Those men were all so young.
Nice that you have the details of this gentleman soldier. Thanks for your story.
Remembrance Day
- Thread starter Locutus
- Start date
Those men were all so young.
Nice that you have the details of this gentleman soldier. Thanks for your story.
I wear the poppy in memory of my father--Hamilton Light Infantry--and the fathers of my friends who variously served with the 15th Field Regiment, the Regina Rifle Regiment (now the Royal Regina Rifles), the South Saskatchewan Regiment, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, and the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders, and a relative who was with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and was one of the men who met the Red Army at Wismar on shore of the Baltic Sea on May 2nd, 1945, a few days before the war in Europe ended. All those men survived to tell me their stories. Or at least some of their stories; it was clear there was much they wouldn't or couldn't talk about even 50 years later.
And I wear it in memory of all those who did not return. Remembrance Day is a deeply emotional time for me, a brief time-out during which I take time to reflect with wonder and gratitude on the life of extraordinary comfort and privilege I've led and the people who gave it to me.
And I wear it in memory of all those who did not return. Remembrance Day is a deeply emotional time for me, a brief time-out during which I take time to reflect with wonder and gratitude on the life of extraordinary comfort and privilege I've led and the people who gave it to me.
Grand Dad WWI RMR
There is an honorary mention in the regiment book. Royal Montreal Regiment. I read it when i was young.
There were these 3 guys passed out in a house that had been bombed somewhere in France.
Coke fumes had them unconscious.Anyway Grand Dad went in and hauled them out. He suffered from the fumes but was ok.
Coke fumes i think is like coal but different.
He never talked of the War to end all wars......never ever...my uncle showed me the piece.
Very nice thread Locutus...
There is an honorary mention in the regiment book. Royal Montreal Regiment. I read it when i was young.
There were these 3 guys passed out in a house that had been bombed somewhere in France.
Coke fumes had them unconscious.Anyway Grand Dad went in and hauled them out. He suffered from the fumes but was ok.
Coke fumes i think is like coal but different.
He never talked of the War to end all wars......never ever...my uncle showed me the piece.
Very nice thread Locutus...
Wow! DocDred being serious and thoughtful! Way to go Locutus, you found the vein of gold.
And Doc, no offense intended, but you're usually so glib and flippant that it might surprise a lot of folks to see you being serious. Nobody who posts what you do could be stupid, I was certain you must have hidden depths but, while I confess I haven't read *all* your posts, this is the first time I've seen a hint of them. I'd like to see a little more of that side of you. You've obviously got more on your mind than you routinely post about.
And Doc, no offense intended, but you're usually so glib and flippant that it might surprise a lot of folks to see you being serious. Nobody who posts what you do could be stupid, I was certain you must have hidden depths but, while I confess I haven't read *all* your posts, this is the first time I've seen a hint of them. I'd like to see a little more of that side of you. You've obviously got more on your mind than you routinely post about.
I'm a sucker for firsthand stories of times of old and extra attentive of those war stories. I can sit there for hours as long as that person has something to tell. To actually hear of historical events first hand cherish them, you are being past down the torch of history.
My friends Dad was in the mist of writing his memoires when he past away. He was the lead navigator for the bombing runs shooting down the flares at night for the other bombers targets.
I've heard a copuple of a Canadian tank Comandes exploits, tho it was more on the jovial side. Like the other stories they really don't tell of the killings and deaths.
They have wittness the uglyiest part of humanity, as young as they were, innocense gone for ever.
They have sacraficed more than just being away from their home and loved ones. They have scarred their souls so to say. Knowing that once innocense is lost it can never be returned.
My friends Dad was in the mist of writing his memoires when he past away. He was the lead navigator for the bombing runs shooting down the flares at night for the other bombers targets.
I've heard a copuple of a Canadian tank Comandes exploits, tho it was more on the jovial side. Like the other stories they really don't tell of the killings and deaths.
They have wittness the uglyiest part of humanity, as young as they were, innocense gone for ever.
They have sacraficed more than just being away from their home and loved ones. They have scarred their souls so to say. Knowing that once innocense is lost it can never be returned.
Memories
Having paid little attention to the traditional family histories during my life, I had to search back in time to what I heard when I was growing up. My dad's huge family in Alberta had six sons and the eldest were prepared to join up in WWII while the younger were given the responsibilities of keeping the farms and ranches going. The three eldest joined The Princess Patricia's LI and served in Europe, with one continuing in the Pacific before the Japanese surrender.
Not to be outdone the eldest girl also signed up against her parent's wishes. An auntie (my heroine) went to St. Catherines to learn Morse Code and she served on Vancouver Island as a code operator/interpreter from 1943-46. Her WREN stories were so exciting I thought she was a 'movie star' when I was a kid hearing about her work and her friendships which she nurtured her whole life.
The brothers - my uncles returned home safely - perhaps not as soundly as they were when they first joined up, but our family was fortunate - moreso than many other families who lost loved ones.
It's good to have heros when we are young - especially when they are in our own family.
Having paid little attention to the traditional family histories during my life, I had to search back in time to what I heard when I was growing up. My dad's huge family in Alberta had six sons and the eldest were prepared to join up in WWII while the younger were given the responsibilities of keeping the farms and ranches going. The three eldest joined The Princess Patricia's LI and served in Europe, with one continuing in the Pacific before the Japanese surrender.
Not to be outdone the eldest girl also signed up against her parent's wishes. An auntie (my heroine) went to St. Catherines to learn Morse Code and she served on Vancouver Island as a code operator/interpreter from 1943-46. Her WREN stories were so exciting I thought she was a 'movie star' when I was a kid hearing about her work and her friendships which she nurtured her whole life.
The brothers - my uncles returned home safely - perhaps not as soundly as they were when they first joined up, but our family was fortunate - moreso than many other families who lost loved ones.
It's good to have heros when we are young - especially when they are in our own family.
Thanks Locutus
The beginning of the emancipation of women....at least it was for my aunt who broke with expectations for her in those days....
As the eldest of a farming family her life was already plotted out by tradition and need and she upset the whole place with her 'taking off for rowdy Quebec'.....wrote great letters home about the things she was seeing and the friends she was making but very little about what she was doing. My dad used to joke that she just wanted the uniform haha...She loved the travel too - first Quebec and then stationed in Moncton for about six months until she was transferred to the west coast.
There was quite a collection of WRENS after the war who stayed on in Victoria - where she stayed as well and they were lifelong friends (some still are).... She ended up marrying a Navy man (what else in Victoria) and had four children who never lived on a farm - which is what she wanted I think.
The beginning of the emancipation of women....at least it was for my aunt who broke with expectations for her in those days....
As the eldest of a farming family her life was already plotted out by tradition and need and she upset the whole place with her 'taking off for rowdy Quebec'.....wrote great letters home about the things she was seeing and the friends she was making but very little about what she was doing. My dad used to joke that she just wanted the uniform haha...She loved the travel too - first Quebec and then stationed in Moncton for about six months until she was transferred to the west coast.
There was quite a collection of WRENS after the war who stayed on in Victoria - where she stayed as well and they were lifelong friends (some still are).... She ended up marrying a Navy man (what else in Victoria) and had four children who never lived on a farm - which is what she wanted I think.
My Uncle was in the SS and was killed on the Russian front. The policy at the time was to give siblings of fallen soldiers the option of which branch of the armed forces they could enlist in when they reached the draft age. My father originally wanted to follow his brother into the SS but after news of his brother's death reached his mother she convinced my dad to join the Wehrmacht.
Thanks for pointing that out. I took care of it.
I'm not as bright as I look sometimes Walter. :lol:
Thats true Locutus.
They thought they were on the right side also. Their suffering is no less significant as any other.
The greatful part is that they are Allies now.
The best tribute to them would be the building of bridges instead of creating more enemies.
They thought they were on the right side also. Their suffering is no less significant as any other.
The greatful part is that they are Allies now.
The best tribute to them would be the building of bridges instead of creating more enemies.
Yes it is a shame though that the German nation put 6 million jews into ovens and tortued millions as well....when ever i think of this it drives me nuts....
WWWII was a Noble cause for the Allies....We rose to the occasion quite well.
I hope this doesn't turn the thread around....But it should be mentioned...Lest We Forget
Walter
Many people comfortably apart from the fighting in Europe were given news broadcasts and many films made both documentary and 'Hollywood' type telling the story of the German military in both WWI and WWII....
From your knowledge were they reasonably accurate or did they also suffer from the terrible bias we
now are faced with from the miserable media who tell the public what they wish them to know?
Many people comfortably apart from the fighting in Europe were given news broadcasts and many films made both documentary and 'Hollywood' type telling the story of the German military in both WWI and WWII....
From your knowledge were they reasonably accurate or did they also suffer from the terrible bias we
now are faced with from the miserable media who tell the public what they wish them to know?
The thread was already turned with the Buffy Sainte-Marie lyric reference, a similar inference by another post and the now-moved birdman smilie so the holocaust infererence after Walter shared his uncle and father's story fits right in.
Some people feel the need to always find a way to twist a topic and return to 'their ideal', their 'point', their 'message', in just about any thread they can manipulate. I've done it myself. Doing that in the thousands of topics on this board is one thing, but to intentionally spring the rhetoric in a thread like this just makes me shake my head.
If you want an anti war thread, start one yourself. Nazis? Again, start your own. WW2 history, ditto. The Japanese, Hitler, war crimes, fascism, debate about monuments, whatever. Go for it. I'm all for it, just not here. Take it outside is all.
The title is Remembrance Day. The first question is 'what does it mean to you'?
Not whether you dislike war. Who doesn't. I also asked politely (and I can be as rude and obnoxious as they come) that we not sully the thread with politics.
So I would ask again that we keep politics and arguments out of this one thread if you can.
Thank you.
