Morasch, George

George Morasch was born May 24, 1923 in Calgary, Alberta. He was 16 when the war broke out, and he watched many of friends sign up for the fight. George tried to do so too, but the recruiter put him off at first, so he went back when he was 19.  Basic training at Camrose, Alberta followed, followed by advanced training and the troop ship, which in George’s case was the Queen Elizabeth.  They arrived in Scotland, and in short order George was on a train to England.  He had been assigned to the Calgary Highlanders, and they were stationed in the Dover area at first, later bound for Normandy.  At first they stayed in the Bournemouth area under conditions of strict secrecy, and then they boarded ships to cross the Channel.  They landed in France several weeks after the initial assault, and they were sent into the front lines at Caen.  Hill 67 came next – the battle that tested the regiment’s mettle.  The Calgary Highlanders took heavy losses that day, and George himself was wounded, going on to spend several weeks in hospital. He rejoined the regiment as they followed the coastal route through France, Belgium, and the Netherlands,   liberating towns and cities along the way.  When the war came to an end George was in the Netherlands, and his next posting came with the North Shore New Brunswick Regiment when he served in the Army of Occupation.  When that was behind him it was George’s time to return to Canada; he did that, going on to marry and build a life in postwar Canada, the country that he and the other boys of the Calgary Highlanders helped to put on the world map. George Morasch was interviewed by Zach Dunn of Global Veterans’ Stories in October 2025, and Zach was kind enough to share that footage with us as we both continue our mission to share Canadian stories.