Card, Albert

Albert Card was born March 12, 1924 in Hastings, England.  He grew up there in a big family, and Bert remembers they did well even during the Depression, because of his father’s food allotment.  Life in Hastings was good:  Bert grew up on the beach, going to school, playing sports – all the normal things.  With the coming of the war, 15 year old Bert joined what would become the Home Guard, doing whatever he could to support the war effort while at the same time serving as an apprentice plumber.  He and his family dealt with the Blitz, the nightly bombings of 1940-41, and Bert himself had one very close when he and a girlfriend were strafed.  His own time to join up came in 1942, and he set off for training in Colchester.   The military decided that Bert would be ideal for Signals, so he went on to additional training, starting with Morse Code.  When the time came to cross the Channel, Bert was assigned to the Canadian First Army, and he landed at Juno Beach a few days after the initial assault.  They immediately went into action, moving towards Caen and Falaise, and after that Bert followed the First Canadian Army on its path to victory through Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.  Bert remained in the British army after the war, serving in Palestine for a time before he was issued a Class B release and sent to work as a plumber.  He married during that time, and in the early 50s he and his wife made their way to Canada, ready to play their role in postwar Canada.  Bert was interviewed over zoom by Scott Masters in January 2021.