Enlistment

This has always been one of my favourite pictures of Dad. I used to make up stories about this picture because I thought he looked so young and in this picture I could always see elements of my brothers' faces. I used to wonder about that time in his life. It's funny how things turn out. Of all his brothers Dad was the only one who was able to serve.

Brothers in England

I posted the picture of Dad's Platoon as a starting point. They all look pretty happy in this photo. From Dad's letters and the material I have found for WWII, the Canadians were generally held in reserve in England for quite some time. Dad was bored out of his mind according to some of his letters. I think he was stuck in England along with thousands of other Canadian soldiers for 3 years anyway.

Some of the first action in the war for these young men was D-Day, itself.

Spring 2009

I have not made much progress in the area of photographs and documents as yet. Life has a habit of getting in the way. I have started scanning Dad's army documents (this takes a great deal of time). In the meantime, I have requested Dad's complete army record from the government. We have some material but want to make sure there is no missing information. I hope it arrives before we head off to France!

I recently saw another photograph of Dad in his army uniform that I have never seen before at the funeral for my Aunt Mae (Dad's sister). He was home on leave before he was sent overseas . Many of Dad's war letters are written to her as well as his Mom. A copy of this picture will be high on my list.

I have a large number of letters Dad wrote during the War. When I first read through them it was soon after Dad's death and I was just too sad to keep reading them. I need to review them again.