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

STUDENT NAME: abdul

Hometown: Quebec

Area of Service: solider

Rank:  solider

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?  Juno Beach in French

Significant battles or events they experienced? D.Day

When?  6 June 1944,

What duties did they have? So hes job is to get people in France.

Interesting stories. he get taken by the Germans and he work in sugar factory.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions sad

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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: shahad

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-william-bill-bill-davis-primary-sourcce

STUDENT NAME: Mikey

Hometown: Toronto

Area of Service: Canadian army

Rank: 2nd  Infantry

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

In Canadian army

Significant battles or events they experienced?

We were cut down by heavy machine gun fire

When?

October 1944

What duties did they have?

clearing the east side

Interesting stories

to me there was no interesting stories

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

Sad and very depressing

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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-joyce-paynter-andrews-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:  scar

Hometown: Sutton

Area of Service: Canadian military

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve? London

Significant battles or events they experienced? she trained for battle  trained like the men.

When? 1944

What duties did they have? bombs and booby chamber and take the gas mask drive a tank

Interesting stories she was learning like a man

Thoughts/feelings/emotions i feel so happy for her

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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-nellie-rettenbacher-primary-source

STUDENT NAME:  scar

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Area of Service:

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

STUDENT NAME: shahad

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Transcript

But we didn't get that much training. Actually, to fly the Typhoon [the Hawker Typhoon single-seat fighter-bomber], we had a 'tech rep' they call them from the factory, he'd never flown. He built them but not flown them so he stood on the wing and he pointed out the features of the airplanes, here's how you bring you wheels up, here's how you turn your gas on, here's how you start it. And don't do this and don't do that. And then he patted you on your shoulder and said: 'You're on your own.' That was the orientation we got to fly the Typhoon. And you took off and the best landing you made is usually the first one. After that, it was controlled crash.

One close call was running into about 50 German airplanes with four of us, who we were flying into the German airfield, eight of us, and of course, two had engine trouble, they turned back and their buddy goes back with them so left four. So we were flying along and we looked down and there's the Germans coming out of their air field, where we were going to go and there were at least 50 of them all in a gaggle. They used to fly with the new guy, an experienced man in the centre and the others are essentially a bunch of bees, and we looked down at them there, we just rolled over and went right to them. I never saw so many black crosses in all my life. But with 50 airplanes, you don't have a chance, you fly her as you went through and kept on coming home. Well, you fire as you're going by and if you're outnumbered, if you get anybody, as you sprayed them with your cannon fire, you called yourself lucky. One of our guys tried to stay and fight but you can't fight 50 airplanes, not with four of you. He didn't come home.

We did close support for the army on D-Day [the Normandy invasion of June 6, 1944]. We went at some guns sitting in the cliffs when the troops are landing. And we were only about 1,800 feet sitting because it was so foggy and raining. It was terrible weather, absolutely terrible weather. And we could only climb up to about 1,800 feet. So we had to go at the cliffs, right at the cliffs, where the boys were landing, to try and take out the gun emplacements that were sitting right inside the cliffs. So we went in and lobbed our bombs right at them.

And then we went from there over the beach and attacked a bunch of army convoys that were coming in from the German side. Oh, the anti-aircraft fire was just fantastic. They were very accurate. We attacked a train, there was a train running around Holland all the time and we could never catch it because they would stop in a Dutch village and we wouldn't fire at the Dutch village because of thatch roof make fire and so on, so we try and catch this stupid train. Well, one day we caught the train and oh boy, there were four of us and we circled around, the four of us came in lined abreast, and we came in at the boxcars right down on the boxcar height and the sides fell down and they were loaded with anti-aircraft guns. And if you ever look down the barrels of anti-aircraft guns, it's not too comfortable. So we went straight at them and then pulled up over above them. And I went down over the trees and my squadron leader pulled up and he got his tail shot off. You never pull up, you go straight ahead, get below their gun levels. So it was quite an experience looking down multi-pom pom anti-aircraft guns.

And we were over the Rhine [river] one time, four of us, and I got hit twice by anti-aircraft gun, we were about 20,000 feet. And the thing hit me so accurately, it just took the paint right off the nose of my airplane, just like a sand blast. I was all set to jump, I had my leg over the side and I was watching my temperature, holding the control column with one hand and the temperature stayed the scale, so I just climbed back in and strapped in and kept on going. Little things like that are exciting.

We knew something was coming because their planes were all painted with the white stripes on it, black stripes [with reference to allied aircraft specially painted in anticipation of the Normandy landing], and we knew something was coming because the army was moving, every tree had a Churchill tank [heavy British infantry tank Mk. IV (A22)] or an armored vehicle, a place, I don't know why it didn't tilt into the sea. Everything had army all over the place, so we knew right away.

It was an awful, mainly it was watching those boys land and run up the beach [during the Normandy invasion]. You watch and see these little ants run up the beach and thought: 'Oh my God, they're real heroes.' And yet when I bumped into a friend of mine, he was in the army and he was going on a night patrol and he said: 'Gosh, Jack, I wouldn't want to do your job. And here he is, getting all blackened up, going out on patrol against the German slit trenches. I said: 'I wouldn't want your job either, so it's whatever you're trained for.'

Yeah, well, we landed in France six days after D-Day. We landed in France on a metal strip. I had a sniper bullet go across my head as I landed as I was taxing in and we slept in slit trenches and tents, ate bully beef and did our, we attacked the Germans. We used to be what they called like an 'airborne artillery', actually. They'd use us as a cab rank, we patrol up and down behind the Canadian lines. Then the army would get into some kind of trouble with an armored enclosed pillbox and they'd spire in yellow shells and pull back and then they'd call us in. And we'd go down and shake the boys up [the Germans] that were in the pillbox and the army would move back to take over the pillbox.

We had bombs and one of our squadrons had rockets. We carried 25 pound warheads and they had eight rockets, four under each wing. But my squadron carried bombs.

Well, I got shot down over Dunkirk [France] actually. On the way into my RAF squadron, we got over Dunkirk too low and the anti-aircraft shot out one of our twin engine airplanes, shot off one of our engines, so we crash landed and we went to work the next day, flying airplanes. There was never any brief counts or anything like that nonsense, we just climbed in and away we went. Get shot down one day and you go fly the next.

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"We landed in France on a metal strip. I had a sniper bullet go across my head as I landed as I was taxing in and we slept in slit trenches and tents, ate bully...

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

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“Then we started receiving the people from the concentration camps, and that was horrible. The army had to go in and rescue them because there must have been a…

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

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Transcript

I killed no Germans. I had - no, no, no, you know how these guys like to boast and all that. I was ground crew and I couldn't get into the aircrew because I had myopia [nearsightedness], that's why I wear glasses.

I found that, like everybody else, all my friends were joining up, etc., etc., and as a young man, I thought, well, "what would I like to do?" But then I thought about it and being very good in math and that kind of thing, at high school, I thought, well, I'd like to be a navigator. That's why I wanted to be in the air force. I was sort of surprised. I started going down in, oh, the latter part of, just after - I'm trying to think of the Dieppe [Raid on 19 August 1942] - at that time, around then, I started to go down to Bay and Wellington [in Toronto]. That's where the recruiting station was. The first time the guy, the recruiting officer, just said, "No, sorry, we don't take you people." I came home and I spoke with my dad. He said, "well, you should know" - I was just a kid then, you know - but he said, "In the first war" - he came to Canada from Barbados just around the time of the first war - and he said, " black people had a very difficult time joining the army in those days." But, in any event, that's the first time he turned me down.

I was determined and I used to take the streetcar over to Bay Street and take the Bay car down to Wellington, get off and go in there once a month, all through 1942. Around the fall, I finally convinced somebody to let me fill out - in those days, you had to fill out an application - you have all of this by the way - and you fill out the application and you bring it back, etc. But they refused me. This went on every month until, oh, I would say in January I went back again, and just after Christmas, I decided, well, I'm going to keep trying. The recruiting officer had been changed and it was a Ukrainian fellow that - he was an officer, now - but he was from the west. He told me that, it was something I didn't know, he told me that Ukrainian people and Polish, and the settlers in the west were treated just the same way, which surprised me. He said, as far as he was concerned... and he said, "Well, if you have the form, etc., etc.," which he did, and I was tested, etc., and oh, he said, "Well, you can't, I'll let you in, but you can't be aircrew because of your myopia, which is short sight." And that's basically how I got into the air force and sworn in, I think, in March [1943] and from there on in, that was it.

First of all, the bombers were in little small groups spread all over the place. It wasn't one big station, etc. So I'm trying to think of the name of the - we went, we got off, we did disembark in Greenock, Scotland. The train took us all the way down to Bournemouth [RAF Hurn airfield] and then after few days, that was a manning depot area [for personnel concentration] apparently, another train took us all the way back up to Yorkshire where the Canadian air force was stationed, No. 6 Bomber Group. And you didn't, when you had just come by yourself - well, there was three or four different fellows on the posting - and it's very, well, it's confusing, you don't know where you are. You haven't the slightest idea what's happening. You get off the train - I'm trying to think of the name of the station, "Lewden"? But, anyway, it was one of the stations.

And then from the station, you get posted - when I say posted, some truck takes you to the little small [air station] where there's maybe five or six - I can't remember how many bombers - but they had satellite stations all around, because apparently, in the first part of the war, the Germans had bombed England. So this is scattering the airplanes around in little sections was for, there was a reason. But, in any event, it was just like after you got it settled, it was just almost like working in a factory. I mean, it's a job.

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"I started to go down to Bay and Wellington. That's where the recruiting station was. The first time the guy, the recruiting officer, just said, "No, sorry, w...

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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

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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.

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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

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

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

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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-edith-marion-garden-primary-source

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Edith Marion Garden (née Greenly) (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 events.…

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

STUDENT NAME:  Duha

Hometown:  He is a Chainese Canadian

Area of Service:

Rank: Chaines Canadian Spy

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

They had trained in Wetaskiwin, Alberta and they served behind the enemy line in China as a spy ( Kuala Lumpur).

Significant battles or events they experienced?

He experienced the second atomic bomb in Nagasaki.

When?

The bomb had dropped in Nagasaki (Ausust 9, 1945) few weaks after he arrived.

What duties did they have?

He has to spy on the chinese and communicate this information with Ceylon and that was in Kandy, Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Interesting stories

Chainese Canadian where force to go to millitary as spies. The goverment didn't allowed them to go first but when the goverment needed someone to bring up information about the movement of the enemy line they saw that it's important to let the chainese canadians to go to the millitary.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

It was so scary because they have to land in  Kuala Lumpur at night and they have to free theirselves quitly if they landed on a tree because if the enemy has found them, they won't take them as prisoners of war, they would just shoot on them because they don't know what information they have.

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"If you're caught as a spy, they don't take prisoner of war, they would just shoot you. Or use just sword. It was a dangerous job when you're a secret age...

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

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

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Transcript

We were another day or two out of Yokohama [Japan] and we pulled into the port in Yokohama. We all disembarked. The Americans went wherever they went. We were taken by truck to a local train station somewhere nearby and put on a train for an overnight ride down to a town called Hiro [Japan] which was quite a bit south and west of Tokyo [Japan] on a totally other island of Japan. And we were installed in a group down there called 25 CRG which is Canadian Reinforcement Group where we spent probably a week or so, maybe two weeks getting further indoctrination before we were assigned to wherever we were going.

Basically, how we got to Japan anyway and then from Japan there was a group of us, probably 30 or so and we were assigned to Korea. And we were assigned, we were going to be taken over to Korea. They referred us to a British gunboat out of Kure, Japan. Now I don't know a lot about naval vessels but when they took us to Kure and we saw that vessel, it looked like sort of maybe either a corvette or destroyer-sized vehicle. And when we got on the vessel, the people in charge of moving us around said that it would be an overnight trip. And it would be a very rough trip because this particular vessel doesn't handle well in rough weather. And the weather look like it was going to be rough. And it was.

So we were on there overnight and in the morning they took us off by LST [landing ship, tank] at the port of Pusan [Korea] and when we arrived in Pusan, I think we were there for a few hours and they fed us and so on and then we got on a rickety old train that didn't have seats. You had to sit on the floor because of the sniper activity along the rail lines all the way through the peninsula.

So basically we sat on the floor of this train, 800 or 900 soldiers and spent, my memory's a little fuzzy here, but I think it was a very long day to Seoul, Korea where we disembarked off of the train and we stayed overnight. We just camped outside and the next day after breakfast we were put on trucks and trucked up to our units up in northern Korea.

So I was trucked up to with this group that I was with to, we were all transportation guys, [ Royal Canadian Army] Service Corps, transportation and administration, and we were going to 23rd Transport [Company] and to the [25th Canadian Infantry] Brigade headquarters.

I'll tell you, being a 19 year old kid who never saw anything more overwhelming at home in Ottawa than my neighbour's house catching fire and thinking that was devastating - just the whole, from the time I got off the ship in Yokohama the culture shock was absolutely incredible. Just so many people, so much activity everywhere, everywhere we went. But I thought that was kind of overwhelming until I hit Korea and then seeing this poor country devastated, bombed out, burned out, blown up, it was absolutely mind boggling for a young guy to see all this. And when we hit, we only got little peeks of Korea when we were going on this train because, as I said, we had to sit on the floor. They were concerned about sniper activity all the way along. But by the time we got to the outskirts of Seoul and got into where it was more developed and had been built up, but everything is burned out and bombed out. It was just absolutely mind boggling. I mean, it was surreal actually to see all this stuff.

There was a request for volunteers on one occasion at Christmas time. The Chinese soldiers had been known over the past number of years on special occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year's, they would sneak through the allied lines and leave little gifts like cigarette, plastic cigarette holders and little postcards that, I saw quite a few of them. They were like cartoon postcards with a picture of a big fat guy lying on the beach in Florida and the postcard in broken would say, "While you're over here in all of this, this is where your bosses are." You know, that kind of thing, trying to break morale but basically we found them to be quite funny.

So the senior staff decided we should see if we can maybe catch a few of these guys coming through the lines. This was, I think it was Christmas Eve. And they asked for volunteers and so I volunteered and we were set up in two man groups and there was, I think, eight groups of two men.

And we were taken, just after dark on Christmas Eve, up to, each two man group to a different forward observation post and what we were, we were given a case of beer, a plate of sandwiches and a big radio and the idea was we were supposed to go up there and make noise like we were having a party and try and attract the attention of some of these Chinese soldiers that might be around to cross the side of the line. And if possible, overpower some of them and bring them back so they could be questioned or interrogated.

So we did that and myself and this other fellow, another corporal from Winnipeg [ Manitoba], we spent the night up there and we just stayed alert and watched for Chinese or North Korean soldiers and we did see some and we waved at them and yelled and tried to get them to come across. And they were waving and yelling trying to get us to go across over there. So that was the extent of that. And about, I guess, 4:30 in the morning, before daybreak, we were taken back down off of the forward observation post.

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"I hit Korea and then seeing this poor country devastated, bombed out, burned out, blown up, it was absolutely mind boggling for a young guy to see all this." ...

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

STUDENT NAME: sou

Hometown:

Area of Service:  Dieppe". The port of France

Rank:  solder

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?  Dieppe". The port of France

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

What duties did they have? their duty was to attack Dieppe the port of France

Interesting stories

Thoughts/feelings/emotions We felt two things; the first was not having achieved all of the objectives we had set out to achieve and the second was joy for being alive, those of us who remained. Those were the two feelings we had.

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“It started at 5:00 and towards 11:00, we saw the American tanks roll in to the camp. For us, the war was ending.”
See below for Mr. Gravel’s entire testimony.…

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

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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: Duha

Hometown: Metis (First Nations)

Area of Service: Juno Beach

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

He had trained in Isle of Wight, England. But he served in Normandy, France.

Significant battles or events they experienced?

He fought in Juno Beach battle.

When?

June 6th, 1944

What duties did they have?

He was a soldier in the front line in Juno Beach.

Interesting stories

He wasn't able to attended school because he wasn't white. He worked in the kitchen and then he was enlisted in the army. He was arrested by the German in the attack of Juno Beach.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

It was terrifying to run in that beach when all your friend are getting shout buy guns. The crying and screaming was from all directions but you have to not stop becasue if stooped you're dead. The beach was fill of blood which make more scary.

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"If your buddies got hurt during that and the yelling and crying, you couldn't stop, you had to keep going." See below for Mr. Godon's entire testimony. P...

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

STUDENT NAME: Alatia

Hometown: N/A

Area of Service: Army

Rank: N/A

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

Arnhem, Netherlands

Significant battles or events they experienced?

fought German troops [of the 9th SS and 10th SS Panzer Divisions]

When?

1946

What duties did they have?

He was fighting in the Netherlands to free the people and get the land back

Interesting stories

Tried to hide from Germans and his friend got hit in the leg

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

Sad, did not go back to Arnhem until 2004

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

STUDENT NAME:

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Rank:

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

STUDENT NAME:

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Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

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

STUDENT NAME: sou

Hometown: Montreal, Quebec.

Area of Service: in the North African and Italian Campaigns, England ,  Port Said in Egypt

Rank:  pilot

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?  in the North African and Italian Campaigns, England ,  Port Said in Egypt

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

What duties did they have? he was pilot

Interesting stories

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

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

STUDENT NAME: Nooria Haidari

Hometown: Montreal, Quebec

Area of Service: England, across Canada, the U.S. and overseas, Washington D.C., and many other places.

Rank: Pilot and a dancer

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve? England

Significant battles or events they experienced? When they arrived in England they were shocked to see the damage caused to London by German bomb raids.

When?

What duties did they have? The lady was performing adance for soldiers, and the man was a pilot.

Interesting stories: While performing in the Netherlands, one of their shows was attended by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions: Happy and maybe proud.

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

STUDENT NAME: Ahmad alata

Hometown: Tourville, Quebec

Area of Service: N/A

Rank:

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

enlisted with the Royal 22 e Régiment in Valcartier

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

1923

What duties did they have?

to prota the other ships

Interesting stories

he join the arm at the age of 16 years old

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

sad he see ships are sink down

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

STUDENT NAME: Rabia Haidari

Hometown: Alberta

Area of Service: Canadian Army

Rank: Army

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

He served in Canadian milliliter

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

19 February 1941

What duties did they have?

he joined the Calgary Tanks as a Trooper

Interesting stories

A pile of people died on [that] beach. The tank protection was a good thing for us. That’s why we lived. If you’re out in the open, you know how easy it would be to die.

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Happy and proud

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

STUDENT NAME:  Alhraki Ahmad

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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

STUDENT NAME:  abdul

Hometown:  Saint-Joseph

Area of Service:  served on a troopship that was responsible for bringing thousands of soldiers across the Atlantic to fight in Europe

Rank: idk

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve? Normandy coast France

Significant battles or events they experienced?  D-Day

When? 6 June, 1944

What duties did they have? he needed to make inland securing positions in the countryside

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

STUDENT NAME: Alhraki Ahmad

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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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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/tommy-prince

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

STUDENT NAME:  Nooria Haidari

Hometown: Englehart, Ontario

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Rank: Photographer

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

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When? In ww2

What duties did they have?

Interesting stories: The first female photographer, taking additional assignments like those done by male photographers.

Thoughts/feelings/emotions: Whatever it would take to find the right angle, this trailblazer's shots were picture-perfect. so, most probably she felt proud of this.

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

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

STUDENT NAME: Rabia Haidari

Hometown: Calgary

Area of Service: Canadian military

Rank: Spy

Details of service: (6 facts minimum)

Where in the world did they serve?

He served in Canadian military

Significant battles or events they experienced?

When?

In 1945

What duties did they have?

To go behind Japanese lines in Southeast Asia

Interesting stories

The interesting story that he works with S. O. E

Thoughts/feelings/emotions

happy and proud

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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.