HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2011-11-16, Page 8mmuni
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November 16, 2011 • Goderuct Si
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Anderson a compelling witness to the greatest generation
e served his country
World War 11 as a
orrespondent
passing Remembrance Day observ-
dnks.of the veterans who saved the
Fascist tyranny grow thinner. Yet,
in vibrant voices from that distant
till bear testimony to those great
le times.
one such witness is Gaderich resi-
nderson who served as a Lieuten-
Royal Canadian Artillery. He is the
king officer from that era living in
Bili' Anderson was born in Saint
Brunswick in 1922. His father,
Berson, was a Boer War veteran
at age 16, had stowed away on
troop ship bound for South
en caught, his punishment was to
the Royal Canadian Dragoons
erved as a Gatling gunner in some
est fighting of that war.
while in high school, Bill joined
. In the summer months, he took
rs' course on the artillery range at
awawa. Within a year, his training
ome vital when Canada went to
azi Germany in 1939.
r, Biu promised his father that he
established in a career before join-
med forces. After graduation at
High School, Anderson became a
ouncer on CHST, the local Saint
o station, on a salary of $10 per
r a year as the host of the morning
enlisted in the army. He chose the
cause as he recalls his father and
ongly discouraged me from join -
try because I was too tall."
his basic training, Anderson was
someone with leadership poten-
er an interview with the garrison
er was sent to officer training
rockville, Ontario.
eiving his commission, Anderson
Saint John and married, Betty, his
1 sweetheart on August 21, 1943.
er, Anderson went overseas from
)oard the transport ship 'Bay -
as one of 98 military officers and
ters headed to the European thea -
south Atlantic and the Azores.
ay crossing was almost a 'pleasure
November 11 when he witnessed
anti-submarine duty attempt a
a freighter converted into a make -
p aircraft carrier. The plane was
off the stern of the carrier and
to the sea. To Anderson's 'shock'
attempt a rescue, the freighter
at top speed from the crash to
age from the plane's exploding
es. The fate of the pilot was of less
an the safety of the vessel. It was
casualty Anderson saw.
11, 1944, at D+6, Anderson landed
dy as a replacement officer in the
ry of the 5th Anti -Tank Regiment
ured Division). It was a western
'II
•
•
Canadian Regiment recruited
mostly from the Calgary
area. Lieutenant-Colonel Doug-
las darkness, GM ED, his com-
manding officer and future
Defence Minister in Prime Minis-
ter Diefenbaker's cabinet, gave21
year-old Anderson command of
A Troop consisting of four self
propelled guns. His predecessor
had been killed in one of the
fierce Normandy battles.
Anderson's first battle experi-
ence was in the fight to close the
Falaise Gap to prevent the rem-
nants of the German army from
escaping. Almost seven decades
later, Anderson described the
'carnage' that he saw in the Gap
as 'horrendous' and as 'the worst
thing I ever saw.' History records
that the German army was deliv-
ered a fatal blow in the Falaise
Pocket from which it never
recovered.
His unit continued to provide
artillery support through some of
the toughest battles in France,
Huron History
David Yates
Holland and Germany until May
1945 when he gave the last battle
order to 'cease fire' when the war
ended.
Immediately after the cessation
of hostilities, Captain Anderson
was assigned to the 2nd Canadian
Forces Public Relations Group
where he became Radio Officer
of North West Europe. One of his
responsibilities was to escort
press reporters around the allied
occupied areas of Germany and
Holland. Some of the journalistic
legends that Anderson encoun-
tered was 'The Globe and Mail's
Ralph Allen, CBC war corre-
spondent Matthew Halton and a
LT. BILL ANDERSON, 1943
United Press correspondent cov-
ering the European war for Amer-
ica named Walter Cronkite.
Anderson broadcast Canada's
first war crimes trial from Ger-
many. It was one of the most
importanttrials in Canadian
LT. BILL ANDERSON, 2011
history where S.S. General Kurt
Meyer was tried for the mass
murder of Canadian prisoners of
war in Normandy. Anderson
recalled that Meyer was a model
CONTINUED > PAGE 8
Walking `Coast To Coast" across England
"I wandered lonely as a cloud ..."
William Wordsworth lived and is
buried here in Grasmere, a tranquil
valley village he called 'the fairest
place on earth.'
After days of stumbling across the
Lake District in terrible weather,
disoriented by unmarked paths,
sore and looking for an exft strategy,
I set out early from Grasmere deter-
mined to. make It across Grisedale
Pass and descend to Patterdale by
mid-day.
The bridleway up was steep and
grassy, hard to get good traction.
The rocky trall to the top was even
steeper. Lost in a swirl of mist and
sleet, I finally spotted a path dis-
guised as a stream in the downpour.
The wind whipped the rain in cir-
cles and the fog closed in behind
me. I waded through water to
higher ground, to reconnect to the
path further up the mountain.
Grisedale Thrn, a small lake at the
top of the mountain actually had
whitecaps on it
And that's when I knew I was
having a great day on the 'Coast To
Coast.' I was sweat -soaked of
course, my backpack and every-
thing in It drenched. My legs were
All the World's a Circus
William Thomas
shaldng from the ascent, my arms
ached from the cross-country skiing
motion with the walking poles and I
got the chills as soon as I stopped.
Yet proudly, I stood next to Ruth-
waste Lodge, a boarded up hikers
hut dedicated to two Brits who died
mountaineering. I was not lost.
And from here the valley funneled
down into Patterdale so I could not
get lost. Not today. Today was a
great day and I arrived at my B&B
Old Water View in the estimated
four hours over eight miles, the
shortest leg tithe journey.
Over ale brewed espedally for his
B&B, Ian Mosely poured over my
maps meting ate routes,
lower on the mountains because
the peaks were too 'boggy' and
impassible. His advice was
invaluable, his encouragement
heartening.
Still sore all over and pretty
banged up, I was starting to believe
I might make it to the end. That's
when Ian's eight-year-old daughter
bounced into the room.
"This is Rachael. She did the
'Coast To Coast' walk last year when
she was seven. She's the youngest
person ever to complete Wain-
wright's walk."
Really I thought, isn't that spedaL
Rachael's going into the. Guinness
Book of Records. I'm going to buy
that edition and then white out her
name.
Reaching Shap before dark the
next day, lovely Margaret at the
Brookfield House was waiting at the
door. I thought she was taking my
wet clothes to the drying room but
she actually washed and dried them
for me. Making me comfortable in
front of the electric fire in the lounge
she brought me a silver tea service
complete with scones and jam. She
was genuinely disappointed when I
turned down her lemon meringue
pie.
Out early the next morning and
headed for Orton, 1 somehow
missed Robin Hood's Grave
described in the book as 'a large
cairn in a shallow fold in the moor.'
See what I mean?
I got completely turned around
adding needless miles to the day
when a young couple out walking
their three terriers put me straight
fin -
"Keep the quarry to your right
and hug the wall." I walked over
and hugged the wall. Nothing hap-
pened. They were mildly amused. I
made it to Scar Side Farm in seven
hours and took advantage of the
town's pub fora free lift back to the
farm after dinner.
Kirby Stevens was a long and
hard 13 miles but the path was well
marked and littered with pheasants
and grouse. It hasn't stopped rain-
ing since I arrived at St Bees eight
days ago but in fairness, the winds,
gale force at times have always been
at my back.
A daily routine has evolved on its
own - one foot in front of the other
and one day at a tune. Get thereby
dark,, get dry, get to a pub to map
out tomorrow.
CONTmU®> PAGE 18
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