Bicycles & World War II Spies 10
Agents practising being interrogated. The rural situation of camp X can be glimpsed from the background. (From the Pelham-Burn collection, reproduced by courtesy of Lynn-Philip Hodgson) On 6 December 1941, just one day before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a British spy training camp opened in Whitby, Ontario, some 50 kilometres east of Toronto. The ...
My Dutch Family History 11
Oma & Opa on their bicycles on a visit home – Netherlands, 1990s / The Urban Country My Mother’s parents were born in Ravenswaay in the Province Gelderland in the Netherlands. They both grew up on small farms across the road from each other in the 1930’s. The Germans invaded the Netherlands on May 10th, ...
I will Always Remember
November 11th is a day that is very near and dear to my heart. 11 November 1918 marks the end of the Great War (also known as World War I… also known as the war to end all wars). It is a day in which I believe we should all take the time to remember ...
The Rise of a Dictator 1
On Saturday evening we returned from 3 days in beautiful Sanya, China where we visited along with my old friend Mark who currently lives in Shanghai. Sanya is definitely a beautiful tropical place and I’ll post some pictures after I return to Canada. But for now the current topic on my mind is how Adolf ...
The Ultra Secret 2
Flying 1700KM twice a week has some perks, including giving me the opportunity to do lots of reading; something that has been lacking in my life this summer. There are so many things I want to write about, so I’m going to try to write a little more often now that I have a laptop ...
Canadian Victoria Cross Recipient – June 12, 1944
16 Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross during World War II. I wanted to share the great story of P.O. Andrew Charles Mynarski. Pilot Officer Mynarski was the mid-upper gunner of a Lancaster aircraft, detailed to attack a target at Cambrai in France, on the night of 12th June 1944. It would be the crew’s ...
RAF WWII Bomber Command
This week’s quote of the week is on a more serious note, due to Remembrance Day taking place this Thursday. The context of the quote is to remember the aircrews that sacrificed their lives in World War 2 to fight the Germans against appalling odds. I’d also like to remember the many Canadians and Australians ...
Falling Poppies
I have been having problems with my Rememberance Day poppy. It keeps falling off, especially when I’m wearing a jacket. I can’t seem to figure out the proper way of securing it on my shirt. I have tried pointing the pin down (Hoping gravity would keep it attached), I tried pointing the pin sideways too. ...
The Forgotten Soldier
This book is about a 17 year old half French / half German boy who fought in World War Two for Germany. At the beginning of the book, he is youthful, full of life and energy. Throughout the book, he seems to age 10 years, and loses all his emotions, love and spirit. He sees ...