april 08, 2009 12:30am
August 6, 2008 Brothers
Wednesday August 6, 2008.
Brothers.....
I wake up early and went downstairs for breakfast, we had a good meal of ham and eggs. Then Bob and I started his interview. We started with his time in the war. The topic of being with his brother in the war was a touchy area and I changed the subject to what he has done since he got back from overseas.. After we were done I thanked his wife and him for their hospitality and I set out for Sussex NB for the home of Gorden Bickerton, Gord was a driver in the 8th Hussar's. He was trained as a tank gunner but as it so often happens in the army the job you were trained for wasn't the job that you got. Gord was a Driver for a Brigadier General for the war and he got to stay in pretty posh digs. He never seen action but he got to see the better side of the war. He had some interesting stories.
I then made a stop at the Sussex Veterans Unit called the Kiwanis Nursing home to talk to Joseph Walsh, Joe was a tank gunner with Canadian Grenadier Guard. He got into the war late in 1944. He went though a couple of large tank battle on the way to Germany He was at the Hawkwald gap. He still talks favorably about his commanding officer named Ned Amy. He told me of a time during the battle when he noticed out of the corner of his eye a officer walking down the road as proud as you please as the battle was going on. It was Amy, “is this tank operational” he asked they said yes sir and Amy made the tank the command tank. He carried on as if nothing was wrong. Joe found out later that Amy's tank was damaged so he had to bail out and find another ride, so he did. Joe told me that , although he was not involved, his group was the group that killed a German tank commander named Vitman. Vitman was an ace with 143 kills and some time at the Russian front. Joe was proud to be a part or the regiment that killed that guy.
Joe was also at the battle of Whinnathal. Where his regiment crossed the Rhine on a boat bridge. A boat bridge was just as it sounds a bridge made of specially designed boats that could be lined up side by side and by placing planks over the bridge you could move heavy equipment across it one at a time.
Joe was married and had 5 kids and is a happy man. The conditions at the hospital are good put when you watch his video you mite hear a man snoring in the next bed. I give a free t-shirt or a copy of Harry's book “the Dispatch Rider: to all the veterans that I interview for free but Joe insisted that he make a donation of $50., I said no but he insisted. Every little bit counts.
I bid farewell to Joe and thanked him for his donation and set out for Moncton.
I arrived in Moncton at about 4:30 and went into the Legion. I talked to Gloria and she said it was OK the plug the Blue Bomber into the back wall, so I did. I unloaded the Harley and set out for a look around.
I tried to plug in my computer upon my return and it made a strange sound, something like a tape tightening up and then it quit. This is a major problem because all of my contact information is on my computer. My log book entries. Email records, everything. Not a good situation. So I went into the Legion to see if anyone knew of a computer guy that would work cheap because we are at the end of our money in the charities bank account. I sat down with a couple of people in the Legion. I had met a veteran earlier so I sat with him. The other people at the table I had not yet met. One of those people was Al Johnston, Al works as a volunteer with a group called ”The Pioneers”. He gave me a name and a location with directions and told me to see them maybe they could help. So I went back to the RV and packed it in for the night.
