Frank Mendham was born in Toronto in 1924; like many his age he grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, dealing with the realities of day-to-day life. When the war came, Frank went into the cavalry, like his father before him. By the time of the Second World War, tanks had replaced horses. Frank spent time in England before heading over to France on D-Day; from Normandy, he and his regiment made their way through France and the Netherlands, into Germany.
We visited Frank at the Sunnybrook veterans’ Wing on February 27, 2014, where he was interviewed by Crestwood students Ahmed Izzeldin, Simon Yuan, and Jacob Gurdzy.
Videos
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- 1. Frank Mendham - Prewar Memories
- 2. Army Involvement
- 3. WW2 - The Declaration of War
- 4. WW2 - Training
- 5. WW2 - The Early Years
- 6. WW2 - The Tanks Regiments
- 7. D-Day
- 8. Postwar Thoughts
- 9. Time in England
- 10. Captured by the Americans
- 11. Following the News
- 12. Care Packages
- 13. Regiment History
- 14. Tanks for Czechoslovakia
- 15. Experience of Combat
- 16. Coping with Fear and Injuries
- 17. Encounter with Germans (Part 1)
- 18. Encounter with Germans
- 19. Mistaken Identity
- 20. Finding out the War was Over
- 21. VE Day
- 22. Medals and thoughts on the war
- 23. Family life after the war
- 24. Kept in the army