More thoughts before November 11.

In 2005, our son Jackson and I made a 10 day WWll trip to England, France, Belgium and Holland.  We visited most of the battle sites and cemeteries in the area which was fascinating since we both had read several books on D-Day and beyond. It was, to be sure, a most memorable trip for both of us.

One of the most interesting experiences happened as we drove south on Route D13 past Falaise as we searched for the famous Falaise Gap and the Coridor of Death where German troops tried to escape Normandy through a very narrow road with thick hedgerows on either side.  The German Army suffered enormous casualties at the hands of Canadian and Polish troops.

As we cruised down the road through the beautiful FRENCH countyside, we broke over a hill and saw a large Canadian flag flying in the town of St. Lambert-Sur-Dives.  We stopped under the flag and found a memorial to Major David Currie of the South Alberta Regiment.  Currie had commanded a tank force, the Calgary Horse, in the Falaise Gap battle. The Germans lost 300 men, 500 wounded and The Canadians captured 2100.

The local residents honoured Major Currie with this memorial.img_6277

Major Currie was awarded the VICTORIA CROSS for his efforts.  He later served as the Sergeant of Arms in the House of Commons in Ottawa.

Not far from this memorial is the Corridor of Death where the battle took place.

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And here is a historical photo of the Germans surrendering to Major Currie. He is on the left holding a revolver. He was 32 years old

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It was an amazing day for Canadian to visit this spot in France where our troops had played such an important role in WWII.

Lest We Forget🇨🇦

 

Round the world sailing

Today 29 skippers departed from France in the 2016/17 VENDÉE GLOBE Around the world sailing race, the 8th running of the race.  The course is over 24,000 nautical miles and will take up to 3 months to complete. These sailors are single handing 60 foot very high speed sailing vessels. They can easily average 15 knots per hour and can reach speeds of 30 knots. The skippers are from France, Switzerland, England, Ireland, and the USA.

You can follow these boats at http://www.vendeeglobe.org

There are also videos posted on YouTube!

Just saying…

Canadians in Italy, 1943/44

CANADIANS IN ITALY, 1943/44

As Remembrance Day approaches most Canadians remember D Day, the battle in Normandy, Holland and Germany but we don’t often think of the Italian Campaign.

Canadian troops landed near the toe of Italy in September 1943 and headed north. The campaign continued until February, 1945. During that time there more than 25,000. Canadian casualties including almost 6,000 deaths. The opposition was the German army as the Italians had capitulated and Germans took over.

The 1st Canadian Army included:

Saskatoon Light Infantry (machine gun)
1st Infantry Brigade
Royal Canadian Regiment
Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
48th Highlanders of Canada
2nd Infantry Brigade
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantr
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Loyal Edmonton Regiment
3rd Infantry Brigade
Royal 22e Regiment
Carleton and York Regiment
West Nova Scotia Regimen
1st Armoured Car Regiment (Royal Canadian Dragoons)
1st Field Regiment
2nd Field Regiment
3rd Field Regiment
1st Anti-Tank Regiment
2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
5th Armoured Division
3rd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (Governor General’s Horse Guards)
5th Armoured Brigade
2nd Armoured Regiment (Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians))
5th Armoured Regiment (8th Princess Louise’s (New Brunswick) Hussars)
9th Armoured Regiment (British Columbia Dragoons)
There was a large contingent of BC boys Seaforth highlanders and the PPCLI. Harry Rankin, former Vancouver alderman was there as was Farley Mowat.

The first significant battle took place over Christmas, 1943 around and in the coastal town of Ortona. The Canadians fought building to building against German paratroopers and drove the Germans north. A quarter of all Canadian deaths in Italy occurred here and those boys are buried in the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery just south of Ortona.

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Moro River War Cemetery

The Canadian then moved over to the west to help support the battle at Cassino and the liberation of Rome in the Spring and Summer of 1944. Rome was liberated on June4, 1944.  Back on the Adriatic coast the Canadian army moved north in the fall of 1944 and attacked the Gothic Line which stretched from Pisa to Pesaro. The objective was to take the town of Rimini. They arrived to a deserted Rimini September 24.  Many more casualties were endured on the way to Rimini and many of those boys are buried in the Gradara War Cemetery south of Rimini.img_5055

Gradara War Cemetery

The Italian campaign continued into the spring of 1945, but the Canadians did not participate in the final victory. In February 1945 the 1st Canadian Corps began the move to Northwest Europe to be re-united with the First Canadian Army. There they would join in the drive into Germany and Holland and see the war in Europe to its end.

If you are visiting Italy, try to visit one of the 20 cemeteries in which Canadian boys are buried .  It’s a truly moving experience.

Just saying…

 

Who is going to win on Tuesday?

The US election is heating up with just 4 days to go. Who will win?  I don’t know but at this point I would put money on Trump.  The polls don’t seem reliable to me as they seem to have favoured CLINTON and appear to have discouraged Trump supporters. But as we get close to the day the pollsters are tightening up.  They don’t want to lose all credibility if Trump hits a home run on Tuesday.

In my mind the polls have not reflected what is happening in the ground.  Trump has been drawing enormous crowds at his Rallies while CLINTON has had much smaller crowds and fewer rallies.  Trump’s running mate Mike Pence has Aldo been drawing pretty good audiences while her running mate Tim Kaine can’t seem to attract enough people for a pick up soccer game.  Apparently the battle of lawn signs is being dominated by Trump.

The pollsters are tightening up their predictions now.  They don’t want to look like fools next Wednesday.

And now CLINTON and some if her associates are under FBI investigation  will more on this come out before Tuesday?  Maybe.

To be sure, this is the most unusual Presidential race in my lifetime.  Surprising, fascinating and historical.

On Wednesday some pundits will be gloating and some will be scraping egg off their faces?  I can’t wait to see the result.  Dinner in front of the big screen on Tuesday at our place.

Continue reading

Finally

Well, after thinking about blogging for a long time, and considering the encouragement of many friends, I have jumped in with both feet. From time to time I plan to write about things of interest to me…Food, Restaurants, Travel, Politics and Pop Culture.  You can find my blog at

murphjust saying.wordpress.com

 

Stay tuned.