Jim Parks was born September 22, 1924, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He grew up there during the hard days of the Great Depression, making money anywhere he could, selling magazines and blocks of ice. When the war came along, Jim was in high school, and he remembers learning about the war in history class. He joined […]
Archives: Oral History Project
Bentley, Lloyd
Lloyd Bentley was born August 1, 1923. He grew up in northern Ontario, in Kirkland Lake and Sault Ste Marie, during the Great Depression years; the family was on the move as Lloyd’s father searched for work. When the war came, Lloyd joined the air force, and he began his training for the RCAF, following […]
Trull, Madge
Madge Trull was born July 22, 1922. Madge is a Londoner, though she was born in Chile; her father was involved in the import-export trade. He brought his young family back to England as his children were growing up, as he wanted them to be raised and educated in the proper English tradition. Madge attended […]
Back, Wib
Wib Back was born May 11, 1926 in Toronto. Wib’s early life had its difficulties: his mother died when Wib was just 11, and his father was unable to care for Wib and his siblings, so they ended up going into foster care through the Children’s Aid Society. Wib was consequently moved around, going to […]
Scott, Cliff
Cliff Scott was born March 4, 1926 in Toronto. He grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the early years of the war itself, when he attended Humberside Collegiate in the city’s west end. Cliff’s early life was marked by the death of his father, a Toronto police officer, while Cliff was […]
Summersides, Jim
Jim Summersides was born in Welland, Ontario, and grew up with his mother, father and siblings. When the war broke out, Jim decided to join his classmates and enlist in the infantry. He became a part of the Canadian 48th Highlanders and was then shipped overseas to England. Having arrived in England, he was then […]
Marshall, Margueritte
Margueritte Marshall was born April 20, 1926 in Hamilton, Ontario, the oldest of thirteen children. The family moved to Niagara Falls, where her father ran a farm and worked at the Carborundum Plant. Margueritte remembers wanting to be a teacher, but with a family that size and the reality of the Great Depression, she quit […]
Crawford, Stuart
Stuart Crawford was born on March 2, 1922, in Kingston, Ontario. He had three brothers, and the boys all grew up playing sports and musical instruments, and they shared the same Kingston Whig Standard paper route, passed from one brother to the next. Stuart’s family was very close, and with his parents’ sacrifices they made […]
Gower, Harry
Harry Gower was born in Toronto in 1922. He grew up in the city’s west end, where he attended Western Tech. With the death of his father and the coming of the Great Depression, Harry had to leave high school after one year, and he took a job at Eaton’s, where he operated the elevator […]
Bacon, Al
Al Bacon was born Dec 27, 1919 in Toronto. He grew up in the city’s east end, attending Danforth Tech before the Great Depression forced him to quit school and go to work. Al found a job at the Simpson’s Department Store, where he was an elevator operator. When the war came, he and a […]
Kinnaird, Daphne
Daphne Kinnaird was born in London, England in 1921. She grew up in the Kensington neighbourhood, raised by her father and grandmother. She recalls a relatively good life before the war, with fond memories of friends and school. When the war came, she remembers listening to the declaration of war on the BBC, followed by […]
Hirschl, Helena
Helena Hirschl (nee Beinhacker) was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1928. An only child, she grew up in a well-to-do assimilated family, and her father was in the construction business. Helena remembers the prewar period in largely positive terms. She was unaware of the hatred bubbling beneath the surface; she had friends and liked school, […]
Gerrard, Gerry
Gerry Gerrard was in the reserve artillery as of 1938. The day before the war broke out, he was called up and reported to the colonel, who told Gerry he needed a dozen men to go to Victoria. Since Gerry waswas 17, he didn’t have to go, but he went anyway. In Victoria, he joined […]
Bedal, Carl
Carl was born in 1925 in Brighton, Ontario. He grew up on a farm during the Depression, and some of his earliest memories include seeing classmates in tattered clothing. His family relocated to Belleville when it was time for Carl to attend high school, and it was after graduation that he made the decision to […]
Sutton, Gerald
Gerald Sutton was born in Uckfield, Sussex, England on July 23, 1925, and he attended grammar school on a scholarship in the historic county town of Lewes. While there he watched the Battle of Britain fought overhead in 1940. With that in mind – and despite the danger of U-boat attacks, his mother brought him […]
Braybrook, Chelsea
Chelsea Braybrook was born in the city of Sarnia, Ontario, where she spent the majority of her childhood with her both her parents as well as her younger little brother. She never intended on being a soldier at young age but instead had aspirations of becoming a star like her childhood singing idol Cher. As […]
Aral, Selena
Selena Aral joined the reserves to help pay for post-secondary studies after she graduated high school in 1997. She started off in the navy as a boatswain and remained one for 7 years. She then decided to change tracks and try out logistics; she was accepted in 2004, which allowed her to go back to […]
Kennedy, Frank
Frank Kennedy is a WW2 Veteran; he was born in Manitoba in 1923. He is the 7th son in a family of 9, and he recalls some difficult early years as the family experienced the Great Depression in the Canadian Prairies. The Dust Bowl swirled around them, and Frank’s father’s business faltered. When the war came, Frank and two brothers joined up. Frank joined the […]
Jennings, Lara
Lara Jennings was born and raised in Grimsby, Ontario, and lived a sound childhood. She attended a plethora of high schools prior to graduation and deciding to pursue a military path. Jennings studied and graduated from Engineering at RMC prior to her choice of field in the military, which was the airforce. Beginning with regular bootcamp, she […]
Baum, Claire
Claire Baum was born in Rotterdam, Holland in 1936. A young child when the war began, she remembers little from the prewar period, but her memories of the attack on Rotterdam are vivid. Once the German occupation began, her life became one full of restrictions. And when the government began rounding up Jews, Claire’s parents […]
Switzer, Bill
Bill Switzer was born in 1923 in Midland, Ontario. He grew up in a “nice town to have a family” where he played, had fun and worked after he was done school. He came from a large family with 5 brothers and 5 sisters. His father was a mailman throughout most of his life,and most importantly during the depression. When the war came, Bill chose […]
Castel, Jean-Gabriel
Jean-Gabriel Castel is a man who has lived an exciting and varied life, filled with unique stories and experiences. Born in Nice, France in 1928, he spent part of his youth in the French Resistance in World War 2, challenging Germany’s wartime occupation of his homeland. He and his family survived all the difficult experiences […]
Martin, Bill
Bill Martin was born in 1925 in Toronto, into a family of four brothers. He attended Northern High School, where he played sports and developed an interest in geography. When the war came, Bill chose the navy, and he was assigned to the minesweeper HMCS Burlington, where he was a stoker. He spent the war […]
Wintrob, Kitty
Kitty Simmonds was a spirited 10-year old girl, growing up in London’s east end. She grew up with family and friends, and was living a normal childhood life. When the war came, that all changed; entire schools and neighbourhoods were evacuated to the countryside. Kitty was not happy about leaving; she did want to be […]
Farquarson, Bob
Bob Farquarson hails from the Canadian Prairies; he was born on March 1, 1923, on a reservation in Alberta, where his father was the government stockman. Bob’s early years were spent on the Prairies, right in the middle of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. He recalls the conditions drove his father to bankruptcy […]
Drummond, Dwight
Dwight Drummond is originally from Jamaica, coming to Toronto when he was young. He grew up in the city’s Jane-Finch neighbourhood, where he excelled at basketball and developed an affinity for journalism, which he pursued at Ryerson. He obtained a degree and rose through the ranks at various Toronto media outlets after he graduated, rising […]
Lucas, Alison
Alison Lucas was born in Ottawa to parents that moved around frequently, since her father was in the Air Force. Her mother was an Emergency Room nurse who took a “break” to manage the 3 kids and all the moves. By the time she was in high school, she had moved 8 times, but was […]
Comisso, Amber
LCdr Amber Comisso is a member of Canada’s present day forces, serving her nation in the navy. She visited Crestwood in April 2019, at which time she shared her experiences with Mr. Birrell’s Geography 9 class. She is originally from the GTA, and the military was not in her sights until the time for university […]
Levitt, Michael
Since 2015, Michael Levitt has served as a Member of Parliament in Canada’s House of Commons, representing the Toronto riding of York-Centre. As an MP, he has worked to represent his riding, one of the most diverse in Canada, as well as serving as a voice for Human Rights on the international stage. In March […]
McCowan, Jack
Jack McCowan was born in 1919 in the then agricultural hamlet of Scarborough, Ontario. His family owned a farm in the area, and Jack grew up in a large family and accustomed to the hard work of life on the farm. When the war came, Jack enlisted in the RCAF, though he had started a […]