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lives lived

take a moment to walk in their shoes

1st Para Brigade Calling Second Army

2/26/2020

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Come in Second Army...Come in Second Army

“This is the 1st Para Brigade calling Second Army. Come in Second Army. Come in Second Army.” A desperate transmission sent September 20, 1944 by St. Thomas native, Signaler Stanley Copley, 1st Airborne, British Army. The transmission was sent from then Lieutenant Colonel John Frost’s small force of paratroopers holding the bridge at Arnhem in the Netherlands. The Bridge Too Far.
Despite the valiant efforts of the 1st Para's to capture and hold the north end of this vital bridge over the Rhine, their support system failed to reach them and the Germans moved in to surround them. The bridge fell on September 21st and Stan, wounded in the face, was taken prisoner.

He was twenty three.  Stan had already seen service in an anti-aircraft battery in Liverpool during the Blitz and served in Northern Ireland, North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Only months before Operation Market Garden, Stan completed  further training as a wireless operator.
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The Bridge at Arnhem today renamed John Frostbrug or John Frost Bridge in honour of Major General John Frost who led the British forces that did their utmost to hold the 'bridge too far"
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Zeppelins & 'Chocolate'

11/10/2018

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When Zeppelins Bombarded the
Canadian Camp

From a 1915 clipping from the St. Thomas paper found in the E.D. Mitchell files at EMM

Signaller Mitchell Tells of Stiring Night at Otterpool

HE AND HIS HORSE ESCAPE UNHURT

 
But He Declares Experience Was
Most Horrible He Had Ever
Undergone in His Life

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Introduction to Ephraim

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E.D. Mitchell, a former St. Thomas boy, writing to his folks at Eden, Ont., from Otterpool Camp, England, gives some very interesting detail of his experience when the Germans bombarded that camp from Zeppelins.  Signaller Mitchell was at one time connected with the grocery firms here of Swinn Bros., J.A. McCance, Egan Bros. and Butler Bros., and will be remembered by a large number of friends. For the last five or six years he has travelled for the Swift Canadian Company out of Winnipeg and Nelson, B.C. He enlisted last June at Winnipeg, and is with the Headquarters Staff, Fifth Artillery Brigade, Second Canadian Division, as signaller and dispatch rider. In his letter he writes:

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Hospitals a Sanctuary after Somme

12/18/2017

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The turn of the 20th century saw many a young Englishman come to our area to make a new life for himself. Thomas Richard Young was among those who ventured forth from Bournemouth, Hampshire, to the Aylmer area here in Elgin County  in the spring of 1909.  By 1911, he was working on the farm of Leslie and Helen Cameron in Bayham Township south east of Aylmer.  Tom then took up the challenge of going west and from there, on October 23, 1915, he enlisted for service overseas.
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His mention of the horrors of the Somme are compelling and the toll on his body led to a Voluntary Aid Hospital near Chester in England. It is from this location that he writes to old friends in Canada.  Interestingly, although he was about 29 when he left England for Canada, he refers to himself as a Canadian. His letter appeared in the Aylmer newspaper under the title Calton Man was in the Battle of the Somme as set out below (with images added for the reader of today)

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The Halifax Explosion

12/5/2017

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The View from Sailors from St. Thomas, Ontario

The Halifax Explosion December 6, 1917 was the largest man-made explosion until the nuclear era. There are many excellent resources about this event. What follows are the memories of two St. Thomas men writing home to their parents in the aftermath. Seaman Gunner James A. Cluskey and Seaman Owen George Young were serving in the navy as members of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve (the precursor to the 'Wavy Navy'). They were witnesses to the catastrophe and the aftermath.
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Lusitania Survivor

12/5/2017

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In the Beginning

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46 William St. corner of St. Anne's Place
Avis Dolphin came to Canada with her recently widowed mother before the First World War. They moved into 46 William Street and Avis attended Wellington Street School. When she was twelve, her mother decided to send her back to England to finish her education. So, despite the fact that the much touted phrase "we'll be home for Christmas" [1914] did not prove true, Avis traveled to New York with two nurse companions, Miss Hilda Ellis and Miss Sarah Smith, to board the Lusitania on May 1st 1915.  Seven days later she was tossed into the sea and had to fend for herself.

Parts of the letter that she wrote to her mother on May 10th from the Waverley Hotel in Dublin, Ireland were published in the St. Thomas Journal and appear below.


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Life Before the Front - Sandling Camp

11/29/2017

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From One of the Lads

The Following Letter from Lance-Corporal A.l. Satchell, was written to his mother Mrs. Emma Satchell, 52 Maple Street. He left with the 91st Battalion and is now with the 12th Reserve Battalion. His sisters are Mrs. A.W. Osborne, Fifth Avenue, Mrs. Wall, 60 Chestnut Street and Mrs. H. Osborne, 52 Maple Street.          

St. Thomas Journal Sept 15, 1916

Life Before the Front


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Honouring the Last Request

11/21/2016

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Duty to the Dead

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Honouring the last request of a comrade by writing to their family is a solemn commitment and one of the most difficult tasks those in service may have to perform. 
Pte Hayes struggles to fulfill his promise knowing the pain that will ensue. He lightens the load with images of a peaceful passing in the full knowledge of the harsh realities of life and death at the front during the Great War; realities that he will carry with him until he too takes that last journey.

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    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.

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  • 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