Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 131 Reid Myers served Canada throughout Europe during WWII. This is his story as told by Reid to myself (Editor) in 2007. After advanced training at Camp Petawawa Ontario, from May to August 1943, I arrived by CN Rail at Camp Debert, N.S. Following additional months of training there, I was soon on my way to Halifax where the troop ship SS Mauritania was being loaded with thousands of Canadian and American military personnel. The ship departed Halifax on 13 December 1943 and arrived in Liverpool England five days later. England, early 1944, Camp Sheffield Park, Fletching. This was the beginning of life-long friendships of previously unknown Comrades. ‘L’ Troop of the 14th Battalion, 5th CDN A/T Regiment was my first commitment, but things soon changed. I volunteered to join the M.T. (Motor Transport) section and became a dispatch rider (D.R.). On my first attempt to ride, I fell backwards off the bike, the thrust was so great. On my second attempt, I was able to stay on and follow Sgt. M. Hall. Within a few days we were biking the highways of the country. I survived a couple of bad spills during convoy duty. One day, close to D-Day (June 1944), during a trip to Borden (the business at that time was to exchange equipment, new tanks, etc.), along the trail one of the Officers wished to borrow my Norton motorcycle as he wanted to go on to the head of the detail. As the miles clicked by, and we rounded a bend, the left side-carrier left the road and flipped upside down concealing the two of us inside. We could hear the other soldier yelling for us as he was thrown off into the bushes. The driver found a recess in the ground which allowed us to squeeze out of the side-carrier unharmed – we were lucky to be alive! My D.R. helmet was squashed beyond further use. Following several more weeks of riding D.R. in convoys, etc. preparations for the big ‘D’ (D-Day) were intensifying. As a result of excessive biking, no matter the elements, my back gave out and I was in hospital for a short spell. That ended my Norton days. After my recovery, I was reassigned to a new troop. This time it was ‘K’ Troop. I received a quick course on a miniature shooting range to gain knowledge of the sight on the MIO’s (tanks). The range was in the camp and consisted of a .22 rifle mounted on the top of the gun barrel. This soon resulted in trips to Beachy-Head, and getting 4 out of 5 hits on the major range near Eastbourne, England. Fate is a strange thing. Of all the trials and tribulations of my biking in England, it resulted in a transfer from one troop to another, and I often wonder to this day what may have happened to me had I not volunteered as a dispatch rider – ‘L’ Troop, my original Troop, was destroyed! Normandy, France, on the road to Falaise, August 1944. It was very hot and noisy. The trapping of the German 7th Army was in progress. The Falaise pocket, or gap, as it became famously known, was being closed around the enemy forces. The Polish, British and Canadian military were heavily involved. Bomber Command was also a main element in this major development of World War II. My comrades and I were very far apart then, but my memories are still quite vivid of that time, especially that day of 14 August 1944. One of the items we carried on board our tanks was a large sheet of bright yellow material, large enough to completely A Featured Veteran Story REID B. MYERS Continued . . .
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