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Old 11-11-2015, 12:20 PM
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Default Post Your Remembrance Pics and Stories

I stole the following Facebook entry from my sister, she's a journalist who years ago had complied our Great Grandpa's memoirs into a book to gift to our Dad. She compiled photos of Grandpa's village in Marykirk, Scotland and even found an archived CBC radio interview with Grandpa, including a transcript of that exchange in the book. I think save for his grandkids that book is the favorite thing my Dad's ever been gifted, he was quite close with Grandpa Strachan, whom he gave me my middle name in honor of.

The following is an excerpt from my Great Grandpa Alexander Strachan's autobiography, which he entitled "A Wee Herd Laddie's Memories." He was born in Scotland, but moved to Canada, and in WWI served in 43rd Cameron Highlanders battalion. He described, in his no-nonsense Scottish way, much of what trench warfare was like for him. In this short excerpt he talks a little about his time in the trenches near Vimy, France, in 1917, when he was a 28-year-old soldier. It may be important to note that his battalion, though Canadian, wore kilts in combat:




While lying there, I figured that if I got killed, I wouldn’t need all my heavy stuff, and if I didn’t we would get back anyway. So I ditched the things I wouldn’t need. Packed my mess tin with bread, other stuff. Cut my coat hip-length, and waited until five o’ clock. The barrage opened up then and lifted and away we went, up Belleview Spur. Halfway up, a flare came down and fell on the back of one of my men. I opened my kit, and took one half to bandage him up, and told him to make back to the H.Q. They were in an old Fritz concrete shelter. Then on we climbed, until we took Fritz front line trench, and waited to get organized again. All at once, all went blank, and it was some time before I came to myself and found I couldn’t move, as I was jammed into the back of the trench. As the minutes passed, I found I had no hat, my rifle was bent in two, and all was quiet around me. I tried to scrape the mud away, and finally I saw that I was on the side of a shellhole. Everything being so soaked with rain, that the shell had gone so far down, that very little shrapnel had come up, which saved my life. Then I found I was quite deaf, my right side and legs was sore and useless, also my thumb (right) was all smashed at the base. Well, I kept trying, and finally I pulled myself out. I crawled back to another shellhole when I saw a fellow coming towards me, and when he got closer, I recognized him as the lad whose hand I had bandaged on the way up. He spoke to me, but I couldn’t hear a word he said. But he heard me, and I bawled him out for not going back. He said he should have done that, just couldn’t bring himself about to do it. As there was a Fritz plane flying around (the only one) we went into this shellhole one on each side, as it was half-filled with water. A few minutes later, everything went black again, and when I came to, I was a few yards from the shellhole, and when able to look around, I saw this chap a few yards from the other side, so the shell must have landed right in the centre of the shellhole. A short time later, Jim Sherriss and Black Smithy came along. They had been slightly wounded, and with one on each side of me, we managed to get back to H.Q. There was quite a crowd there, so we kept going until we came to a Y.M.C.A. Shelter, where we got hot cocoa and wafers and did that go down nicely. From there, we were taken in a truck to Ypres where there was a Medical Hospital. I couldn’t move I was so cold. I sat between two bib boilers until we got the call to board a train, and headed out. I sat there for awhile quite sick, and a Nurse came along and looked me over. Then she says in good Scottish voice, “Man, Scotty, I could plant tatties between your legs!” and I guess she could, thanks to Colonel Grassy and his “No Shorts” order.
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Old 11-11-2015, 01:14 PM
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Thumbs up . . . We Shall Remember Them!

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Old 11-11-2015, 07:31 PM
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Bump to get ahead of the rant thread(s).


Bueller?


Bueller?
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Old 11-11-2015, 07:52 PM
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Incredible....
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Old 11-11-2015, 08:12 PM
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Wow Caber, no family resemblance there at all!

I had to find this thread to have a second look.
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=269401
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Old 11-11-2015, 11:54 PM
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Originally Posted by brslk View Post
Wow Caber, no family resemblance there at all!

I had to find this thread to have a second look.
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=269401
Funny you should say that..... but because the relative that I really resemble is my Grandpa's brother Wally (Wally is at left in this photo with my Grandpa on the right). Great Grandpa Alexander Strachan from my first post became the father-in-law of my Grandpa pictured..... I don't know if I have a photo of myself to best demonstrate the similarity with uncle Wally, but when I first showed my 7 year old son that picture a year ago and I asked him who the man on the left was, he replied that it was me! I'd not seen the photo until a few years ago and the resemblance struck me immediately. All of a sudden it made sense of the doe-eyed look of wonder that my Great Aunt was staring at me with when I visited them about 9 years ago; I was chatting with Wally and she was intent on fixing me something to eat and looking at me the same way that Marty McFly's Mom was ogling him in Back to The Future . She has sadly passed away since.

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Old 11-12-2015, 01:24 AM
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Today is a significant day for many people so don't be disappointed by the lack of participation, Caber. This is my Grandfather, Private Albert Yeudall - 42 Quebec Regiment/42 Canadian Infabtry (a ka The Black Watch). He volunteered for and served in WWI from 1914 to 1918. He was a recipient of the Military Medal for acts of bravery in the field.

He never talked about the war when he came home but my Dad talked to someone who had known and served with him and got the story about why he earned the Military Medal. He was a dispatch runner, and took communication messages from command post to command post. On one of his runs he came across a German stronghold and captured numerous high ranking German Officers with an empty rifle ( they didn't know that). I still have the ribbon for the iron cross that one Officer was wearing. We also owned the German Lugers but they are now gone.

Just a story of one heroe at a time of so many heroes. Never met him but still very proud of him.

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Old 11-12-2015, 10:30 AM
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Old 11-12-2015, 10:47 AM
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Old 11-11-2018, 03:56 PM
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Remembrance Day bump. It might be nice if these multiple threads could get merged.
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Old 11-11-2018, 04:15 PM
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So many gave their lives for what we have today!!
I carry a poppy in my vehicle everyday, look at it often and think of those that sacrificed their lives and for that we should all be extremely greatfull!!

We shall never forget!!
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Old 11-11-2018, 07:16 PM
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My Uncle Harry who was killed in WW2. and the patriarch of our family paying respect at my uncle's memorial.

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Old 11-11-2018, 08:47 PM
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Here is a good story. Taken from a friends facebook post. This story is about my friend's great grandfather.

~~~~~~~~~~~
This is in remembrance of those who fought to keep peace here at home.
~~~~~~~~~~~

MEDICINE HAT, AB – May 12, 2017 – It is well-known that perhaps the most famous North West Mounted Police member of all time, the legendary Sam Steele, was the proud possessor of Regimental Number 1.

But who was Regimental Number 2?

John Henry Gresham “Turkey Legs” Bray was born on January 24, 1840, at Bewdley, Worchestershire, England. His father died when he was one year old and his mother when he was eight so he was raised by an uncle.

In June 1859 at the age of 18 he enlisted in the British cavalry in the 10th (The Prince of Wales’s Own) Royal Hussars Regiment. Soon afterwards his regiment was transferred to India. However, with rebellion brewing in Ireland, they were transferred to Carragh in County Kildare to assist the Irish Constabulary, the force that would be the model for the North West Mounted Police.

In 1863, John Bray left the Hussars to become an instructor with the Staffordshire Yeomanry on Burton-on-Trent. Later, on June 13, 1868, he left the British military.

John Bray decided to seek a new life and adventure in Canada.

Exactly 145 years ago, on May 12, 1872, he departed England for Quebec City on the ship SS “Nile,” never to return to his native land.

In the spring of 1873, he saw an advertisement for the newly established North West Mounted Police. In Toronto, Ontario, he submitted his application along with 621 men.

The recruiter, Arthur Henry Griesbach, the first recruit to join the NWMP with as Number 1 (more on this later), sorted through the applications and selected the 50 best men. John Bray was the top choice, no doubt due to his experience in a British cavalry regiment.

John Bray was among the third contingent of recruits to depart Toronto for Fort Dufferin, Manitoba, where the new Force was being assembled.

Once at Fort Dufferin, he was sworn into the Force and was assigned Number 92.

In preparation of what would later be known as the “March West,” John Bray was assigned as the Chief Constable (equivalent to Sergeant-Major) of “C” Troop, under the command of Inspector William Winder, Officer Number O.5. Members of “C” Troop rode light chestnut-coloured horses and also were the “artillery troop,” responsible for towing the Force’s two field guns.

Among the Mounted Police, John Bray was known as “Turkey Legs” – he was quite small by Mounted Police standards, being only 5 feet 9 inches tall.

Upon reaching the Belly River, the March West was over. In June 1875, Bray joined the men under the command of Superintendent James Morrow Walsh, (who later in his career would have two Officers’ Numbers O.7 and O.109!) in the Cypress Hills where Fort Walsh had been established.

Here John Bray, orphaned at a very young age, would have his own family.

Apparently, the location of Fort Walsh was selected to be near the abode of the Métis family of Edward McKay.

Ruth Daw, in her chapter “Sgt-Major J. H. G. Bray, the Forgotten Horseman” in the 1974 book “Men in Scarlet,” published by the Historical Society of Alberta, wrote:

“It has been suggested that the fort location was selected because McKay had five daughters who were all considered pretty and respectable girls. In June 1876, John Bray married one of the McKay daughters and they had one of the first babies to be born at a NWMP post.”

John Bray’s family quickly expanded in size – Flora (born 1877); Bessie (born 1878); Helen (born 1880); and Harry (born 1882).

In August 1878, the Force decided to regularize and consolidate the Regimental Numbering System. Arthur Griesbach had been in the meantime commissioned as an officer. Samuel Steele, who had first engaged as Number 5, was the Corps Sergeant-Major who was the most highest ranked non-commissioned officer in the Force. So Steele was assigned Regimental Number 1.

Sergeant-Major John Bray was the second most senior non-commissioned officer, so he became Regimental Number 2.

He was present at the 1881 trial of Star Child, who was accused of the murder of the first NWMP member to be killed on duty, 19-year-old Constable Marmaduke Graburn, Reg. No. 335, who was shot and killed while on solitary patrol in the Cypress Hills on November 17, 1879 (RCMP Honour Roll #3). Star Child was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Sergeant Major Bray was also the NCO in charge of the NWMP Farm at Pincher Creek from 1881 to 1882.

Concerned about his wife’s loneliness in a cabin full of kids while he was away on duty, John Bray decided to leave the Force. He was discharged on November 8, 1882.

Upon his discharge he was given his 160 acre land grant in lieu of a pension, and he selected land in the area of Pincher Creek, Alberta, where he farmed cabbage and raised cattle.

In 1885 news of the North West Rebellion reached him. Without hesitation he joined the Rocky Mountain Rangers, a volunteer militia unit that was being raised.

Commanded by John Stewart, a rancher turned militia officer from the Fort Macleod area, the 114 members of the Rocky Mountain Rangers were a mixture of local citizens, stockmen, trappers, politicians and NWMP Veterans who were hastily formed into an irregular cavalry unit.

Veteran John Bray was made the unit’s Sergeant-Major.

A member of the Rangers, John Higinbotham, a druggist in Fort Macleod, wrote in his diary: "discipline is quite unknown to them; a Mountie [probably Sergeant-Major Bray giving instruction] told me that he heard one of them, during drill to-day, call out to his commander [when the Captain apparently had to repeat an order to fall in] 'Hold on, Cap, till I cinch my horse!'"

In an article in the December 1941 issue of Canadian Cattleman, a former member of the Rangers, self-identified simply as "Old Timer," remembered "Charlie Smith was our Lieutenant. Charlie would give the orders - 'Mount, Walk, Trot,' then when we got in front of the little log saloon - 'Halt! Everyone dismount and have a drink!' That was all the drill we got."

What Sergeant-Major Bray thought of his troopers is unrecorded!

No. 3 Troop remained in the Fort Macleod area as a home guard, but No. 1 and No. 2 Troops were sent to Medicine Hat, a strategic point where the newly-built Canadian Pacific Railway bridges the South Saskatchewan River.

Although the Rebellion’s main theatre was in the vicinity of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, the Rocky Mountain Rangers helped keep the peace and ensure the safety of residents of the Medicine Hat area.

Dubbed the "Tough Men" by the residents of Medicine Hat, the Rangers spent their entire period of their service engaged in long, mostly uneventful patrol rides, relieving the boredom by bothering the soldiers of the Halifax Provisional Battalion, a Nova Scotia militia infantry unit also stationed in the town.

One of the Rangers's favourite pranks was riding through the infantry bivouac located on the heights to the southwest of the town-site, collapsing tents and jeering the "feet soldiers."

A member of the Halifax Battalion, Wiliam Tupper (whose father would later be the Canadian Prime Minister), wrote at the time: "[the Rangers] go through town firing revolvers and swearing like fiends!"

Relations between the two units became so strained that Major John Stewart ordered the Ranger encampment moved a distance upriver. This decision was probably a great relief to Sergeant-Major Bray!

Following the end of the Rebellion, the Rocky Mountain Rangers were disbanded on July 17, 1885. Sergeant-Major Bray, along with 49 other members of the Rangers, was awarded the North West Canada 1885 Medal.

And like on the Guidon of today’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Guidon of the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment, which perpetuates the 1885 Rocky Mountain Rangers, is emblazoned with the Battle Honour “North West Canada 1885.”

Back on his ranch in the Pincher Creek area, Veteran John Bray would later return to Medicine Hat and settle there permanently in 1891 when he became the Foreman of Public Works in what would be later be known as the “Gas City.”

In 1896 Veteran John Bray was elected to the position of Hides Inspector and later Territorial Brand Inspector, as well the Secretary of the Medicine Hat Agricultural Association and secretary- manager of the Montana Stockmen’s Association.

Between 1910 and 1918 as a liquor inspector he issued liquor licenses in the City of Medicine Hat.

On September 9, 1923, Veteran John Bray passed away at age 83. He is buried in the Kin Coulee Cemetery in Medicine Hat; his grave marker displaying his Regimental Number of 2.

Based on his contributions to the Province of Alberta as a member of the NWMP and as a Veteran, Bray Lake, located about 42 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, is named in his honour.

In the 1970’s Veteran John Bray’s great-grandson would himself join the RCMP. Constable George W. Halstead, Reg. No. 28397, retired from the RCMP on December 20, 1995.

We will remember Veteran John Henry Gresham “Turkey-Legs” Bray, Reg. No. 2.

Mark Gaillard
Executive Officer
RCMP Veterans’ Association
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Old 11-10-2020, 09:52 PM
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Bumping this thread. Last January my Great Uncle passed away at the age of 94 (he's on the left in my photo in post #6). I'm thinking of him, but also of all other veterans, whether I knew them or not.

Please share your photos and stories of the veterans in your lives.
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Old 11-10-2020, 10:32 PM
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I have no stories

But this thread needs to be at the top
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Old 11-10-2020, 10:35 PM
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My Grandfather fought and was wounded at Vimy Ridge , his best best friend was killed beside him in that same battle. Grandpa received a visit from King George while he was in the hospital.
After the war he came home to visit his friends family and ended up marrying his best friends sister . They were together till he died in 1968 ,they had 7 kids ,my dad was the youngest. Two of his oldest sons went to England near the end of the second war but I don’t think they saw active fighting.

I often wonder if it weren’t for the battle of Vimy Ridge ,would I even exist?
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Old 11-10-2020, 11:16 PM
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Default This is my Grandfather

I wrote this article in 2018, and it was published in the Drayton Valley Western Review.

November 11, 1918 is celebrated in the west originally as Armistice Day and later, as Remembrance Day, but in Poland it is the Polish Independence Day. Poland ceased to exist in 1795, when it was finally swallowed by the empires of Prussian Germany, Tsarist Russia and the Hapsburg Austria-Hungary. On November 11, 1918, without waiting for permission, Poles declared an independent Poland, made up from lands recovered from these three fallen empires.

Recently, a small village of almost 400 residents in central Poland celebrated the life of one of its own sons within the greater context of 100 years of Polish Independence.

Kazimierz Benz was born in Nieżywięć in October 1899, then part of Prussian Germany. His professional military career, covering three 20th century wars was recognized by five European nations; Poland, France, Latvia, Germany, and Great Britain.

At the age of 16 he entered the Imperial German Army and fought in the trenches of France. Convalescing after being wounded towards the end of the war, he responded to the 1918 call of Marshal Józef Piłsudski for all Poles to return and defend the creation of an independent Polish state. He joined the famous cavalry regiment, 1 Pułk Szwoleżerów Józefa Piłsudskiego, as a 2nd Lieutenant and fought in the Polish–Soviet War of 1919-1921, including the deciding battle, the defense of Warsaw, in 1920.



In 1924 he joined the fledgling Polish Air Force. By the early 1930s he was responsible for leading the creation of three new air force squadrons, including fighter squadron 124/142 Eskadra Dzikie Kaczki, the Wild Ducks. In 1939 he was assigned to central military command in Modlin Poland.
With the fall of Poland, he escaped to France where he was given the rank of Commandant in the French Air Force, the Armée de l'Air. After the fall of France in 1940 he escaped again, this time to England, where he joined the Royal Air Force. During the Battle of Britain, in October 1940, he was assigned to 307 Squadron as Squadron Leader, a newly formed night-fighter outfit named the “City of Lvov Owls”. After a month, he returned to central command.

Chafing at not getting an active command, he began commando training in May 1942 with the intent to be eventually dropped back into Poland as an Allied agent. A broken ankle prevented his joining the Cichociemni, an elite special-operations paratroop group of the Polish Army in exile, and he again returned to Polish Air Force command in December 1943.

After the war in Europe ended in May 1945, Poles that had fought the entire war in the West discovered that a return to Poland was dangerous. Of the few that did, most were imprisoned and a few were shot. Many of those that stayed in England took advantage of scholarships offered to veterans and completed studies in technical schools or universities.


Anti-Polish sentiment began to rise in England as the population’s privations increased with the return of British troops from all over the world. This culminated with the London Victory Celebrations of 1946 held one year after the end of WWII. The celebrations took place in London on 8 June 1946, and consisted of a military parade through the city. Almost all Allies (some 70 countries including Canada) took part in the parade but Polish Forces were conspicuously absent. The British government of the time, led by Prime Minister Clement Attlee, capitulated to Russian demands that Poles only march in the Moscow parade of 1946, even though more than 200,000 members of the Polish Armed Forces in the West fought under British High Command.

In 1947, Kazimierz Benz joined the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the Polish Resettlement Corps, an organization formed as a holding unit for members of the Polish Armed Forces who had served with the British Armed Forces and did not wish to or could not return to a Communist Poland after the end of the war. It was designed to ease their transition from military to civilian life and to keep them under military control until they were fully adjusted to civilian life. An important aspect was to provide employment opportunities outside the British Isles where such an influx of refugees could be absorbed more easily.

He was officially de-mobbed in February 1949. In March 1952 Kazimierz, along with his wife, Zofia, emigrated to Canada to join his son and wife. Adjustment to civilian life was difficult but he did find employment with a small Drayton Valley oil & gas firm, and lived in Violet Grove, Alberta. He died peacefully in his sleep on May 5, 1957.

Wing Commander (retired PAF/RAF) Kazimierz Benz is buried in Drayton Valley, Alberta

His only daughter, Private (AK) Jadwiga Benz, disappeared in the fierce fighting towards the end of the Warsaw Uprising in the first days of October 1944.

His only son, my father, 2nd Lieutenant (AK) Tadeusz Benz, died in 1971 and is buried in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.
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Old 11-10-2020, 11:21 PM
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Too much to put in a short but I’d like to first and foremost remember my grandfathers one served in the Czech Army before being captured by the Germans and the other in the US Army in Okinawa. I miss you!

Secondly I remember all those I was with in Ramadi with that we lost including Cpl Shannon, Cpl Grothe, SSG Schwab SSG Gould and my best buddy SSG Jenson. There were many Marines Sailors and Soldiers on my base whom we worked with but never knew their names. You guys are gone but never forgotten! I love you my brothers!
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Old 11-11-2020, 09:05 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by huntinstuff View Post
I have no stories

But this thread needs to be at the top
To the top.

My great uncle was killed in the Dieppe raid, he was with the Royal Regiment of Canada. The whereabouts of his grave wasn't know until my cousin discovered it in 1979 while traveling in Europe.

This song/video is about my great uncle and how he was rediscovered. Since then many family members have been to visit him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nb2KqxsCVQ
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Old 11-11-2020, 01:32 PM
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My Dad's didn't serve he was 17 & stayed on the farm with my Grandfather, his older brother my Uncle Gus enlisted on Feb 5th, 1943 at the age of 20 & served 3.5 years overseas in Regiment H1962, rank Private - Canadian Medical/Dental Corps.

My Uncle made it home and is still alive today in Winnipeg at a Personal Care home in MiddleChurch, at the age of 97 going 98 in January & shooting for 100. My cousin was unable to see him today because of covid, she said last year when he was in his own house they reminisced about his time in Belgium, Holland, England, France, Scotland, Wales & Portugal. He took out his medals and shined them up, as well as a German Dagger with "All For Germany" carved in German on the blade that was given to him by a British soldier who picked it up in battle.

I lost two other uncles, we will remember them.

D.


My Uncle Gus .... so young & still with us today.





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Old 11-11-2020, 01:53 PM
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Arrow ... 'Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier' ... Ottawa, Canada.

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Old 11-11-2020, 01:56 PM
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Selkirk .... Great pic, been there many times, but never on Remembrance Day.

Tks for posting.

D.
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