THE BOY who WENT to WAR....

"A soldier fights, because he loves what is behind him...." -Gilbert K. Chesterton

Stuart ( with Jesse the dog),Isabella, Robert, Bill

                                     May 29th, 1940  Bethune, Saskatchewan homestead

Regarding: DIEPPE AUG 19, 1942

FROM Signaller S.S. Shiels HQ Company   South Saskatchewan Regiment  DATE: 23/9/42

 Dear Sis (Nessie, my mother):

     Received your airgraph re Sept 5. I am OK. Excuse writing as I am in a cast from hips to neck and out to fingers of right hand. Had one bullet just miss back bone, and go through seat about 5 inches deep. Another hit centre of right back but glanced up smashing shoulder and have a neat hole through     “humorous”. 

     I took a prisoner and fetched him back, after being shot up, so you can judge from that the injuries are slight. When we evacuated amid a hail of bullets, ,shrapnel and dive bombing we could see green waves of Jerry pouring in for miles back. The official score was 5000 dead and wounded for them, and 3350 dead and wounded and prisoners from us. Believe you me, they have a healthy respect for Canadians. Will write as soon as right wing is working.

                                                                Love, Stuart.

1930's Bethune farm

"A boy doesn't have to go to war, to be a hero..." -E.W. Howe

Mar 21 , 1934

Robert, Nessie, Stuart, Bill 1930's

"Courage isn't having the strength to go on. It is going on when you have strength..." 

-N. Bonaparte

Hunting gophers, 1930's Stuart /Bill

 

farmhands 1930's

Stuart, Isobel, Nessie, Bill (back)

Isabella (Jesse) Robert (front)

"Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle..." 

                                  - Psalm 144::1 (Psalm of David)

Mar 21 1934 Stuart , ready to ride

Home on the range

"When you go to war as a boy, you have great illusion of immortality...."

-Ernest Hemingway

At rest after a long day's work...

May 29th, 1940

                   Stuart, Bill, Stuart's buddy with Jesse .....

"Courage is not the absence of fear.....it is something else mor important...."

- F.D. Roosevelt

Hitchin' a ride ......

.The long road to somewhere....

1941 Buddies. Not sure if any of the others came back from Dieppe......

Aldershot Barracks 1940...Ongoing poker game  24/7 while they waited to go overseas...

Bren gun carrier

       "The brave die never, though they sleep in dust....." -Minot Judson Savage

In Portobello Pub 1941.....

the Compound....

"Be strong of heart, and of good courage, nor be afraid of them...."- Deut 31:6

Stuart, as Signaler, with South Saskatchewan regiment..... 

From 1940's 

  written by E. Hilton Young (1879-1960)

My mother saved this from the Times Colonist (Victoria). 

Dec 31, 1911 (Bethune, Saskatchewan)-Feb 27, 1975 (Vancouver, B.C. Mt. View Cemetary)

Vintage family Photos, 2024

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy..." -Martin Luther King Jr.