We Have Not Heard the Last of Sholto Watt!
I start off with Mr. Watt's article today (Tuesday, Nov. 9 1943),
but I think we're about to hit a dry spell.
He reported from Sicily in September (and earlier) while Canadians in Combined Ops prepared to invade Reggio with Canadian troops and their supplies, he reported aboard destroyers in October while patrolling the Adriatic Sea, and from bustling Bari (second to Naples as one of the larger working ports in Italy) once he was put ashore in order to track the progress of Canadian troops.
Mr. Watt introduced us to members of RCNVR and Combined Operations (55th and 61st Flotillas of Canadian Landing Craft) who went on leave back to Canada, and many members of the armed forces, offering names and addresses so that readers at home come raise a glass to someone from their own neighbourhoods!
In the article that follows, Mr. Watt tells us about a military unit that hailed from Montreal and landed in Reggio on the second day (Sept. 4) of the initial invasion on the toe of the boot. The unit was likely transported to Reggio in LCMs manned by Canadians in RCNVR and Combined Ops (in the 80th Flotilla of Landing Craft Mechanised, including my father).
Hammock w names of the men of the 80th Flotilla. In The Star,
I am looking for an article by S. Watt in which some are listed.
More news from The Montreal Star about other events on other war fronts:
And now, back to Italy and the Adriatic Sea. This might have been written by Sholto Watt had he not gone ashore a week or so earlier:
The number of cigarette ads is very high. The war years feel like the Golden Era of smoking... and for troops, it would have definitely appeared so, with free cigarettes in many canteens:
Anyone ever heard of Spuds?
Some of my recurring thoughts about World War II include the following: Canadians in Combined Ops played a significant role; There were no small roles in WW2; Cigarettes were everywhere; Italy was a tough slog....
I had not heard of a Canadian flying "Ace" until pouring over WW2 newspaper clippings during the last two years. Ace Beurling is the 'real McCoy', with superb eyesight to boot:
Do Montrealers still celebrate Remembrance Day in Dominion Square?
We never go too far in reading about the world wars before coming across something akin to a Butcher's Bill:
Editorial Cartoon by James Reidford of The Montreal Star.
One might wonder why I would include "Rabbit Meat" in our list of clippings re WW2. My father was a Navy man but owned two 0.22 rifles and a 12-gauge shotgun, used exclusively for hunting in the area around Norwich, Ontario. He included me in a couple of "hunting for rabbit" adventures. I was his spotter, and a pretty good one!
Rabbit meat was a regular item on my family's supper table when I lived with my parents. It didn't taste like chicken! (I would still eat it, if available).
High class hat!
"Here's the dress-up version."
Is there a 'casual wear model'?
More news about the long, hard slog in Italy:
A report out of St. Thomas, south of my home in London, about a place I like to ride to on my motorcycle. I guess I'd better just stay home!
Not PG Rated. "It sounds kind of inhuman."
My British and Scottish accent s never fool anybody. But this girl from Brooklyn... it's another story:
More soon to follow from The Montreal Star.
Unattributed Photos GH
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