Couture, George

George Couture was born November 25, 1924 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  His father was a Great War veteran from Selkirk, Manitoba who headed south when work was tough to find after he returned to Canada from his overseas service.  They stayed there for four years before returning to Canada, where the family confronted the realities of the Great Depression.  George went to school during this time, though he left after Grade 8 and took work in a steel foundry, using the money to help his family.  George saw the war come while he was there, and when he turned 18 he chose to volunteer. His initial training took place in Manitoba, and he was assigned to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. His brother Bob joined up too, and the two of them went overseas together on the Ile de France.  They arrived in England in 1942 and ended up at Aldershot, though George’s brother went on to Italy.  George spent his time in England in training, and on June 6, 1944 he was part of the D-Day landings in Normandy, storming the beach in the second wave.  He and the other Winnipeg Rifles pushed inland in those first few days, with George finding himself in a Bren Gun carrier at one point; they were targeted by a German gun, and the carrier was destroyed, with most of the men killed in the explosion.  George was badly injured and taken prisoner at this point, and was later sent to Stalag 11B.  Conditions there were poor:  crowded barracks, limited food, and hard work characterized day-to-day life, as did the tedium. As the Allies approached from east and west, George was one of the many POWs forced to endure the infamous Long March as the Germans were on the retreat.  The conditions were brutal, and George recalls the exhaustion, starvation, and sight of his fellow POWs being shot for the slightest infraction.  George was liberated by the advancing Allied armies in May 1945 and flown back to Britain, where he recovered in hospital.  Eventually he made his way back to Selkirk, Manitoba, where he chose to re-enlist a few years later.  George found himself in a second war, this time in Korea, and there too he was wounded in battle fighting against Chinese forces. When he came home, George settled down, marrying and raising his family, and putting those days of war and conflict behind him. George Couture was interviewed by Zach Dunn of Global Veterans’ Stories, and we thank Zach for sharing this video with us so that Crestwood students can hear another story from a Canadian veteran!