WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 7, 1984, PAGE 7 Three Whitby veterans recallithe horrors of war By MARC VINCENT Free Press Staff In order to get into the room you have to be a member with a personal card key. Inside a num- ber of men sit around various tables, drinking and smoking. They sit in groups of five or six, discussing activities and events in their lives. At the bar a tall gen- tleman serves beer. His what they really went through. However, three men in the room agreed to recall some of their more vivid recollections of the war. Bob Green spent two years and nine months as a prisoner of war in western Germany. Bob was taken prisoner after the Diep- pe Raid - an action that cost Canada 3,367 to look after myself," said Bob, "but things didn't work out the way they were supposed to. We were supposed to have smoke protection but there wasn't any." As a P.O.W., Bob was pressed into menial labor for the Germans. "We weren't mistreated," said Bob, "we didn't have the best of lodgings but it was and killed." Bill said the first ac- tion was the worst because it was hard to accept what was going on around him. "We had worse ex- periences and more ferocious fighting after D Day in Holland. and fighting around /the Leopold Canal," he said, "but the first ac- tion is always the wor- st." Bill took part in the liberation of Holland and remembers the close attachment that developed between the Dutch and the Canadians, "I'il never forget that. Bob Adams was also present in the liberation of Holland and he recen- tly returned from a holiday there where he stayed · with a Dutch family that remem- bered the participation of the Canadians. "In fact, the woman I stayed with remem- bered us putting up a bridge in her neigh- bourhood and she wat- ched us put it together *from across the river." Bob was part of the service corps that often helped the engineering corps. He was a dispat- ch rider who used to guide the convoys around Germany. and Holland. 'We got lost plenty of times," he remem- bered, "once we drove right into Germany and realized where we were and then turned around and came back out. But it was an officer leading the convoy that time, not me." Bob was slightly older than most of the recruits in 1940. He was 26 while the rest were usually 19 to20. "It's definitely a young man's game,"1 he young man's gaine," he who didn't corne home. tration camp he replied: said, "We used to sleep under the trucks at night and often the younger guys would be up and awake while I was still trying to get some sleep." Bob took his training at Camp Borden and af- terwards was asked to become an instructor. "Something I thought was very important." However, he grew tired of being an instructor and wanted to join what he thought was the real war. Bob managed to get to Europe by redraf- ting himself. Bob joined the army because he also believed Hitler had to be stopped because of humanity. "My earlier thinking was confirmed when I helped release some of the concentration cam- ps." Asked how he felt when he saw the concen- tration camp he replied: "I had been through enough fighting that it didn't make me physically sick but it made me much more angrier." The story of three men's experience during the war can only give an indication of what many men and women went through on both sides. In a few years, there will not be many left who actually participated in the war but it's our obligation to remember these men and women and the sacrifices they made. And Sunday morning, they will march once again, with heads held high and eyes, fighting back the emotion of the moment. But this time they'll march to the Cenotaph on Dundas St. E. to remember the friends and comrades who didn't come home. age is probably between 60 and 70 and on his shirt he wears a crest - a proud, bright red Maple Leaf surmounted by St. Edward's Crown. In- fact, a quick look around the room reveals a common bond bet- ween al these men and women. They all have a crest or a hat with a crest of Branch 112 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Sunday is ap- proaching. Every Nov. 11, they cast their minds back to 40 years ago when the world was at war. For those of us that did not participate in the Second World War it is very difficult to imagine just what many of these men and women went through in order to protect our freedom, allowing us to live our lives in a fashion we all too often take for gran- ted. It is difficult for these men to remember exac- tly the events of 40 years ago because time sof- tens the memory. It is also difficult to retell thoughts and feelings to someone who wasn't there and has no idea casualties in dead and wounded. Some 5,000 Canadians embarked on the raid and only 2,000 returned. The rest were wounded, or like Bob, were taken prisoner. He was among 900 Canadians that spent the rest of the war behind German barbed wire. Bob joined the army in 1940 "for the same reasons as everyone else." Bob's biggest disap- pointment after the Dieppe raid was "we weren't recognized af- ter it was all over, it wasn't considered a major operation." Some time after, the Allies recognized the importance of the raid as part of the preparation and lear- ning experience for the D Day invasion. Diep- pe's costly mistakes saved many of the men that would eventually storm the beaches of Normandy. Bob's primary con- cern before the raid and his thoughts were cen- tered on his own- sur- vival. "All I can remember was thinking that I have sufficient." Bob and the other prisoners worked 12 hours a day. At first they worked at a stone quarry loading the stone onto carts. "We didn't break up the stone, the political prisoners did that. Then he worked at a sugar beet factory. "That was an education," he recalled, "I moved all over the operation and when I didn't want to work in one area I asked to be moved, after all they couldn't fire you." Bill Heron was only 16 when he joined up in 1940. "I wasn't very mature, but there was an excitement about the war and I believed that Hitler had to be stop- ped." Bill eventually joined the lst Canadian and Scottish Infantry bat- talion. "The infantry has a very maturing effect," Bill says, "you won- dered what was going to happen to you." Bill's first action was the D Day invasion. "It was something that you can't describe with ail the guys being wounded K&M CLEANERS SAME DAY SERVICE ALTERATIONS AND REPAIRS "A Cleaning Service .for the Entire Family" 112 COLBORNE ST. W. 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