Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 105 In November, Curtin, Hartman and I reported for parachute-training at Camp Shilo, a few miles from Brandon, Manitoba. Aweek into training, Bill Hartman was sent back to infantry. Apparently he had been drinking too much, was out of shape and could not take the tough physical training that was served up to us. Rollie and I continued the program and after passing all the rigorous tests and making five satisfactory jumps, we were presented with our Paratroop Wings and accepted as qualified officers into the First Canadian Parachute Battalion. This was one big moment. After we joined the Battalion we were given various staff duties while awaiting an overseas draft. One day, while on duty as the Orderly Officer, I went out in the morning to face sixty recruits of various ranks. Our program and equipment could only accommodate thirty-five, so I asked the Commanding Officer what we should do in this situation. He said to take all sixty men on a fairly fast run across the Prairies when twenty-five dropped out, give the remainder a short rest, call for a truck and bring them back to camp. Obviously, there was only one single criterion in making the selection for joining the outfit; never mind about one's intelligence or other personal assets. On the other hand, I suspect there was too little time for sophisticated tests or examinations, so endurance in running and determination were the quickest ways to do screening. This was also good preparation for the training when we were posted overseas. In February 1944, we began to make preparations for going overseas. I left Shilo on a draft that arrived in Halifax a few days later, and we boarded the Isle de France. We were about 12,000 troops altogether from all branches of the service. The other ranks were pretty crowded but the officers were comfortable enough in their quarters. We were quite busy before the ship left port. Then I heard the engines starting and immediately became sea-sick. I looked out the port-hole and saw Dartmouth; we had not even reached the outside of the harbour and already I could not stand without being sick! I went back to my bunk and ate nothing except arrowroot biscuits for the next six days. When we landed in Scotland, we immediately proceeded to our overseas camp in Bulford, Wiltshire County. Bulford is situated in the Salsbury Plains which was the locale of the Sixth Airborne Divison. Besides supporting troops, the Division comprised three Brigades; each Brigade had three Battalions. We were the only Canadian Battalion among them. Our Brigadier was James Hill and our Battalion CO. was Lieut Col. Bradbrook. His Second in Command was Jeff Nicklin of Winnipeg BlueBomber's fame. We had some real high caliber men in our outfit. Cpl Topham won a Victoria Cross; Major Stan Waters later became a Lieut. Governor and the only elected Senator in the country; Russ Harrison became During the fall months, the German army under Von Runstead, was romping through Belgium, only to be opposed by some green American troops, which offered very weak resistance and suffered heavy losses. As the enemy approached Brussels, the situation became very serious and something had to be done. Apparently the High Command were very concerned about the situation and our General Blois volunteered his Sixth Airborne Division to turn back the enemy. He argued that his troops were now trained for defensive warfare and were fully prepared to take on this task. Thus, we were assigned to go to Belgium. The time was just before Christmas so Jeff Nicklin decided to put on a big Christmas dinner for the men. The tradition was for the officers to be waiters and serve the troops. They always took great delight in this occasion by giving the officers a hard time, but a fun time was had by all, and everyone enjoyed an enormous meal. In England 1944 continued ... continued ...
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