Peon, Bill

Bill Peon served in the Canadian army during the Second World War.  He was born in Toronto, where he grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression.  With the coming of the war, he enlisted, and with basic training he was assigned to the Service Corps, designated as a truck driver.  He spent additional time training for that role once the troopship brought him overseas to England.  Bill crossed the Channel to France in the weeks after D-day, immediately putting his driving skills to the test in the chaos of the Battle of Normandy.  It was his task to bring needed supplies of all kinds to the frontline troops, putting himself in the line of fire on a consistent basis.  And with the confusing nature of the battlefield in the early days, Bill found himself behind enemy lines, and in one dangerous situation after another.  Still, the supplies reached their destination, and Bill was right with the frontline forces on their path through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.  Bill even was involved in ferrying trucks to postwar Poland.  When VE Day came, he returned to England, and then to Canada, ready to play his role in the postwar world.