"I can't believe that I could survive the horrors I went through.” This quote tragically sums up Rose Mandelbaum’s early life, before she came to Canada aged 21.
André Hissink was studying to become a lawyer when he was called up for military service. Even though he had no desire to enlist, he was drafted into army duty by the Dutch government in 1939 due to the German threat on Holland’s eastern border.
In 1944, William “Bill” Robertson’s mother received a heartbreaking telegram.Her youngest son, who had been overseas for the past year, was missing and assumed to have been killed in action, along with the entire crew of his plane.
During his time in the military, Corporal Ron Smith knew every army song. Born in 1934 in Toronto, ON, Ron joined the military when he was 23 years old. By the time he joined in 1947, WWII was over. However, there was always work to do. Ron served...
As a mechanic in the air force, Carl had to go up on test flights every few months. At the time, mechanics never tested the planes they worked on. It was fine, until the landing gear didn’t work.
“When you pick a bomb up you never know if it will go off, because it’s already armed,” said Don, who removed and disarmed faulty shells during the Korean War.
When a bomb dropped in England, Joan wasn’t far behind it. Racing out on the back of a military jeep with her crew, Joan said the life of a military firefighter in WWII was filled with excitement.
The Kleinbergs met shortly after the British Army liberated the infamous Nazi death camp Bergen-Belsen. Nancy saved Howard’s life. Then, they lost contact. How were they reunited? Read to find out.
Sitting as an air gunner on a bombing plane in WWII, it was not uncommon for the open air turrets to reach -40 degrees Celsius. To make matters worse, it was impossible to go use the washroom on these 8-hour flights.
During the cold war, Ronald ferried supplies through the desert between Egypt and Israel. For him, Remembrance Day is an important reminder of all the freedoms we have today.
The year is 1935: in Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler has reinstated the Luftwaffe, violating the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. It is at this time that 14-year-old Ivor Lloyd Rooney joins the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Bugle Band to pursue his love of...
Winnifred Grant’s childhood was bookended by war. Born in London, England, in 1918, just as the first world war came to a close, Winnie joined the Royal British Air Force and entered WWII when she was still in her teens.
Vitaliano joined the Fanteria 19th regiment of the Italian Army and completed basic training in Nicastro, in the province of Catenzaro, Italy. He was sent to Crete,Greece, which was a very active area in World War II, with numerous bombings.
Peitro was a foot soldier in the Italian Army. He completed his training in Como, Milano and Antora. He was then deployed to Russia in October 1943, where he fought along the Sol Don River.
Armando enlisted in the Italian Army in 1942, hoping to become a police officer. After training as a foot soldier in Caserma Macao, Rome, Armando was set to be deployed when Italy declared “aminstia” – they had surrendered.
Twenty-eight years after the horrific Halifax explosion, the sky over the harbour was once again erupting with the shimmer and thunder of heavy artillery.
The tap of type writers fills the air with a symphony of sound. Richard Archambault, a cipher operator with the Canadian Armed Forces, adds to the music, his fingers encrypting a military message.
Reginald Harrop woke up, confused. He was on a large cruise ship that should have been heading off across the Atlantic, with a convoy of 10-20 ships. But when he looked outside, they were alone, and the Rock of Gibraltar was towering over him.
The electrical lines wind off into the distance. Footsteps and soft murmurs echo through the tunnel as mothers come forward, cradling cardboard boxes. Inside the boxes, swaddled in blankets, is one of the only things they were able to bring with...
In 1944, 20-year-old wireless operator Patrick Gallagher was killed in battle in Berlin, Germany. Later that year, his younger brother, Charlie, followed in his footsteps, joining the British Royal Air Force.
Dennis Cutting is no stranger to the sound of the wind rushing in his ears. A sergeant in the 250th. Light Company RASC 1st Airborne Division, Dennis served as a paratrooper in the Second World War.
The little boat sailed across the open water almost silently, having no idea of what could be waiting below. In 1944, 18-year-old Mary Greenwood made the 70-killometer trip across the open waters of the Bay of Fundy in what she calls “lifeboat...
Outside the plane, the world was washed white. Don Monroe, a Flying Officer and flight instructor in the Royal Canadian Air Force, squinted, trying to see past the blizzard that had destroyed his visibility. He had been doing a cross-country trip...
They stood together in the mess hall. Waiting. Wondering. There had to be an important reason the entire ship had been gathered, but what was it? Gordon Weaver was born in Welland, Ontario, in April 1922. He joined the Canadian Army in 1942, at the...
The map on the wall was updated daily. Markers showed enemy lines, stolen territory and surrendered land. Bernice Anderson looked at that map almost every day. Born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in September 1926, Bernice’s parents both died before her...
The waters in the Bristol Channel are clear and glitter in the sun. In the fall of 1944, the hum of a single airplane broke their serenity as it streaked across the sky. Arthur Stiff, who was a Hurricane Fighter Pilot in WWII, was searching for a...
The siren wailed, breaking the night’s calm. Quartermaster Sergeant John Stringer assembled with the rest of the crew. One of the ships in their convoy had been hit with a German torpedo, and there was no telling how many U-boats were below them. ...
Autobiography by Bill Smyth As I am one of the last remaining Lancaster Bomber pilots still breathing, this tale should be most unique. A massive daylight raid was laid on for the city of Cologne, Germany, after the Battle of the Bulge. The...
Autobiography by Audrey Yorke I was born in England, in Bedford, in 1924. In those days, unless your parents were wealthy and could send you to private school, you left school at age 14. After working in a dry goods store until I was 16, I went...
The shell exploded. Thirty-thousand feet above the ground, William Carr’s plane rocked violently as the anti-aircraft shell exploded just under his seat. Though he was not yet 22, he was certain he was going to die. A pilot in the Royale Canadian...
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