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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-11-09, Page 5Wednesday, November 9, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 5 War diary brought to life through Brian Dalton's artistic talents Rob Gowan Owen Sound Sun Times Brian Dalton thinks his uncle would be pleased with the way he has presented his Second World War diary in his new book. I think he would approve," said Dalton a former local who now lives on Owen Sound's west side. "Like any- body who does something after somebody dies, you wish you would have done it earlier." This past summer Dalton completed and published his book, The Padre's War Diary: Based on the Personal World War II War Diary of Rev. Major Mike Dalton. Dalton's uncle, who died in 2009 at the age of 107, was born in Goderich in 1902 and grew up in the commu- nity of Kingsbridge. He went on to serve as a chaplain with the Essex Scottish Regi- ment from 1940 to 1946 dur- ing the Second World War. Known as Padre to his comrades, over the last four years of his service Mike Dal- ton kept a diary where he wrote entries during his time between his officer's and chaplain's duties, detailing his time in England and at the front in France, Belgium, Holland and up to the bor- der of Germany. In the book, Dalton, 69, has printed hundreds of his uncle's diary entries and included hundreds more of his original drawings depict- ing his interpretation of what his uncle must have been experiencing. The book includes everything from his uncle's experiences of losing friends and comrades, to his duties as a chaplain, to the way he was able to still keep his sense of humour and wit, despite the horror that was happening around him. "I hope anyone who reads it sees it as interesting, even entertaining;' Dalton said. "I hope they see the various aspects of human nature, both the horrific and come- dic, because it is funny in places" Following his retirement as a school teacher in 2003, Dalton focused on his paint- ing for a number of years. But he also developed a new appreciation for his uncle's war diary and felt he wanted to do something with it as well. "I always knew it was something important to my family," Dalton said. "I didn't really discover it as such a unique diary until I retired." Dalton, who was always close with his uncle, decided to do something with the diary entries after he illus- trated a graphic novel for the Royal Ontario Museum in 2010. "I am normally a painter, where I paint pictures and landscapes, so I had never done anything like this before," said Dalton. "Having done that (for the ROM) I wanted to do something else, but I really didn't want to do a graphic novel so I thought the diary was an ideal subject to illustrate because of its content, both war and human" Dalton first started to work on the book back in 2011. It is believed his uncle origi- nally had about 13 small field journals, but they were lost in a fire, except for one. Fortunately a typed tran- script of the diary was done decades ago and Dalton was able to use that to gather the entries he would use for the book. "I read through it and found ones that were interesting and ones that had some visual components," said Dalton. "That took a long time because I wanted to have it planned out before I started the illustrations so I didn't repeat myself too much." Of the 528 entries his uncle made in his diary, Dal- ton included 329 entries in the book, which were accompanies by 200 detailed black and white ink drawings. Dalton said while many of the entries and illustrations touch on his uncle's religious life, he hopes people don't see it as a religious book. "I am quick to say to peo- ple that it is not just a mili- tary book and it is certainly not a religious book, it is a diary of a war," said Dalton. "If anything it is a war book, but it has got lots of chap- lain's thoughts in it of course, because that is what he was." As Dalton worked on his book, his original plans changed. Over the past few years much was being made about the post traumatic stress disorder Canadian sol- diers were experiencing. Dalton decided to add his own interpretations of the PTSD the soldiers may have been experiencing during their "confessions and con- versations" with his uncle. "These guys my uncle was with probably all had some form of PTSD, so I saw it as an opportunity," Dalton said. "They are one-sided con- versations and they are descriptions of events the soldiers experienced that obviously would make any- body shiver." Dalton also said he had to remained focused on just what his uncle wrote about. He did think of including information about significant events and battles his uncle wasn't a part of or aware of at the time, but decided not to. "There are times when events happened in the war like the allies landing in Italy and when the Germans went to the Russian front, but he doesn't even mention those because he was too busy try- ing to stay alive with the guys in Western Europe;' Dalton said. "I didn't stray from the contents of the diary at all, because then where do you stop?" Dalton said the book was a lot of work, but he is overall very happy with how it has turned out. "It was a heck of a project," he said. "It was all I did for four -and -a -half years. It was difficult and every morning I would get up and say, `how much longer is this going to take."' Dalton received a lot of help and support from fam- ily and friends, whether it was through editing and nwmo NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION Sh far 1I Pr!IG I WAR WARN Rob Gowan/Owen Sound Sun Times Brian Dalton holds a copy of his book, which is available locally at Condor Fine Books in Kincardine, as well as Fincher's in Goderich. proofreading, or helping in his Second World War research. He also received a lot of financial backing from them through a Kickstarter campaign, which assisted him in his expenses. "If it weren't for Kick- starter and the good people who donated money, I never could have afforded to print it," Dalton said. While his original SOCIETE DE GESTION DES DECHETS NUCLEAIRES intention was that it not be an homage to his uncle in some ways it has turned out to be that. And while he ded- icated the book to his own father, Dennis, he said it is also a tribute to all of those who died in the war. "It was a hell of a loss of life" he said. Dalton will be doing a reading of his book, com- plete with slides of some of NWMO Learn More Centre Everyone is welcome. Drop in and learn more about Adaptive Phased Management (APM), and ongoing work in the area. APM is Canada's plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is working collaboratively with Huron -Kinloss to consider the project and advance preliminary assessment studies. The Township of Huron -Kinloss is one of nine communities involved in this learning process. the artwork from it, at the Billy Bishop Home and Museum on Nov. 9 from 7 to 8 p.m. The book is available for purchase in the Owen Sound area at the Billy Bishop museum, Grey Roots Museum and Archives and Heartwood. It is also availa- ble at two bookstores in Goderich as well as Condor Fine Books in Kincardine. NWMO Learn More Centre (Huron -Kinloss 46 Queen St., Ripley ON (across from Lewis Park) 519.386.6711 Wednesdays Thursdays Fridays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.