THE ELGIN MILITARY MUSEUM
  • The Elgin Military Museum
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Research Veterans Collection
  • The Services
    • ARMY >
      • D-Day
      • The Elgins
      • The Perfect Man
      • The Kangaroos
      • Afghanistan
      • Links to Army Stories
    • Navy >
      • HMCS St. Thomas
      • Radar Man
      • Links to Navy Stories
    • Air Force >
      • Flying 001
      • Commonwealth Air Training Plan
      • First Radar Dome
      • Links to Air Force Stories
    • Women in the Services >
      • Donna Price
    • Services for the Services
  • Stuff
    • The Boss
    • The Chair
    • Pride Pets & Pests
    • National Winner
  • EXHIBITS & EVENTS
    • Cold War at Home
    • Vimy Centennial at EMM
    • THE VIMY POPPY
    • Fragments
    • Hall of Honour
    • Remember
    • Model Ships
    • Jumbo
  • Plan Visit
    • Tours EMM
    • Tours HMCS Ojibwa
  • Education
  • Blog
  • Remember
  • Remember

lives lived

take a moment to walk in their shoes

Stan's North Sea Adventure

1/20/2019

2 Comments

 

The Beginning

Previously, on this blog we have heard about Bomber Gunner Stan Jones Sojourn in France and how he was reunited with a man, whom he knew as a boy, while being hidden from the Germans by a French Family. On that adventure, Stan became a qualified member of the Caterpillar Club.

Stan's North Sea Adventure took place prior to those events, when he was posted to Operational Training Station Kinloss, Scotland. At OTS, the airmen with various skill sets learned to function as a team and it was on one of those practice sessions that Stan qualified for the Goldfish Club. This club was open to aircrew who were forced to 'vacate the premises' so to speak and ended up in the sea.

What follows are Stan's recollections of this time and a letter from the Scottish fisherman who found him drifting in a dinghy on the North Sea.

Read More
2 Comments

Gen. Sir Arthur Currie Meets Last Casualty

1/17/2019

1 Comment

 

Intro to Recollections

With the presence of mind of an officer who was awarded the VD and was later the Commanding Officer of the Elgin Regiment, Lt. Col. Warren Andrews recorded his encounter with General Sir Arthur Currie, Commander of Canadian Troops and Kenneth Lawrence the last Canadian casualty of the Great War.  The occasion was a celebratory dinner for thousands in St. Thomas, Ontario in 1921. The encounter did not begin well.
Picture

Read More
1 Comment

Lost in the Jungle

1/16/2019

1 Comment

 

The Sound of his Voice

There is nothing to compare to the unexpected pleasure of hearing a loved one's voice on the telephone no matter how sketchy the details or how harrowing what you do hear maybe. This was certainly the case for Air Force Warrant Officer Bill Burton's mom, Mrs. E.A. Dunn.  It was wartime and like many other stories from the front, a report found it's way into the St. Thomas Times Journal.  She might have been caught up in the moment just listening to his voice but I am quite sure her imagination received a workout when she had time to take in words such as jungle and wild game.

Picture

Read More
1 Comment

The Question is Always Why

1/15/2019

3 Comments

 

The Answer is Often:
It was Meant to Be

We will never know why a very young Canadian seaman, ‘Bud’ Bridgman, volunteered to remain on lookout aboard HMCS Comox after the search for survivors of the Liberty Ship Martin Van Buren had ceased. Nevertheless, despite the bone chilling fog, Bud continued to scan what parts of the ocean he could see. Sixty six men are very grateful that he did.
Picture
Picture
Left: Seaman Arthur 'Bud' Bridgman
with 'Cookie' aboard HMCS Comox



Read More
3 Comments

Last Canadian Wounded WW I

1/14/2019

0 Comments

 
Friday, November 11, 1938
 
Last Canadian Wounded in War Former St Thomas Man
 
Kenneth Lawrence Received Leg Injury, Necessitating
Amputation, Three Minutes before “Cease
Fire” Order Given


Read More
0 Comments

    Author

    The Elgin Military Museum has a vast collection of letters, articles, poems and pictures of veterans and others who served their community over a period of two hundred years.. This blog is our way of sharing them with you.

    Archives

    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    June 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016

    Categories

    All
    Air Force
    Army
    Bridge Too Far
    Caterpillar Club
    Ceremonies
    Christmas
    Churchill
    Citations
    Confidential Book Box
    D Day
    Devil's Brigade
    Dieppe
    Elgin Military Museum
    Elgin Regiment
    Goldfish Club
    Italian Campaign
    Late Arrivals Club
    Letters
    Merchant Marine
    Military Camps
    Military Cross
    Military Medical Care
    Momentous Events
    Nursing
    Obituaries
    PPCLI
    Radar
    Red Cross
    Roosevelt
    Royal Canadian Navy
    Royal Navy
    Tanks
    Trench Warfare
    U Boats
    WW I
    WW II

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • The Elgin Military Museum
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Research Veterans Collection
  • The Services
    • ARMY >
      • D-Day
      • The Elgins
      • The Perfect Man
      • The Kangaroos
      • Afghanistan
      • Links to Army Stories
    • Navy >
      • HMCS St. Thomas
      • Radar Man
      • Links to Navy Stories
    • Air Force >
      • Flying 001
      • Commonwealth Air Training Plan
      • First Radar Dome
      • Links to Air Force Stories
    • Women in the Services >
      • Donna Price
    • Services for the Services
  • Stuff
    • The Boss
    • The Chair
    • Pride Pets & Pests
    • National Winner
  • EXHIBITS & EVENTS
    • Cold War at Home
    • Vimy Centennial at EMM
    • THE VIMY POPPY
    • Fragments
    • Hall of Honour
    • Remember
    • Model Ships
    • Jumbo
  • Plan Visit
    • Tours EMM
    • Tours HMCS Ojibwa
  • Education
  • Blog
  • Remember
  • Remember