Met a Dieppe Veteran

[stoneagegixer]

HI guys,

I guess you never know who you run into. I was in a St. Catharines mall with my kids and an old guy made a nice comment about the good behaviour of my little ones. I noticed he had a hat on "Proud WWII Veteran". We parted, but after 2 or 3 minutes, I decided to "chase"him down. When I saw him, I accedently came across him and exchanged a few words, then I asked him about the hat. He got right into his story. He was with RHLI and was part of the raid on Dieppe. He showed me 2 shrapnel wounds and then a spot where a bullet grazed his leg. The same bullet killed his friend behind him. I can't remember the dead friends name. He then went on and said how they were pinned on the beach and sheltered behind a tank. They then realized that the tank was disabled. Soon after they were captured. He spent the rest of the war in a POW camp in Yugoslavia and was liberated by the russians. He said that they were kept in chains for XX of months, and when he was liberated, he brought the chains home. He pulled a newspaper clip from his walled with the pic of the chains. I think he said that he donated them to the local museum.....
Anyway, I just wanted to share this....you just never know who'll you run into.

Lubos

[pzrwest]

I used to know an RHLI vet who was captured at Dieppe as well. His last name was Taylor. He gave me a nice Russian Front medal he got from a German soldier in exchange for some food from Mr. Taylors red cross parcel. He also related a story about how they managed to smuggle a older German soldier back to England to keep him out of the Russians hands. They had dressed him in a Canadian uniform and told him to keep his mouth shut. This german soldier had treated them very well and even managed smuggle them extra food whe he could. I know we shouldn't always believe the stories we hear because stories get longer and more elaberate as time goes on but I give him the benefit of dought. Do you know what the slang form of the RHLI says?..... "Run Home Little Indian" other nicks for other regiments are:
RCR.... Rocking Chair Rangers
SD&G...Sand Dirt & Gravel
Hasty Pees.. Plough Jockey's
Ontario Regiment... Ontars

[Fred S]

That's really meeting history!

[stoneagegixer]

I used to know an RHLI vet who was captured at Dieppe as well. His last name was Taylor. He gave me a nice Russian Front medal he got from a German soldier in exchange for some food from Mr. Taylors red cross parcel. He also related a story about how they managed to smuggle a older German soldier back to England to keep him out of the Russians hands. They had dressed him in a Canadian uniform and told him to keep his mouth shut. This german soldier had treated them very well and even managed smuggle them extra food whe he could. I know we shouldn't always believe the stories we hear because stories get longer and more elaberate as time goes on but I give him the benefit of dought. Do you know what the slang form of the RHLI says?..... "Run Home Little Indian" other nicks for other regiments are:
RCR.... Rocking Chair Rangers
SD&G...Sand Dirt & Gravel
Hasty Pees.. Plough Jockey's
Ontario Regiment... Ontars

I was surprised that he was a pow in Yugoslavia, at that moment I thought he was making it up (I never knew the POW camps were outside germany...), but then he showed me some scars and the picture of the handcuffs that he donated....
His mind was a bit on a one way track. I tried asking questions regarding the Dieppe's objectives and more details of the landing, but he started to loose interest in my conversation and I left it at that. I wished him good health and thanked him for talking to me....
I mean what else can you do.

Lubos

[pzrwest]

Well Mr Taylor did say he was on what they called the death march so I'm assumeing they had been held in the east