Phil Rutherford was born December 2, 1949 in Sydney. His father was a British sailor in World War Two: he joined the Royal Navy and saw the world, fighting in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Wanting something different after the war he settled in Australia and married, choosing to move into the countryside when Phil […]
Ian Greaves was born May 28, 1949 in Wood Hall Spa, England. He grew up in that small community which was near to many of the bomber bases from the Second World War; many of Ian’s family members had served in the military during that war, and several had been radio operators. Ian eventually chose […]
Doug Dicker was born April 19, 1950 in Temiskaming, Quebec, where his father worked in a local mill. Doug’s father had come to Canada from England in 1925, and he was a veteran of World War Two who served all six years in that conflict as a soldier in the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. While […]
Betty Tharratt was born on September 21, 1921 in Liverpool, England, and she and her older brother grew up in the nearby town of Wallasey. Her father, a Great War veteran, worked on the Liverpool docks, where his horses transported goods to the different warehouses in the city. Betty recalls that her early life was […]
Paul Kaufman was born October 27, 1961 in Hamilton, Ontario. He joined the naval reserve coming out of high school, when he was drawn into a summer program along with some friends. He attended Brock University during this time, eventually making the decision to stay in the navy, where he became a radar plotter. He […]
Bill Duncan was born September 23, 1940 in Waterloo, Quebec. He grew up in and around Montreal and when he was 17 he decided to join the Royal Canadian Navy. Training took place at HMCS Cornwallis, and in short order he was assigned to HMCS La Hulloise, a frigate. Bill worked in the engine room, […]
David Williams was born October 24, 1934 in Cardiff, Wales. He grew up against the backdrop of the Second World War, in which his father served in the Merchant Navy. His father served on three separate ships that were torpedoed, and the family saw him infrequently. The Blitz hit Cardiff – a major port – […]
Herb Brown was born August 7, 1925 in Chatham, Ontario. He grew up on a farm a few miles outside the town, attending school via Greyhound bus! The difficulties of the Great Depression forced Herb to leave school in Grade 11, and he took work at the Chatham Daily News. During this time Herb’s two […]
Rene Vinet was born April 29, 1923 in Verdun, Quebec, on the south shore of Montreal. He had three siblings, including an older brother who served in the Royal Canadian Artillery in the First Division; older brother Rudy saw action in Sicily and Italy, including the Battle of Ortona. Rene enlisted when it was his […]
Joe Maxwell was born September 4, 1925 in Glasgow, Scotland, the oldest of six children. The family briefly went to Canada in 1929 as Joe’s father had been promised work, but when that didn’t work out they returned to Glasgow, and subsequently Clydebank, and that is where Joe attended school. The war broke out when […]
John (Arnold) Bedard was born April 19, 1924 in Montreal, and much of his early life was spent in the city’s NDG neighbourhood. His father was a Great War veteran who had been in the Royal Flying Corps, and he continued to serve as an RCAF officer in World War Two. The family had some […]
Joe Rosato was born June 8, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York. He spent his early years in Wantagh, Long Island, before the family returned to Brooklyn. Joe’s early years were not easy: his parents had a difficult marriage and divorce, and Joe recalls that he and his brother were caught up in the tumult before […]
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 […]
Real Dumoulin was born November 7, 1924 in Timmins, Ontario. He grew up there against the backdrop of the Great Depression, but as Real recalls his father was employed in the Hollinger gold mine, so the family was relatively well off. Real attended Catholic schools and he grew up speaking French and English, doing all […]
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 […]
Nancy Jurgevich was born into a military family on July 20, 1940 in Stoystown, Pennsylvania. Her father was in the navy and had served on the USS Columbia during the Second World War, and an uncle fought in the Korean War. In high school she wanted to travel, but there was no money and she […]
Bill Shead was born October 1, 1939; he is the oldest of 7 children. He is a member of Peguis First Nation and is from Selkirk, Manitoba, where he grew up in a very multicultural community doing all the normal things from the time. That includes going to the community school, which Bill was fortunate […]
LCdr Andrew Cumming was born in Guthrie, Ontario, just outside Barrie. He attended St. Andrew’s College and studied engineering at the University of Toronto. He then entered the working world, and unhappy with what he encountered he chose to join the Canadian Forces. Given his background he was drawn to the navy, and he has […]
Art McGann was born June 18, 1924 in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a family of 12 children – and 5 of the brothers were in uniform. Art grew up during the Depression and he remembers that the family had to “make do”. Pearl Harbor would change the fortunes of Art’s generation: he graduated […]
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 […]
Ralph Smith was born October 12, 1930 in Perdue, Saskatchewan. His father had emigrated from Shropshire, England in 1910, and he farmed that quarter section of land he had purchased in Saskatchewan; Ralph’s mother was from Brampton, Ontario, and she had moved out west originally as Ralph’s father’s housekeeper. Ralph grew up there as one […]
Elmer Auld was born July 4, 1924, and he grew up in Port Arthur/Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. His father was a Great War veteran who suffered from the effects of being gassed; he was an Irishman from Belfast, Ireland who came to Philadelphia because of the Irish Famine, later going to Port Arthur […]
Alice Nowaczyk was born November 7, 1924 in Bodfari in north Wales, not too far from Wrexham. Her father was a Great War veteran who also saw service in World War Two; he had re-enlisted in the reserves prior to WW2, and when that conflict began he found himself at Dunkirk, where he was wounded […]
Aubrey Ingraham was born August 5, 1921 in Burgeo, Newfoundland. He grew up in that small fishing community, where his father was lost at sea when Aubrey was just a boy. That and the Great Depression led to a tough early life, where the war offered somewhat of an escape. Aubrey took work as a […]
David Yeo was born June 27 (or 28), 1946 in County Monaghan, Ireland; he emigrated to Canada with his mother when he was 6 months old and grew up in Prince Edward Island. His father served for six years in the Canadian Artillery in Sicily and Italy; David’s mother was a nurse in Britain who […]
Norm Goodspeed was born in Maine on January 19, 1927. His parents were from New Brunswick and had gone to the U.S. in search of work, but the Great Depression brought them back to Canada, and they settled in the Fredericton area. Norm’s father had inherited the family farm, but it was not his passion. […]
Paul Vaillancourt was born October 21, 1938, in Dill Township, just outside of Subbury, Ontario. Paul’s father worked for the railroad until he was injured on the job, which put the family in difficult financial circumstances. Paul’s mother was left alone with their seven children as he underwent multiple surgeries, and the stress of that […]
Douglas Stinson was born October 30, 1922 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His father was a Great War veteran who served in the Canadian navy, and after the war he continued as a wireless operator, and Doug recalls that the family was often on the move during this time. Doug was the oldest of six, and […]
Dave Yoho was born August 19, 1928 in Philadelphia. He grew up in a row house, during the difficult times of the Great Depression, commenting that he had no real “fun”. He did not participate in sports, parties or dances: he worked on weekends and helped to support his family. When the war came, Dave […]
Asta Butt was born June 12, 1930 in a small village not too far from Bremen, Germany. Her father had a business transporting goods on the rivers of northern Germany, and her grandfather – a Great War veteran – did the same. Asta went to school , and has largely positive memories from her early […]