Colin Behagg was born May 2, 1938 in Shirebrook, England, in the county of Derbyshire. He grew up during the wartime years and remembers the rationing and other restrictions of the era; he attended school up to age 16, when he became an apprentice in the auto mechanic trade, and along the way he registered […]
Howard McNamara was born January 9, 1920 in Montreal. He grew up there during the Depression years, but with both parents working – father for the CNR and mother as a telephone operator – the family got by. Howard went to school and graduated from Darcy McGee High School, after which he took a job […]
Gordon Precious was born May 26, 1924 in Hamilton, Ontario. He had an older brother, Harry, who was six years older, and when Harry joined the RCAF Gordon was inspired to do the same – though he had to wait until he was 18. He went into the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and Gordon […]
Richard Moody was born April 21, 1941 in Fleet, Hampshire, England. He grew up there against the backdrop of the Second World War, and as a very young boy he has a few memories of the time, from the sound of the Luftwaffe bombers to a V-1 that failed to detonate. His father was in […]
Ron Hathaway was born July 10, 1942 in Havre de Grace, Maryland. He grew up in that small community in a time of segregation, and seeing that his opportunities would be limited he chose to enlist in the Marines right out of high school. The Cold War was taking place during this time, and Ron […]
Joe DeMarco was born May 22, 1926 in Garfield, N.J., the youngest of four brothers in the DeMarco family. His father had emigrated from Italy about the time of the Great War, looking for better opportunities; the times were tough though, especially with the advent of the Great Depression. Joe recalls that everyone was poor […]
William (Bill) Dibble was born October 7, 1921 in Buffalo, New York. His father was a veteran of the Great War who was wounded several times and who was gassed – it disabled him significantly and he died young. An only child, Bill grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression and attended Boys’ […]
Antoine Labranche is from Dunham, Quebec, in the Eastern Townships. He is in the Canadian Air Force, and is a currently serving member of the CAF, which he joined in 2006. After going through the various levels of pilot and survival training, Major Labranche was sent on his first deployment as part of Operation Impact, which […]
Gordon Schottlander was born January 10, 1925 in London, England. He was the son of a Great War veteran; Gordon was an only child, and he grew up in good circumstances, attending boarding school in Brighton – his father was self-employed in the Great Depression years. Gordon’s father also had the foresight to move the […]
Allan MacIsaac was born March 22, 1927, in Inverness County, on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. He grew up the son of a lobsterman/coal miner in a large family, where he was one of 12 children. He remembers his childhood in positive terms, working on the farm and swimming in the ocean. Allan’s father had […]
Theodore Britton was born October 17, 1925 in North Augusta, South Carolina. He spent his early years there, growing up against the backdrop of Jim Crow and the early years of the Great Depression. His father decided to take part in the Great Migration though, and Theodore’s teenage years were spent in New York City, […]
Paul Hale was born June 15, 1954 in Oldham, England. His parents moved to Canada when he was quite young, so Paul was raised in northern Ontario, ending up in the Timmins area. There he decided to join the Canadian Forces after serving in the reserves, and while in university he chose the officer path. […]
Ken Lutz was born February 27, 1957 in Souris, Prince Edward Island. He grew up in that small community alongside his three siblings; Ken’s father was a mechanic but Ken spent much of his early years at the farm across the street, and he even attended a one room school at one point. He […]
Paul Saltzman was born December 10, 1943 in Toronto. He grew up there in a secular Jewish family, amidst the affluence of postwar Toronto. Paul recalls that his parents were non-believers, so his Judaism was a matter of identity more than faith. Even so, he did remember the sting of antisemitism that at times entered […]
Mel McMullen was born June 5, 1925 in southern California, growing up in the Los Angeles area. He had two brothers, and both parents were employed; his father was a master welder, and his mother became a phone operator when the boys were grown. With that, they were insulated from the worst effects of the […]
Tom Wakeman was born November 22, 1922 in Birmingham, England. He was born into a large family of six brothers and one sister. Tom’s father had had a career as a soldier, serving with British imperial forces in the Sudan and India, and he also served with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the Great War, […]
Bushra Junaid is a multidisciplinary artist-curator and author based in Toronto. She grew up in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where she and her siblings were raised by her Nigerian and Jamaican parents. Bushra’s own life story and her memories of the culture and food of Newfoundland provide a backdrop to the narrative and themes of her […]
Kenneth Cooke was born August 8,1925 in East Kirkby, Nottinghamshire, a coal mining district. He indicated that he had a rough early life growing up: there was a general strike, and there was no income. He attended school at age 5 and completed his education at age 14, and then had to find employment. […]
George Pouder was born January 18, 1923 in New York City. He grew up in the Bronx during the difficult times of the Great Depression, a period that impacted his family and the neighborhood. George recalls that the quality of his schooling varied, but that he took full advantage of the city, exploring it with […]
Wally Adam was born in Winnipeg during the Second World War, where his father was serving in the Army Pay Corps. He grew up there, and decided to join the RCAF Reserves in his own right when he was in high school. After university, Wally enlisted in the RCAF, serving during the Cold War years. […]
Tom Boneham was born March 21, 1923 in Warwickshire, England, where he grew up on a farm in the village of Shotteswell in the Stratford-upon-Avon district, not too far from the town of Banbury. His father Tom worked that farm with Tom’s mother Hilda; the two of them had met after Tom’s father was discharged […]
Colin Wortley was born January 18, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario. His father was a decorated World War two veteran, having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for RAF service in North Africa. When he returned to Canada Colin’s father left the air force, but he decided to re-enlist in 1950, as the Cold War was […]
John Luckadoo was born March 16, 1922 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He grew up living a good life: his father was a stockbroker who raised horses, and new clothes and good food were the norm. 1929 changed much of that though; the stock market crash brought about a different kind of life for John’s family. All […]
Jack Paley was born December 2, 1921 in a Yorkshire village. His father was a veteran of the Great War, one who had seen action at the Somme and who had been a POW of the Germans. Jack attended school until he was 14; he went to work at that time as a keymaker, and […]
Bob Miller was born December 7, 1923 in New York state. He grew up in Bellmore, Long Island, not too far from Jones Beach, an area that Bob remembers fondly. The Great Depression impacted Bob and his three older sisters, but the family managed to get by, with everybody pitching in. The family moved a […]
William (Bill) Hoy was born in Welland, Ontario on January 30, 1924. His family had emigrated to Canada from Britain and settled in the Ottawa area, but by the time of Bill’s birth they had settled in Welland, where Bill’s father did his Great War service, guarding the Welland Canal. Bill grew up against the […]
Edward (Ted) Parker was born March 30, 1925 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He grew up in Massachusetts and Florida, as the family moved back and forth during those years. He grew up against the backdrop of the Depression and the early years of the war, by which time he was attending the Governors’ Academy in Massachusetts. […]
Sandra Ortega was born March 29, 1937 in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up against the backdrop of 1950s America, when the Jim Crow Laws governed life all across the south, a truth that was in evidence in her own city of Baltimore, where segregation ran deep. From an early age Sandra learned the virtue of […]
Earl Watson was born April 15, 1930 in Brantford, Ontario. The family relocated to Owen Sound during the Depression, as Earl’s father found work as a welder. Earl’s childhood was typical; he went to school and more importantly enjoyed his time with friends, playing baseball and whatever else. Earl was too young for the Second […]
Wally Adam was born in Winnipeg during the Second World War, where his father was serving in the Army Pay Corps. He grew up there, and decided to join the RCAF Reserves in his own right when he was in high school. After university, Wally enlisted in the RCAF, serving during the Cold War years. […]