Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 187 CLARE, Wallace Wesley “Nick” WWII Nick was born in Sydney, NS in 1913. He enlisted in the Army on July 7, 1941, at the age of 28 and took basic training in Sherbrooke, Quebec, courses in Ontario, and went to Okanagan Valley, BC for a special training course. Based at Petawawa, Ontario, he worked as an instructor in Small Arms before going overseas. He then went to Halifax and boarded the Isle de France for Greenwich, Scotland. Nick spent nine days on the ship to make the crossing. He did not know if they would make it to the other side because there were Uboats. Once in Scotland, they went by troop train to another training centre in the South of England, then to Southampton, England where they boarded a navy ship and sailed to France. He served in England, France, Belgium, and Holland. He was a full Sergeant in the Royal Canadian Engineers while in Canada, then reverted down to Corporal to go overseas. He served for four years and 23 days. Nick injured his back on Bailey Bridge Construction and was brought back to Ghent, Belgium, to hospital. While there, he traded a pack of cigarettes for a ship in a bottle made by a Prisoner of War. It was the only souvenir he was allowed to bring back and his son has it today. Eventually, he came back to Central England to the 13th General Hospital. They could not operate on his back there, so he was sent to a holding camp and put on a ship to return to Halifax, NS. He always said that Remembrance Day brought back a flood of memories and that he could remember every detail of his time in the war. The medals he received were the 1939-1945 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal War Medal 1939-1945, and the Royal Canadian Engineers Badge, Royal Canadian Legion 50-Year Medal and the Thank You Canada 1945 Medal. After the war, he returned to work at Sydney Steel Corporation in the Roll Shot Department. He retired at the age of 58 due to having a spinal fusion. He married Catherine ‘Kay’ Burns from NewWaterford after the war and they had a son and a daughter. Nick passed away at the age of 95 in 2008. Submitted by Family
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