Cottrell, J.E., Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, Camp Borden, Ontario circa 1944
Davies, H., Canadian Women's Army Corps, Camp Borden, Ontario circa 1944 These are my parents. She was the Colonel's Secretary. They met on the base and when she was back in the office she checked his personnel file to see if he was married......
Memories.....
When I was a little girl my grandfather "Ernie" ( a veteran of WW I) took me to the Royal Canadian Legion in Toronto on Remembrance Day to see and hear
Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
"I want you to remember this," he said to me. "Now, that is a great man, a bastard but a great man." All I really remember is a little man in battle dress uniform. But as I got older and learned what had happened I came to know why my grand father wanted me to be there.
They don't teach poetry in school as they did when I was a child. It is excellent training for the mind and some poems are never forgotten.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved,and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae
2 comments:
Thanks for your comment in my journal. This post brings up memories of my grandfather, who wanted to serve in WWI but wasn't old enough, and served in WWII but never went overseas. He probably wouldn't be thrilled that I'm a pacifist, but he is still very dear in my memory!
Cheers,
Van
http://vaneramos.livejournal.com
Ah Van, we are like minded individuals. I too abhor war and the agony it brings. My Grandfather was in WW I and his memories were salved only when shared with Jack Daniels. He never spoke of Ypres and Vimy Ridge. He was a loving and attentive Grandfather and I still miss his hugs.
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