Remembrance Day- My Father's War Stories

Every Remembrance Day the number of living World War II veterans diminishes. 

The ones who are still here have some amazing tales to tell of that time in the 1940s.

 I encourage you to talk with them while you still can. Nothing beats a firsthand account of history!

 Although my father has been gone for 9 years, his stories of the war years live on. Dad was in the Canadian army, stationed in Lethbridge, Alberta, where 12,000 German POWs were interned at Camp 133, many for several years. He worked as an interpreter and supervised the dental clinic in the middle of the one square mile camp.

  

 Because he spoke fluent German, he developed close relationships with many of the prisons of war. Most of them came from Rommel's Africa Corp.  There were many artists among the group, and the artifacts shown below were given to my dad as tokens of appreciation and friendship. Four years is a long time to be held in captivity. Lots of time to paint and carve.

 One German prisoner and my father became friends, at least as friendly as two soldiers on opposite sides could be. When the war ended, that young man went back to Berlin, and for 50 years, he and my dad wrote letters back and forth. When I was a young girl, I recall how exciting it was to open our mailbox and find an airmail envelope with a strange and exotic looking stamp on it from Walter Otto, Berlin.  In the 1990s,  fifty years after the war ended and not long after the fall of the Berlin wall, my parents visited this man and his wife. What a reunion!

 Most of the men in the camps were not aware of the atrocities that Hitler had committed. They had been captured early in the war. Near the end of the conflict, allied forces liberated the  concentration camps in Europe and found graphic evidence of the unspeakable horrors that Hitler had ordered.  Shortly after, films of the atrocities were distributed for all to see. The German POWs in Camp 133  learned of the horror their leader was capable of. Dad said that when the films were first shown to the captives, they all turned their chairs around and refused to watch. They couldn't believe it was true.

 Seventy years later, it still is unthinkable that man has the capacity to inflict such pain, humiliation and degradation on our fellow human beings. We must never forget that war is hell.

Canadian Army Dental Corps  Dad front row- far right.
Camp 133- home to 12,000 German POWs. Lethbridge Alberta

 Sad day for my parents.  Dad got his call to report for duty. 1941.

Dad in his army dress uniform

On leave with friend Bonner Bain,
twin brother of actor Conrad Bain,
 for all you fans of the 70s sit-com Maude :)

 There was even a murder at the camp . Dad was called on to interpret at the trial held in Medicine Hat. Details from a book by David Carter here:

Interpreter at Murder Trial

Letter written  by my dad  for my son when he was
doing a Remembrance Day project in Grade 4

The Bismarck -  wooden carving by POW given to my father.  

The dial used to turn the cannons.  

I broke them when I was little playing

 with it in my dad's study. 

He was not amused.

Another  intricate wood carving.
This one of the Mayflower with a distinctly German touch on the sail. ( below)

The  Mayflower- 70 years of dust on the deck.

 Gift for my father. With his initials JFK

Sandstone from North Africa & Rommel's Africa Corp. 1941-42.
Brought to the POW camp and carved into these one of a kind wartime artifacts.
Given to my father by a prisoner.
Dad had these in his study and always ensured that the swastika never was visible. 

Maybe one day we'll find a cure for war. We humans are so brilliant and innovative, and yet, as I write this, all over the world wars are being fought. And for what? Beats me if I can figure out an answer to that.
 So, I'll leave you with a little bit of happiness and joy.
I recently watched the short documentary The Lady in Number 6.  Here's a bit of this lovely film.