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2-TH4 HURON EXPOILITOR, May 25, 1994
Feature
Veterans recall D -Day invasion
BY TIM CUMMING
Expositor Editor
The Normandy invasion. June 6,
1944. D -Day. It was the largest
seaborne landing in the history of
battle...and two Seaforth-area men
were part of it.
George Case, an Egmondville
native, WdeA on Norit andy's
beaches as a tank driver and Bill
Wilbee, of Seaforth, took part in D -
Day as a motorcycle despatch rider.
The event which changed history
is about to be honoured on its 50th
anniversary. For many veterans who
are attending D -Day celebrations
abroad it could be the last time they
observe this occurrence in a major
celebration.
The Normandy invasion was a
bloody campaign which saw the
Germans lose 200,000 soldiers and
the Allies lose more. It ended in the
middle of August with brutal fight-
ing at the Falaise Gap.
The Huron Expositor asked Bill
Wilbee if it was frightening to land
as part of the major Allied action
which began with D -Day.
"At 19 years old, what do you
think?" said Bill. "I had never been
away from home for a day in my
life until I joined the army."
He recalled heavy resistance by
the German forces and a great deal
of shelling.
"There were a lot of casualties on
both sides," he remembers. "You
couldn't hear yourself think for
shells landing."
Egmondville's George Case didn't
land with the first wave of troops
but he recalls a great deal of con-
gestion on the shores as they
landed.
"There was a lot of shelling, there
were troops all over the beach," he
remembers. "We were nervous all
right."
The former tank driver says the
Allied troops may not have been
able to stay if the Germans had
been waiting for them.
"They brought a lot of troops in
the next day (June 7)," he said.
"That was the biggest day of the
war (for our regiment), the second
day„
The 73 -year-old veteran recalls
that regiments like the North Nova
Scotia Highlanders sustained very
heavy loss of life.
"They were worse off than we
were," he said. "The infantry's
always worse off."
Case spent most of the battle
inside the close confines of his tank
Historical
society elects
officers
The Huron County Historical
Society elected its officers for 1994
at the annual meeting held at
Hensall Presbyterian Church on
Thursday, May 19.
The incoming president of the
historical group is Paul Carroll, of
Seaforth. Other officers are:
Margaret McClure, of RR 1
Crediton, past president; Ron
Latham, of RR 1 Londesborough,
first vice president; Dave Yates, of
Goderich, second vice-president;
Rae McFarlane, of RR 1 Bayfield,
secretary -treasurer; Wm. McFarlane,
of RR 1 Bayfield, membership and
councillor.
Other councillors are: Jean Fraser,
of Ethel; Joe Hogan, of Exeter;
David McClure, of Crediton; Janeth
Sangster, of Hensall; Jim Schneider,
of Auburn; Isobel Theedom, of
Clinton.
About 60 people attended the
meeting.
Dorothy Cox, of Bayfield, was
made an honourary councillor at the
May 19 meeting.
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TIM CUMMING PHOTO
50 YEARS AGO - George Case, of Egmondville, holds up a
photo of himself during his service days. He participated in the
invasion of Normandy around the time of D -Day.
where he the sound of the tank's
engine was deafening. The crew
inside wore headphones and small
microphones to communicate to
each other.
The tank crew would be inside all
day while the motor ran constantly.
While the Seaforth tank driver
wasn't claustrophobic his very first
crew commander on D -Day became
very agitated inside the tiny, noisy
space of the tank. (That crew com-
mander never went into battle again
in that position).
The German Tiger Tanks were
markedly superior to tanks used by
Canadian troops.
"You didn't know when you were
going to be hit," said the former
tank driver. "We were no match for
their tanks."
At times the soldiers could hear
the German armour -piercing shells
whizzing through the air.
Although he did not have any
close calls with shells the tank he
was driving did hit a land mine
during the war. It blew the bottom
of the engine and the track off.
The Egmondville veteran remem-
bers that Canadian soldiers "closed
the pocket" to allow U.S. soldiers
to swing around.
Advancing from the shores of
Normandy was slow and filled with
heavy fighting. Both Case and
Wilbee travelled with their respect-
ive regiments through France, Hol-
land and Germany through the rest
of the war.
When the Canadian, British and
American soldiers landed on D -Day
many were young men. Today they
are senior citizens.
Bill Wilbee joined the army as a
teenager in November of 1942. He
would end up having his 20th and
21st birthdays in Europe.
He took six weeks of training at
Ipperwash and Woodstock and went
overseas with the Canadian infantry
and was posted to the Stormont -
Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders.
He would later serve with the
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
of Canada of Canada rifle company
infantry.
He would serve in France, Bel-
gium, Holland and Germany.
When asked his rank he recalls
that "I was just a buck private...I
came home a confirmed sergeant."
The despatch rider could be called
upon at any moment of any day.
The young soldier accompanied the
forces through Caen, France and
was one of the fust Canadian sol-
diers to stay at the Falaise Gap. He
was hospitalized twice during the
war for shrapnel wounds.
In recalling the war, Wilbee says
50 years is a long time ago and he
forgets a lot about D -Day. He then
proceeds to rhyme off with meticu-
lous precision . the names of many
locales throughout Europe.
After joining the army Wilbee, a
lifelong Seaforth resident, was soon
with a group of soldiers he had
never met but he said "it didn't take
long to become buddies."
The veteran says he wouldn't
want his sons to have to go through
what he did...but the war experience
wasn't all bad.
"We had bad times over there, a
lot of them...but we had a lot of
good times too."
George Case entered the war with
the Elgin regiment in St. Thomas
and was later attached to the
Sherbrooke Fusiliers. He enlisted in
June of 1940 and served until
November of 1945.
He was slightly injured by shrap-
nel from a hand grenade during the
war.
On D -Day, Canadian troops
pushed farther inland than any other
allied forces unit. After taking key
areas in France during 1944 the
Canadian forces moved northward
to liberate Holland in 1945. D -Day
remains an historic event in Cana-
dian, and world history.
Secret British documents released
last week suggest the Germans may
have been warned the invasion was
to begin. It's unlikely, however, that
the Germans had any idea of the
scope of the operation, said a
Reuter news article.
Bill Wilbee says the majority of
young people don't know anything
about the war today but he makes
this observation:
- "If Hitler had run the world it
might have been a different world
today."
George Case agrees that young
people don't know much about
World War II but notes that "we
didn't know much about the First
World War either."
The two Seaforth-area veterans
agree that the men they met over-
seas became like family to them
during the war.
While neither soldier will return
to France for the D -Day celebra-
tions next month George Case was
with his Sherbrooke regiment in
France for a dedication of a monu-
ment to the regiment in 1977.
TAM CUMMING PHOTO
LOVE THAT OLE' CROKINOLE - Edna Hackwell and Belle Roberton took part in Senior Games
crokinole at Maplewood Manor retirement residence last week. Here, Belle gets ready to take a shot.
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