Cy Hammond was born in Toronto in 1921. He lived in East York, in a working class family, with his mother and father. Cy used to play near the Don River with his friends and cricket at church. In 1941, Cy joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. After six months, Cy was sent to Halifax […]
Archives: Oral History Project
Hallett, Julie
Julie Hallett was born and raised in London, England. Before the war broke out, life was very good for Julie. She was an honor student at her private school and was given a scholarship to continue her studies there before the war. When the war broke out, she was evacuated with her school to a […]
Haliburton, Margaret
Margaret Haliburton joined the RCN in WW2, where she served as a WREN. She has spoken at Crestwood for several years, and she has brought a number of other women with her, including her sister Barbara Yule and her friend Francis Todd. All three women give students an insight into life on the home front […]
Gulko, Norman
Norman Gulko served in the Canadian army in World War Two, where he saw action on several fronts. After training and the overseas journey, he was deployed to Italy. When that campaign was nearing its conclusion, he was sent to the Netherlands, where he fought through northern Europe and into Germany itself. Norman brought many […]
Goodbody, Harry
Harry enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces when he was eighteen years old. Harry was sent to fight in Italy after his training in England. He was there when the Allied troops bombed and destroyed the abbey at Monte Cassino. This was one of the darker memories he has of the War. Some of Harry’s […]
Garnet, Sam
Sam Garnet was born March 28, 1923; he served in the RCAF during WWII. After training that took him across Canada and to the Bahamas, Sam was eventually seconded to the RAF, where he joined Coastal Command. Sam was a wireless air gunner who served on B-24 Liberators; he spent most of his war doing […]
Forsyth, Ed
Ed Forsyth is a Canadian veteran of WW2, having fought his way through France, the Netherlands, and Germany. We met Ed through the Royal Canadian Legion, where he is a proud member of the Brigadier O.M.Martin Branch at Peard Road. Ed is one of many members at that branch who have taken part in this […]
Foote, Jack
Jack Foote was born December 2, 1921. He served on a Motor Torpedo Boat in the Royal Canadian Navy during WW2, and it was his task to patrol the coastal areas from France to the Netherlands, keeping them clear of enemy threats. He was there on the night of June 5-6, 1944, engaging German E-boats […]
Fassbender, Edmund
Edmund Fassbender was born in Germany in 1925. He moved to Cologne, where he spent the rest of his years leading up to the war. Edmund joined the Hitler Youth at a young age. Like most young men, he was conscripted at age 18. He was a private, who trained as a sharpshooter. He was […]
Eddy, Jim
Mr. Jim Eddy served in the RCAF during WWII, when he was connected to Bomber Command. While on a mission over Germany, his Lancaster was shot down, and Jim went on to be a POW in German prison camps for the remainder of the war. We first visited Mr. Jim Eddy in his room at […]
Duckworth, Doug
Doug Duckworth was born in England in 1923. He moved from England to Canada in 1930. Like most young people, he dropped out of school to join the war effort. He learned to march like a soldier and be part of a group; pilots were never taught how to use parachute in case of emergency! […]
Dobbs, Bill
Bill was born in Winnipeg in 1923. Bill joined the air force in the early 1940’s where he would later become a bomb aimer . After his term as a bomb aimer, he went to university to pursue an education in electrical engineering. Bill married Betty Cooperstock. They had 5 children and have 11 eleven […]
DeVries, Jan
Jan De Vries was born January 24, 1924; he was 18 years old when he decided to enter the war. He joined the army and passed basic training, choosing to enlist in the paratrooper – or Para – battalion. He went overseas in 1943; in England the Paras continued their training. On June 5, 1944 […]
Denham, Ronald
Ronald Denham served with the Canadian Forces during the Cold War years. In addition to his in Canada deployments, which included a stay in the Arctic, Ronald was stationed on the frontlines of the European Cold War, where he was part of the British Army on the Rhine. He was able to offer thePolitics 12 […]
Davies, Daryll
Daryll Davies is in the present day RCMP. He has served in many UN peacekeeping missions, reminding that not only soldiers take part in these missions. Daryll has visited many troubled regions in this capacity, among them Bosnia, East Timor, Jordan, and Afghanistan. His roles included police training and dealing with cold cases and war […]
Davies, Fred
Fred Davies was born May 6, 1923 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, into a family of six brothers and one sister. He graduated high school and volunteered for the RCAF, choosing the air force because he wanted to be a pilot. After enlisting, he was sent to Manning Depot in Montreal for training, after which he […]
Dantsig, Benjamin
Benjamin Dantsig was a pilot in the Soviet Air Force during WW2. He fought in a number of battles during the war, including the final Soviet attack on Berlin. He also protected the convoy routes through the Arctic. He was shot down several times and was lucky to survive a partial amputation of his leg. […]
Curtis, Jim
Mr. Curtis was in the military from 1939-1945. He was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Curtis was in Communications, he was in charge of operating a radio as well as knowing Morse Code.He spent 3 years in basic training before going off to fight in Europe. His campaigns were in Italy, and […]
Cossman, Howard
Howard Cossman was born on November 3rd, 1925 in Montreal, Canada and is here today in Toronto, retelling his courageous life stories. Growing up as a Jewish Canadian in the 30’s wasn’t always easy. Howard thought that one day he would have to show his appreciation of his religion and demonstrate his patriotism to his […]
Comber, Vera
Vera Comber grew up in London; when she was 12 she was evacuated with her school from London to the countryside. When she returned, she endured the Blitz and remembers spending nights in the Underground. While living in London, her sister enrolled in the land army, and soonafter Vera did as well. She was sent […]
Chu, Henry
Henry Chu was a captain in the South Korean army during the Korean War of 1950-53. When his family was separated with the designation of the 38th Parallel, he found himself in the south. With the coming of the war, he became involved in a commando unit whose job it was to inflitrate enemy forces […]
Carrigan, George
George Carrigan is Mr. Masters’ grandfather. He was a veteran of the Great War, who went off to fight in that conflict with five of his brothers. George was born in rural Nova Scotia, and he often spoke of the war as an opportunity to escape the limited opportunities that awaited him. He was among […]
Campbell, William
William Campbell is from Lossiemouth, Scotland. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, mainly aboard the battleship King George V. In this interview he painted a detailed portrait of what life was like on the ship, from the weather to the food to the uniform. William was able to travel all […]
Braithwaite, Leonard
Leonard Braithwaite was born October 23, 1923 in interwar Toronto, growing up in the downtown neighbourhood of Kensington Market. As the Great Depression took hold, the young Leonard went to school and helped his family out by selling newspapers. When World War Two came along, Leonard decided to enlist, only to be put off by […]
Bluestein, Ev
Ev Bluestein served in the American Army during WW2, specifically General Patton’s armoured corps. When they made their breakout from the Battle of Normandy, Ev and his comrades fought through France and into the Netherlands and Germany, helping to bring the European war to its conclusion. Ev came to us courtesy of Len Levy, a […]
Blowe, Don
Don Blowe served in the Canadian forces during WWII. He enlisted in the Essex Scottish regiment at the age of 18; after training he was sent to England and he then saw action in France, Holland, and Germany. In Holland he was wounded in his leg; after he recovered he participated in Operation Veritable, where […]
Beal, Ronald
Ron Beal was born April 5, 1921. Growing up during the depression, he enlisted in the Royal Regiment of Canada, having been in the militia before the war. After training and the overseas journey and several months of waiting, Ron was sent to Dieppe. It was the first cross-Channel raid by the Allies, and a […]
Astor, David
David Astor was born September 26, 1919. He served in the USMC during WW2. He enlisted in he early stages of the war, leaving his home in Portland, Maine for Marine training that took him all over the United States before his deployment to the Pacific theatre. David was stationed on both Guam and Guadalcanal, […]
Aldred, Jack
Jack Aldred was born and raised by his father, a war veteran, and his mother, in downtown Toronto. Mr. Aldred always looked up to his older brother, so when his brother went off to fight in the navy, so did Mr. Aldred. Mr. Aldred says that it was “just the thing to do” at the […]
Williams, Donald
Donald Williams is Olivia Kassardjians’s grandfather. Olivia was in Mr. Masters’ class in 2008-9; she interviewed her grandfather about his experiences growing up in wartime Jamaica and about his life after emigrating to Canada. […]