Farley Mowat Dies

[pzrwest]

Farley Mowat ex officer of the Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment a veteran, and author passed away at the age of 92. Among his many books are The Regiment(Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment), and No Birds Sang his personal service with the Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment. I have both of these books and always wanted to take a 2 hour drive to his place and have him sign them but looks like I waited too long. Funny thing is I'm presently re-reading No Birds Sang.... something in my head said read the books again.... spooky isn't it?

[Dr Bison]

Very sad to hear this. I have always liked his books - military and wildlife. May he rest in peace.

[don]

hi
Farley was my Neibhour for many years..I nener bothered him with the stuff..
Years ago the kids went down with some of his books and he sighed them
for them..Iwas always tempted to show him my stuff...I DID NOT...He walked by the house every day in morning with his little black dog and his war hat...the dog died last year..He was a nice old guy....Some light on this storie
I HAVE HEARED HE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH FINDING A V-TWO

[GEB]

Mowats collection...

I just stumbled across this thread and was sorry to learn of Farley Mowats passing. My favorite (war) book of his was "My Fathers Son." It is both an accounting of his war and a collection of letters between him and his father, a disable veteran from WWI.

I suspect many here would find this a fascinating read as it also accounts for his time in the immediate post-war period (pf weeks and months) COLLECTING examples of every imaginable and discoverable item of German military hardware: tanks, half tracks, transport, artillery, weapons, even a V2 that they had to disguise as a midget submarine as all rocketry was to go to the US & Great Brittain. The book includes a photo of his "Canadian War Museum" team decked out in German uniforms standing on the back of a large German half track.

When told that the collection was no longer wanted in Canada as too much money had already been spent on the war, he manipulated orders and got the collection loaded on a ship and sent anyway. When it arrived in Canada, the armour, vehicles, and large guns were sold for scrap & cut up right there at the ship yard. Only the V2 and a couple of tanks were apparently salvaged. Farley was discharged. Other matterial, electronics, optics, uniforms, personal weapons... was all sent to a warehouse where it was stored for several years before being caught up in a large flood in the early 50s. The warehouse full of matterial was subsequently bulldozed and all the contents were buried as landfill for new construction above the flood-plain.

Ashes to ashes, rust to rust. (But somewhere in Canada...)