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

Capt. N.M. McDougall, of the Elgin Regiment, transferred to Brigade Headquarters and, for the D-Day operation, served as a tank unit landing officer with the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade. His job was to reconnoiter areas for tank operations. In 1945, the President of the Provisional French Government, General Charles DeGaulle, presented McDougall with the Croix de Guerre avec Etoile de Vermeil for his actions during the D-Day landing.

On the eve of the 50th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion,  Elgin Military Museum Board Member Mac McDougall recalled his uniquely positioned memories of those events for the St. Thomas Times Journal.

The sudden death of Norma Chamberlain [1927-2017] on Friday, May 26th comes as a shock. Norma had a firm grip on what it means to remember our military heritage and the importance of service to our community. The wife of the late Lt. Col. Robert Chamberlain, a founding member and former Chairman of the Elgin Military Museum, she made a significant contribution to the evolution of the museum in her own right. For Ian, Melissa and myself (Catherine), she and ‘Bomber’ were always a part of our lives and will continue to be in our memories.

Time sure does fly! Looking through the veteran's files at the Elgin Military Museum is one of my favourite things. It's a chance to see many of the names and faces of my childhood from an adult point of view. The stories I heard at gatherings on the lawn at our house on Hwy 4 and on the veranda at the cottage at Port Stanley take on a new dimension as I read through the files and move on to the war diaries. Those were the faces that had just come through WW II and before. I expect them to have a 'folder'. 

It is slightly more alarming to come across an item announcing the 1994 retirement of someone who was a friend of my younger brothers at Wellington St. School! As I said, time flies and some are better at it than others. Bruce Robinson had a stellar career in the RCAF and went on to graduate from the US test pilot training school at Edwards Air Force Base in California - a real Top Gun.

Just prior to the invasion, “C” Squadron of the Elgins was stationed at Gosport on the southern coast of England. The men had been warned of air raids and told to dig slit trenches, as learned in previous training. But they had not done so. The second night the squadron was there, the German Air Force carried out a heavy raid on Portsmouth and Gosport and several bombs were dropped nearby. Don McLachlin, Charlie Raven and I went to get into our slit trench but found it was already occupied. The next morning there was dirt flying in all directions as the men dug deep into old Mother Earth.