Lawrence Fish was born in Crowle, England in 1923. He was the eldest of four siblings. In school he went to seventh grade and then started to work in farming and driving trucks. Most of his childhood was spent working as well as helping with his siblings. In 1941, once he was old enough to enlist, […]
Jean MacLean (nee Morley) was born September 11, 1924 in Norwich, Ontario, and she grew up in Claremont, just to the east of Toronto. Her father Fred was a jeweler and general labourer who had served overseas in the Great War, and her mother Verna was a nurse. Jean grew up against the backdrop of […]
Mary Owen (nee Adamson) was born June 2, 1926 in Creighton Mine, Ontario, a small mining town near Sudbury. Her father , a veteran of the Great War, was a gold prospector in those early days, and the family lived in a number of small towns across Ontario’s north at that time. Eventually they settled […]
Kevin Junor was born April 8, 1963 in England to Jamaican parents who had emigrated there a few years earlier. The family later moved to Canada and Kevin grew up in the Bellamy-Lawrence neighbourhood of Scarborough, in Toronto’s east end. A Canadian Forces recruiting officer visited Kevin’s high school when he was 17, and Kevin […]
Joice Foley was born April 1, 1924, in Wick, in Hampshire, England. It was a rural area where she has fond memories of the animals in the fields – and of the long walks to school and everywhere else. Joice’s parents were in service, an occupation they expected her to join too. Joice consequently left […]
John Colleran was born March 21, 1924 in Saintfield, Ontario. He grew up in the Ontario countryside near Port Perry, attending a one room schoolhouse on nearby Scugog Island. The family was hard hit by the Great Depression and John left high school in Grade 9 because the books were too expensive. By then the […]
Brenda Reid (nee Cruikshank) was born August 24, 1924 in Beirut, Lebanon. Her father was a doctor at the American University in Beirut, and Brenda attended the community school there; the family – including her mother and two younger sisters – lived there in relative peace until the war. In 1940 France came under the […]
Gwen Settle was born August 16, 1944 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was born into a military family; her father had served aboard a corvette during World War Two, and her mother had been a nurse, and her aunt was a WD. The family relocated several times in early years, but upon completion of high […]
Raymond Goulet was born January 14, 1923 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His parents were French-Canadian, so Ray and his brothers grew up speaking French and English, and attending Catholic schools, all against the backdrop of the Great Depression. When the war came, Ray chose to volunteer, while his two brothers were drafted. He went through basic […]
Lloyd Bentley was born August 1, 1923. He grew up in northern Ontario, in Kirkland Lake and Sault Ste Marie, during the Great Depression years; the family was on the move as Lloyd’s father searched for work. When the war came, Lloyd joined the air force, and he began his training for the RCAF, following […]
Madge Trull was born July 22, 1922. Madge is a Londoner, though she was born in Chile; her father was involved in the import-export trade. He brought his young family back to England as his children were growing up, as he wanted them to be raised and educated in the proper English tradition. Madge attended […]
Suzie Stohn was born in Toronto, growing up in the “Village”, not too far from Russell Hill Road in the city’s north end. Her family was well off, fortunately insulated from the effects of the Depression. Suzie lived a good life, enjoying school at BSS and in a boarding school in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. From […]
Mike Vencel served in the Canadian Navy during the Cold War era. He joined up in the 1950s, fresh out of high school in southern Ontario, with the goal of pursuing a trade. Mike set his sights on becoming an electrician’s mate, and he served in this capacity on several ships, notably the HMCS Assiniboine […]
Paul Murphy served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Paul served aboard several ships, notably the Cobalt and the Wallaceburg, and he was involved in the RCN’s convoy system in the western Atlantic, working the triangle between New York City and Newfoundland. Paul’s ships would escort convoys in that zone, both […]
Evelyn Bloom grew up in prewar Montreal, enjoying life near “her beautiful mountain”, while at the same time seeing the harsh realities of the Great depression. When the war came, she and her sister decided to enlist. They understood that Canada was under assault, and stories of U-Boats in the Gulf of St. Lawrence only […]
We met Liam Dwyer at the Castle Peak Retirement Suites in Bracebridge, where he presently lives. Liam is one of several authors/editors who assembled At Your Age, a collection of stories of those who live there. The residents felt it was important for them to record their stories, which serve as a great entry point into […]
“Digger” Gorman served in the Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Originally from New Brunswick, the future geology student – that’s where the name “Digger” came from – Digger was deep in his studies when the war approached. As a science/engineering student, Digger’s enlistment was originally deferred, but like many in his generation, he […]
Janet Watt was one of so many women who entered the armed forces during the Second World War. Janet chose to go in the navy, and she became one of the WRENs. As Janet entered the services at the end of the war, her time in the military was limited, though her experiences are very […]
Gordon Hunter is from north Toronto, a graduate of Lawrence Park, where he finished his diploma at the midpoint of the war. It was at that time that he was made aware of his military options, and Gordon opted for the RCAF. He went into an extended period of training, where he settled on being […]
Mr. Scott Masters and the Crestwood Social Studies Department have been working on compiling a Historical Archive for several years now. This initiative came into being because of the numerous World War Two Veterans and Holocaust Survivors that have spoken to Mr. Masters’ students. Through their generosity and to make sure that their memories are […]
June Rudd was born in Northumberland, England and raised in Manchester in 1924. June shares her story of wartime life in England, including evacuations, air raid shelters and rationing. Like many young British women, June contributed directly to the war effort by serving as a WREN, or member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, beginning […]
Julie Hallett was born and raised in London, England. Before the war broke out, life was very good for Julie. She was an honor student at her private school and was given a scholarship to continue her studies there before the war. When the war broke out, she was evacuated with her school to a […]
Margaret Haliburton joined the RCN in WW2, where she served as a WREN. She has spoken at Crestwood for several years, and she has brought a number of other women with her, including her sister Barbara Yule and her friend Francis Todd. All three women give students an insight into life on the home front […]
Lower School Crestwood School 411 Lawrence Avenue East Toronto, Ontario M3C 1N9 Tel: (416) 444-5858 Fax: (416) 444-2127 Website: www.crestwood.on.ca/lower-school Upper School Crestwood Preparatory College 217 Brookbanks Drive Toronto, Ontario M3A 2T7 Tel: (416) 391-1441 Fax: (416) 444-0949 Website: www.crestwood.on.ca/upper-school Crestwood Valley Day Camp Crestwood Valley Day Camp 411 Lawrence Avenue East Toronto, Ontario M3C […]