfax House in London. So I was assistant to the chief clerk, who was a staff sergeant; and I didn't, I didn't have to count, do inventory, I worked the desk, yes.

I was doing, well, it was mostly top secret files, which I couldn't talk about and I don't think I can yet. It was a war zone because we had to put up with the buzz bombs [V1 flying bomb] and the V2s [long-range ballistic missiles]. The building Fairfax House was right next door to was hit by a V2 and it blew in half the side of our building. My desk was right at that window, but I had moved to go out into the hallway to take a letter over to the stenographers. When the bomb hit, I was in the middle of the building between two doors. So I was just spun around with the blast, but I wasn't hurt. I came back into the room and some of our girls who worked there were bleeding from the glass; and a lot of the men were hurt, very badly hurt. So that was my closest.

The war ended in May 1945, as you know, and I was drafted to Holland in June 1945. I went to Apeldoorn and I worked [in] tents there. I did the same work for the RCEME, but we lived in tents because we had no barracks at that time until it turned cold. And then we went and lived in a seminary, it was a very huge building and it was taken over by the army.

The military had a club for the non-comms [non-commissioned officers] and the WOs [warrant officers], that was our recreational club that we went to for meals and dancing, and meeting all the other friends. And I met him [her husband, Fred Lackey] at the club. It was called the 99 Club. He was there with some of his friends from his unit and I was there with some of my friends, and we met there. We met there quite a few times. We were engaged to be married in September; and we realized we could not go home without getting married because I lived in Winnipeg and he lived in Ontario. And so we applied to get married over there, which we did in December 1945.

It was a military wedding. We rented swords from one of the police departments in one of the little towns in Holland and I had a guard of honour with half women and half my friends, and half Fred's friends. I tell you, it was the best years of my life, I think. Most interesting. And the fact that I met my husband there too, that was part of it.

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Ida May "Skinny" Lackey (née Skinner) (Primary Source)

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Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker's recollections and interpretations of event...

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-francis-william-godon-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:

Hometown:

Area of Service:

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

What duties did they have?

Interesting stories

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/mcnamara

STUDENT NAME: Doruk

Hometown: 9 January 1920 in Montreal, Quebec

Area of Service: He serviced North African and Italian Campaign

Rank: Flying Officer

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

He served in Egypt for the Italian Campaign. Also, Howard was stationed at Port Said in Egypt.

Significant battles or events they experienced?

Howard experienced North African Campaign and Italian Campaign.

When?

Howard enlisted in December 1941 and retired in March of 1945.

What duties did they have?

Howard's task was targeting German targets and he also escorted bomber planes.

Interesting stories

Howard could not enlist because he was underweight and the doctor told him to go home and gain 10 more pounds.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

I felt sad when he learned that his brother had been shot down flying over Europe.

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Corporal (Ret’d) Anne McNamara and Flying Officer (Ret’d) Howard McNamara - Veterans Affairs Canada

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-albert-bert-hogg-primary-source

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“I lifted him out of the stretcher and his back just literally fell out and he died right there in my arms. It’s in my mind all the time.”
Albert “Bert” Hogg…

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/mcnamara

STUDENT NAME: Doruk

Hometown: 4 November 1922 in Montreal, Quebec.

Area of Service: Royal Canadian Airforce (RCAF)

Rank: Corporal (Ret'd)

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Germany, Canada, United States, Great Britain, and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Significant battles or events they experienced?

Anne experienced the bomb raids in Britain and when the bombs were dropping she was taking a shower and after she heard the sirens she said “if they hit me at least I’ll be clean.”

When?

Anne joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943 and she retired in March of 1946.

What duties did they have?

Anne was a dancer in the Royal Canadian Airforce she increased people's morals during the war.

Interesting stories

When Nazis were raiding Britain with bombs Anne was taking a shower and she remembers that she said “if they hit me at least I’ll be clean.”

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

I felt really surprised when she said that at least she will die as clean because it showed that she accepted she will die and just waited there to die is really interesting for me.

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Corporal (Ret’d) Anne McNamara and Flying Officer (Ret’d) Howard McNamara - Veterans Affairs Canada

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-roy-trevor-gilbert-heron-primary-source

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Transcript

I left the Norwegian Merchant Navy in 1942 and came and joined the Canadian army. Well, I joined in Montreal and I went to St. Jean, where I did my basic. Then to Kingston, Ontario, where I went to the Signal Corps. And from the Signal Corps, to exchange, to REME-Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. That's what I wound up in. And that's when I shipped overseas.

I learned how to fix radios, telephones, done Morse code. This is the things I learned. And this is why I was a technician instead of an operator, dealing with communication. I fix radios, the telephones and other electrical equipment because there's so many things we didn't know, fixing things in the tanks, in the vehicles and other things like that. And that got me a chance to get around and meet people and everything like that. So it was quite enjoyable.

And eventually, when I was in England, they made me become a movie operator, dealing with shows pertaining to different things dealing with the military. And so I was the, what we call auxiliary as they can call it. And dealing with certain form of entertainment, a lot of things that we created for the army.

Now, to have entertainment, it helped break the tension when you're fellows in the army and everything like that. Because the music and the shows and everything like that, they relax and everything and we created dances for them and many other things so they could relax. It was so long ago, I've a very vague idea of what they were like. I couldn't remember any particular one. I know we covered so many things dealing with, with the war and also fighting and other things like that that created there. So it, we show both entertainment and the military aspects of the army. And purpose, what soldiers should be doing and how they should look after themselves.

Wherever I went, I picked up basic language of the country. Like in Germany, I picked up a certain amount of language in German and things like that. So I could say "hello" to a person, "thank you" and so forth like that and this is what I did wherever I went, I pick up certain basics of a language, so I could say "thank you," "goodnight" or "goodbye" and different things like that.

I made it a point to be very active and help in the children of both in Holland and in Germany, because kids had nothing to do with the war and they need help and kids were my prime factor in helping. I had different games, different things I show them and also I gave them stuff and all the thing like that. And different things pertaining to how you should do things and how you should create things and everything like that. I'd set up like a little expo type of thing to show the kids what can be done and what can't be done and also, many of those kids, I mean, I used to get my army rations and give them some cookies and chocolates and many other things, because I loved to just assimilate with them. And through that, I got to know many families and we correspond with so many families still today.

When I took my examination for the army, I got a very high score and I was subject to become an officer, but somehow, it never worked out. But it never worried me at all. I just went through and did a job I had to do because I know I'm helping this country to achieve a goal and get rid of Nazism and Fascism. And that was my chief purpose of quitting the Norwegian Merchant Marine and joining the army. And I went to the Signal Corps because the Signal Corps is the root of an army. Because there is the one who corresponds and keep the army moving, which way and back and forth. And I can say I enjoyed my life in the Canadian Army, I had no problems at all to speak of, really, I had no really problems to speak of.

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Roy Trevor Gilbert Heron (Primary Source)

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I left the Norwegian Merchant Navy in 1942 and came and joined the Canadian army. Well, I joined in Montreal and I went to St. Jean, where I did my basic. Then to Kingston, Ontario, where I went to the Signal Corps. And from the Signal Corps, to exchange, to REME-Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/ben-duval

STUDENT NAME: Doruk

Hometown: April 4, 1923, in Tourville, Quebec

Area of Service: Royal 22e Régiment in Valcartier

Rank: First-class engineer.

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

He served in oceans and in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Significant battles or events they experienced?

He fought in the Battle of the Atlantic.

When?

In May 1945 his assigned ship HMCS Victoriaville, was ordered to leave the convoy to intercept and board German submarine U-190.

What duties did they have?

His duty was to track and hunt German submarines during convoy missions.

Interesting stories

He lied about his age when he wanted to enlist in the army.Also, he was part of the group that captured the German submarine U-190

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

He usually mentions that the Battle in the Atlantic was intense.

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/stanley-edwards

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Stanley Edwards - Veterans Affairs Canada

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/vicky-luscombe

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Vicky Luscombe - Veterans Affairs Canada

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/george-couture

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Warrant Officer (Retd) George Couture - Veterans Affairs Canada

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/ernest-smith

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During the Second World War, Ernest "Smokey" Smith became the only Canadian private to earn the Victoria Cross after he almost single handedly fought off German tanks and soldiers during the Italian Campaign.

Ernest "Smokey" Smith was born on 3 May 1914 in New Westminster, British Columbia. He enlisted with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in March 1940 and began basic training with the Royal Canadian Regiment in Toronto. He went on to complete his training at Camp Borden before sailing out of Halifax to join the war effort in Europe.

In July 1943, Smith was part of the first successful Allied amphibious landing in the Second World War. Canadian soldiers came ashore near Pachino, Sicily, during the invasion of the Mediterranean island which took place less than a year after the failed Dieppe Raid of August 1942. "I thought for a while there when they were going in for that landing they were never gonna' make it, because it was so rough, that water was just crazy," explained Smith when asked about it in his Heroes Remember interview, "as soon as we hit the shore we ... as soon as everybody got there we just took off right straight ahead." In the months that followed, as the Canadians pushed their way from the south to the north of Italy, the fighting was particularly bitter.

"... so we'd blow holes through the wall so we go through that way. Cause if you walk out into the street they'd get ya."

Once the Canadians arrived in the town of Ortona in mainland Italy, its steep, rubble filled streets limited the use of tanks and artillery. During several days of brutal street fighting in December 1943, the Canadians smashed their way through walls and buildings-"mouse-holing" as they called it. "It was a terrible place. You know it, it was practically door to door," explained Smith in an interview. "For miles, they had everything close together ... so we'd blow holes through the wall so we go through that way. Cause if you walk out into the street they'd get ya'."

"They must have figured there was a whole army there because they could have wiped me out in no time if they'd known I was practically all by myself."

Victoria Cross

Mr. Smith describes the encounter with German troops across the Savio River in Italy for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He goes on to tell of receiving his medal from King George VI in his private apartment at Buckingham Palace. The video concludes as he speaks about his return to Vancouver and the hero's reception he received.

On the night of 21-22 October 1944, Smith's unit attempted to establish a bridgehead across the Savio River in northern Italy but was counter-attacked by three Mark V Panther tanks and about 30 German infantry soldiers. "Our objective was to cross the river and that's what we did. We got in there and we weren't there too long before we were attacked by tanks," recalled Smith. With an infantry anti tank weapon, he put one Panther tank out of action and drove back the enemy infantry. "In the end there was just Jimmy and I, and then he got wounded so that left only me. So, I had to stay out there by myself while everybody else was in the church." As the attack continued, Smith held his position until the enemy withdrew. "They must have figured there was a whole army there because they could have wiped me out in no time if they'd known I was practically all by myself." Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for his brave actions.

After the war, Smith became actively involved in his community. He volunteered his time to commemorative activities and events on the local, national and international scales. Smith was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1995. At the time of his death on 3 August 2005, Smith was the last surviving Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross.

In honour of the 75th anniversary of the Italian Campaign, Ernest "Smokey" Smith is one of our Faces of Freedom. He is also featured in our exhibit in the Visitor Education Centre at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. His service and sacrifices will never be forgotten.

Interested in hearing more from Smokey? Watch his Heroes Remember interviews.

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Sergeant (Ret'd) Ernest "Smokey" Smith, VC

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Chief Warrant Officer Anton “Tony” Pearson

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Chief Warrant Officer Anton “Tony” Pearson

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/anton-pearson

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Anton "Tony" Olaf Pearson was born on 8 March 1925 in Melville, Saskatchewan. He enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces on 15 October 1943, and first joined the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. He said he decided to volunteer before he was conscripted. "I chose volunteering."

Pearson was reassigned to the South Saskatchewan Regiment in September 1944, arriving with a small group of reinforcements to bring the regiment up to strength after suffering numerous battle casualties. During the Second World War, Pearson served in Canada, Belgium, Holland, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Landing in Europe after D Day in Ostend, Belgium, the South Saskatchewan Regiment saw action in the Battle of the Scheldt, an Allied offensive led by the First Canadian Army which cleared German forces from land surrounding the Scheldt Estuary. This allowed Allied shipping to reach Antwerp's port and ensure their armies liberating Western Europe were well supplied.

"There was so much water, the British had blown the dykes, so the sea came in"

Pearson remembers arriving with his unit to cross the Scheldt, and the soldiers and their equipment having to make the crossing by small collapsible canvas boats, as the bridges spanning the river had been destroyed either by Allied bombing or the enemy retreating across the river. After crossing, they pushed along, capturing their targets and advancing into German held territory.

Following the first attempt by the Allied forces to liberate the Netherlands, Operation Market Garden, Pearson's unit saw action in the Netherlands. The land they moved through on their advance across the low countries was a water logged and muddy landscape. "There was so much water, the British had blown the dykes, so the sea came in."

"Well, we can finally go home"

Pearson and the South Saskatchewan Regiment were in Oldenburg, Germany when they received news that Germany had officially surrendered. Pearson says that all he can remember thinking is: "Well, we can finally go home."

However, he would not return to Canada immediately. Pearson remained in England for over a year, serving at #1 Repatriation Depot, in Surrey, England, helping organize the transportation of the Canadian troops serving in Europe. He finally returned to Canada in time for Christmas of 1946.

Serving in the CAF remained his full time occupation after the war, when he transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force. He spent three years deployed to Whitehorse, Yukon, another five years in Flin Flon, Manitoba, and several other postings. Pearson retired as a Chief Warrant Officer after more than 36 years of military service. For his service he was awarded the 1939 1945 Star, the France and Germany Star, the Victory Medal, the Canadian Centennial Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal and the Canadian Forces Decoration.

Pearson has travelled to the Netherlands every five years since 1980, to attend events marking the country's liberation. He says that making friends during the liberation of Europe was difficult at the time, he has since become close with some locals and spent time exploring the region as he has returned to where he once fought.

Following the Second World War he married his wife, who has since passed away, and together they had three sons. He currently lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia where he remains an active member of the Air Force Association, the Royal Canadian Legion, Armed Forces Pensioners and the United Services Institute of Nanaimo & North Islands.

In honour of the 75 th anniversary of the Battle of the Scheldt, Chief Warrant Officer (Retired) Anton "Tony" Olaf Pearson is one of our Faces of Freedom. He recently attended events in Belgium commemorating the Battle of the Scheldt.

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Chief Warrant Officer (Ret'd) Anton (Tony) Pearson - Veterans Affairs Canada

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/albert-mah

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VAC Assistance Service

The VAC Assistance Service can provide you with psychological support. It is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service is for Veterans, former RCMP members, their families, and caregivers and is provided at no cost. You do not need to be a client of VAC to receive services.

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/karen-hermiston

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Second World War

Biography

The Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit was established in 1941 to record our country's involvement in the Second World War.

The unit was made up of people familiar with photography and filmmaking. They were a unique bunch, with backgrounds ranging from movie directors to Hollywood stuntmen! Standing out in this group, however, was one female photographer. Against great odds, she eventually found a place in a field traditionally filled by men. Her name was Sergeant Karen Hermiston, and she was the first (and only) female photographer in the Canadian Army during the war.

"Hermie," as she was known, spent more than four years in uniform snapping pictures of her fellow Canadian Women's Army Corps members. During that time she also gradually took on additional assignments like those done by the male photographers.

Whatever it would take to find the right angle, this trailblazer's shots were picture perfect.

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/edwin-erwin-philips

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Edwin Erwin Philips - Veterans Affairs Canada

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/mary-laura-wong

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VAC Assistance Service

The VAC Assistance Service can provide you with psychological support. It is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service is for Veterans, former RCMP members, their families, and caregivers and is provided at no cost. You do not need to be a client of VAC to receive services.

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/tommy-prince

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/faces-of-freedom/norman-kirby

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https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/alex-louie

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
VAC Assistance Service

The VAC Assistance Service can provide you with psychological support. It is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service is for Veterans, former RCMP members, their families, and caregivers and is provided at no cost. You do not need to be a client of VAC to receive services.