Huron Expositor, 1999-11-10, Page 7t
402--) Lest we forget
1,4%
Y SyU'�� ILEfNCE
Coombs cleaned up in England
Local veteran
was engineer
cleaning up
debris after
bombings,
building
camps and
expanding
airports
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Stott
Cleave. Coombs. of
Scaiorth, didn't see any,
battles during' the Second
\\'ot ld War.`
.Birt. he cleaned up
plenty of the devastation
caused by the bombing of
Ent'l,uid.
As e member of the
Second Battalion of the
Roq al ('anadian
Engineers. Coombs spent
Ike years trasvclling
ltrtLug[tau t England
building • camps,
ev1'tndtng airports and
cic.ulim� up debris.
Bomber% from
Germany -came over every
night midi( was our job to
clean up _the houses and
'built:brigs that w•erc blown
tip. he'say-s: "I drove a
dump 1rirc.k and drew
away debris. \Vc piled it
on ;1 golf ;Worse and made
•t tnl trnt:Url .ttrl 01 IL'
Item whrlc the night
hlunt.itig Vi".i, a frightening
thing. ('oitnlhs says it was
another thing- to'watch a
sk lull of Allied:planes.
I -r nrcinher lying out
it .1.16ll one day watching
• a tliousaild Allied planes
•:u ihe.sky :it one. time - it
was Sonie.sighl." he- says.
While ('Boughs had to
carry a gas mask and a
:11I at all tinges, he only
---actually fired the rifle
'during: the constant
training! sessluns.
"I could pick. off a hull's
ye dike nothing. and one
•'or the commanding
ililiiers told me the
>n.Ipers were .looking for
•recruit. hug I told hint I'd
!ne loaget'ir I stayed here
lin England t.". he says.
"I
was Lucky. I never got
.hot .tt... he says.
Coombs w,t' 221 and
u s�kitig at"i he Ssetifori11
1•oundry one day in I939
lett n tw,t ill his buddies
rt;te
by ,old asked if he
.‘ •third to take a trip to
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Novombor 10, 1999-7
On this day of
peace...
We give thanks
for our freedom
Rx Central Keating's Pharmacy
67 Main St.
Seaforth
527-1990
• Susan Hunderlmark photo
Cleave Coombs holds a photograph of himself and his warbride, Peg, taken during the War.
London, Ont. with them.
"They said. 'We're
going to join up. Do you
want to go with us?' And.
I said, 'I sure do,'"
rcrnernhcrs Coombs.
A-fter a few months of
training at London's
Wolseley• Barracks and
Barrio's Camp Borden.
Coombs was on the ship
that took him overseas for
the rest of the Second
World War. -
While his Seaforth
fricnd4 also joined a
battalion of engineers,
they ended up in France
building bridges for the
Allied Troops and both of
thein also made it home
from the war.
During his time in
England, Coombs met his
wife Peg. who was selling
tickets at a dance.;
"We hit it off right off
the. bat and danced
together all night. And.
after.the dance she and a
friend had to show me the
way home in the black-
out." he recalls.
They Gave
Their All
For Us.
PETE'S
PAPER CLIP
.19 MAIN ST. SOUTH. SEAFORTH 527-1681
SEARS -OUT -LET - 527-1220
Peg's Route town of
Beccles in Sutlolk: ithich
was just• lu utiles frorn the
English Channel. was
positioned in. the flight
path of. German bombers
IIyinti lit boinh London.
While the...•bombers
didn't drop any bombs on
their way to London. they
unloaded any. spare. .on
Beccles on •the s ay home
to Germany to lighten
their Toad across the
Channel.
"Two bombers at a time
would coma in the early
morning hours when you
were asleep -and they,
made such a horrible,
sound they'd wake you
up," says Pcg.
"The German planes had.
a different sound. like
'000, .000. 000.' Our
See CLOSURES, Page 2
TOGETHER,
WE WILL
REMEMBER
C IRDMO'S
MEMS WE '1Z
39 MAIN ST. SOUTH SI AL Oil HI
10. 527-0596 t.,
A Moment To
Remember
A Lifetime
Of Freedom
Hildebrand
Paint and Paper
--Main-Si. Seaforth 527-1880
MIDDEGAAL POOL
& SPORTS
527-0104
A moment to
remember
those who
gave their lives
Stedmans
oeparament.score
Main St.,
• _ Imo•„
tom.44.
:
TRAVEL rY(YCSSK)NALS INrt ITh ATKX,AI -
Seaforth 527-1950
Honour
freedom
by honouring
those who
fought for it.
May. We
Never Forget
Their
Courage
A Moment's
Silence
for a Lifetime
of Freedom
JAMES ETUE INSURANCE
ss7-ono
a
11deI)rand
Town of Seaforth
MAYOR - David Scott