Friday, May 8, 2015 • Vol.26 No.28 • Neepawa, Manitoba
Mother’s Day May 10th
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VICTORY in Europe Day
On May 8, 1945, the Allies officially accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany’s armed forces, ending World War II in Europe. To mark the 70th Anniversary of V-E day, we talked to those who were alive at the time
Stories collected by Ken Waddell and Kate Jackman-Atkinson
‘Turn that damn radio on, the war may be over’ At 17 and a half, Joe Fraser volunteered with the Canadian Army. After basic training and advanced training at Shilo, they were granted leave and in early 1945, they headed to the coast en route to Britain. Fraser arrived in Holland in February of 1945, where he served as a Bren gunner with the Lake Superior Regiment, 4th Division. In early May of 1945, Fraser and his unit were in Germany, having come through Holland. Their next objective was Wilhelmshaven, Germany. As they were moving toward their next meeting point, Fraser’s carrier had a faulty wheel and they stopped to repair it. It was raining and Fraser said they found a big old grainary that offered some shelter. He was in the radio carrier and the radio operator was there. After they had a meal, Fraser explained, “Somebody said, ‘Turn that damn radio on, the war may be over’. It came blaring out that peace was going to be declared at eight the next morning.” Because of the damaged wheel, they couldn’t get out until the next morning. When they heard the news, Fraser said, “Everybody has their own thoughts. We were, everybody, was happy it was over, [that] you got though and were still living.” Despite their advances against the Germans forces, Fraser said, “We were still in [battle], we still weren’t just rolling along, doing what we wanted to do.” Being on the front lines, Fraser said there were rumours about the end of the
war, but when a treaty would be signed, they didn’t know. “We heard, just like in the coffee shop, every day there was rumours flying around [about the end of the war].” While Fraser and his unit made it home, the war’s end didn’t come soon enough for others. “I have a good friend in Minnedosa, McLean, his brother was killed in the last day, just before we had our stop. He wasn’t supposed to go out but the carrier went out and he went and son of a gun, he got killed.” With the war in Europe over, Fraser and some others volunteered for the war in the Pacific. “Some [forces] would have to stay in the army of occupation and none of us wanted to stay for that, so we volunteered for the far east,” he said. They came back from Germany to Farnborough in Southern England and were kept busy driving trucks and hauling back troops from the coast. They were waiting on a ship to take them back to Canada for their posting in the Pacific. “We’d been called off [leave] a couple of times, but no ship was available so they sent us back on leave just to get rid of us. The last time we were all set to come [to Canada], the ship was there and being loaded in a couple of days, and then they dropped that bomb and the war ended.” The final end of World War II didn’t mean Fraser was headed home though, “They said, ‘You aren’t going home, you have to stay here and haul troops’.”
‘The war was still raging in South East Asia’ On May 8, 1945, the war was still raging in South East Asia. I was in the Royal Canadian Air Force. I was stationed at 357 Squadron at Jessore, India. 357 Squadron was a special duties squadron, we were involved with the task of dropping men and supplies
behind the Japanese lines. At that time, it was mainly in the hill country of eastern Burma. These troops were under the command of Major General Wingate. Wingate’s troops played an important role in the victory that was finally accomplished in Burma.
Victory comes with a cost, I lost several of my buddies before it ended. Seventy years has now passed. My memory will not let me forget. – Alfred Newton, Neepawa, Man.
SUBMITTED
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill waves to crowds in Whitehall on the day he broadcast to the nation that the war with Germany had been won, 8 May 1945
‘I thought it would be nice to get home’ Roy Snaith, 93, was a Trooper in the 12 Manitoba Dragoons, an armoured regiment of the Canadian Army. He joined up in 1942 at 20 years of age. Snaith grew up in McGregor and explained his reason for signing up, saying, “There was not much to do at home, everyone was going away.” The 12 Manitoba Dragoons took part in the Normandy landing and Snaith landed at St. Croix Sur Mer on July 7 to 8, 1944. In May 1945, when peace was declared, Snaith was in the Netherlands near the German border. He drove a scout car with an officer and at that time he said, “We were probably out in the scout cars looking, scouting around.” When he heard the news
that the war in Europe was over, he said, “I thought it would be nice to get home.” His son was three years old at the time and he had been born after Snaith had gone overseas. Letters only arrived about once a month. After May 8, Snaith spent a week transferring prisoners, and then they delivered a bunch of vehicles to Czechoslovakia. Snaith’s return home was delayed by a stay in an English hospital, where he was treated for tonsillitis. He made it home just after Christmas, in the early days of 1946. Snaith moved to Austin, where he began farming in the spring of 1946. He now lives in Portage la Prairie and remains a member of the Gladstone Legion #110.
See more on pages 7, 8 and 9