Take the time to remember

By Bill Fox/Columnist

My 94-year-old father is a war veteran who suited up for Great Britain in the last great war. At 15, he lost an eye in an industrial accident just before the war began. However, he immediately, without question, enrolled as soon as the war was declared. He lied about his age so that he too could be part of the battle and defend the country he loved so much. Having only one eye, he was not able to go overseas, so his service to his country was none the less dangerous as he guarded ammunition factories, etc.

Dad doesn’t talk much about the war, but he does mention that he lost many of his friends during the war…and he talks about the fear he had when the air raid sirens would announce the danger of enemy aircraft approaching.

I find in Remembrance Day services, our emotions are jolted at the thought of the sacrifices of so many younger men and women who fought for our freedoms. Many of those that managed to return were never the same. We did not know about post dramatic stress disorder in those days. My wife had an uncle, Augie, as he was known, who was never the same after the war and spent much of his time at his parent’s farm, living in a make shift apartment above a barn used for farm machinery. Another uncle never talked about his experiences, but family members recall how friends on either side of him were killed, while miraculously he survived.

I found these interesting facts about Canada’s role in the Second World War:

• Over the course of the Second World War, 1.1 million Canadians served in the army, navy, and air force.
• Of these, more than 45,000 lost their lives and another 54,000 were wounded.
• By the end of the war, Canada had the world’s fourth largest air force, and fifth largest navy.
• As well, the Canadian Merchant Navy completed more than 25,000 voyages across the Atlantic.
• Many Allied pilots trained in Canada during the war.
• Canadians also served in the militaries of various Allied countries.
• Over the course of the war, the army enlisted 730,000, the air force 260,000 and the navy 115,000 personnel. In addition, thousands of Canadians served in the Royal Air Force in Great Britain.
• Approximately half of Canada’s army and three-quarters of its air force personnel never left the country, yet the fact they were ready to protect our great nation, as needed, was nonetheless crucial.
• The first Canadian infantryman to die in World War II was Private John Gray. He was captured and executed on Dec 13, 1941 in Hong Kong.
• Canada was the first Commonwealth country to send troops to Britain in 1939.
• Between 1939 and 1945, more than 40 per cent of the male population between the ages of 18 and 45, and virtually all of them volunteers – enlisted.
• During the Nazi occupation of France, Hitler did not destroy the Canadian Vimy Memorial and told the Allies that it remained intact, as he admired the peaceful nature of the sculpture.

Famously, the bravery of Canadian troops greatly contributed to the Allied victories at Sicily and Normandy, as well as the other theatres of the war. On the industrial front, Canadian factories built more than 800,000 trucks for the Allied war effort. Many historians cited Canada’s truck production being this country’s greatest contribution to the eventual Allied victory. I’m sure there are thousands of stories printed about the bravery and heroism of our troops.

I found this from the Veterans Affairs Canada web page, which sums up why we remember: “We must remember. If we do not, the sacrifice of those one hundred thousand Canadian lives will be meaningless. They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of traditions they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for Canada. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousness; our future is their monument.”