(Excerpts from an article written by a local retired Real Estate
Broker)
As a young boy I can remember going to Sunnybrook Veterans
Hospital to visit my Dad who constantly seemed to be having an
'operation' to relieve the pain from his war wounds. At the time, it
was hard for me and my 3 brothers to understand why my father was in
so much pain...always took prescribed drugs...or seldom able to play
ball with us...hockey and golf were out of the question.
He had served in France, survived Dunkirk. Then commando trained
in Scotland while everyone waited for the invasion that was to
come...dispatched to North Africa to join the battle against Rommel.
My father never really talked about what happened, until near his
death. History tells us that the battle at El Alamein was a great
victory for the Allied forces. There were 12 days of fierce fighting
from late October to early November 1942. Casualties were high and
the victory was significant. Churchill was to say, “Before Alamein
we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.”
That victory for my dad meant capture, escape and a life filled
with 38 operations in an attempt to stop the constant pain, plus his
final battle with Melanoma. There was no such thing as 'sunblock' in
those days for the fair-haired boys in the tropical sun. Diagnosed as
terminal, my dad called me and spoke about how he would like to die
and be remembered. He asked that he not be kept alive if he was not
able to think and reason. He said to me, “I am at peace with my
God and myself.
When the time comes ~ let me go!”
I cannot begin to imagine the frequent nightmares my father
had...he asked me to maintain membership in the legion and to honour
all soldiers from all wars. He wrote on his final note to me:
“Remember
~ 'to the victor go the spoils'
because they write the history books!
We fought so you could live in freedom”
Forgotten
Hamilton Hero Honoured October 11, 2017
A
Second World War soldier from Hamilton ~ who was credited with
capturing 160 Germans in a single day, but died two months later
after being shot by an enemy sniper was honoured at a council
meeting. Argyll
and Sutherland Highlander, Lance Sgt. Earl McAllister,
was supposed to receive recognition from the city in 1944 with a day
named in his honour. Earlier this year, a surviving sister, Joyce
(McAllister) Mason, 97, asked the city to rectify the oversight
before she passes on.
The North Wall Riders Association, a group of motorcycle riders,
dedicated to supporting veterans and the military, commissioned a
plaque for McAllister and officially unveiled it at East Memorial
Park at 85 East 36th Street which was open to the public. He was a
21-year old, short in stature, a 135 pound soldier when capturing the
150 Germans in 3 engagements one day in August 1944 in Falaise,
France.
The exploit received international media attention. Sadly, on October
20 of that year in Kapellenbosch, Belgium, he was shot while trying
to help a wounded fellow soldier.
(The foregoing excerpts are from a writing by The Spectator's Mark
McNeil.)
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We shall remember them. (Unknown Author)
Freedom!
Its Cost!
Irena
Sender Died May 12, 2008 (aged 98)...in Warsaw, Poland
During WWII, Irena got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a
Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive. She smuggled
Jewish infants out, in the bottom of the tool box she carried.
She also carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck, for larger
kids. Irena kept a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the
Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.
During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save
2,500 kids/infants. Ultimately, she was caught...and the Nazis broke
both of her legs and arms and beat her severely.
Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she had smuggled
out,
in a glass jar that she buried under a tree in her back yard.
After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have
survived...and tried to reunite the family. Most had been gassed.
Those kids she helped, got placed into foster family homes or
adopted.
In
2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize;
unfortunately,
she was not selected.
Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.
Later,
another politician, Barack Obama won for
SIMPLY BEING THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT.
It is now more than 65 years since the Second World War in Europe
ended.
This e-mail, from one of my readers, was sent as a memorial
chain...in memory of the 6 million Jews...
10 million Ukrainians...6 million Russians...1 million
Byelorusyns...1 million Baltics...10 million Christians...and 1,900
Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred.
Now, more than ever, with Iran and others claiming the HOLOCAUST to
be 'a myth' it's imperative to make sure: the world never
forgets...because there are others who would like to do it again!
Compiled by Merle Baird-Kerr: November 3, 2017
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