Walkerville Collegiate Institute - Blue and White Yearbook (Windsor, Ontario Canada)

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BLUE AND WHITE ed [sc¬ an as e- al at n- r, to ihI u- tt T- g lid in M)1 or ig er at iis ti- s. iis ly cu he li¬ ed ■ip 01 ut Y ad o- n- in MR. D. C. O’BRIEN Mr. O’Brien was 2 1 C of the Essex Tank Regiment before enlistment. He commanded the Active Service Company at St. Luke’s Barracks from May 1940 to October 1940 whereupon he was called to headquarters M.D. No. 1 as G.S.O. III. In February 1941, he joined the Ontario Tank Regiment and in June of the same year proceeded overseas as squadron commander. He then remained with ti c First Armoured Brigade until he was appointed chief instructor at 2C. A.C.R.U. in February 1943. Later he commanded a wing at 2 C. A.C.R.U. with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After Y-E day Lieu¬ tenant Colonel O’Brien commanded a repatriation depot until his return to Canada in August 1945. Discharged in October 1945, Mr. O’Brien came back to Walkerville to teach again. He was awarded the M.B.E. and E.D. Welcome back, Mr. O’Brien. Your job was very well done, indeed ! MR. H. NIGHSWANDER In 1942, Mr. Nighswander signed his name for his country and the following- year was called to serve it. For a year and a quarter he remained here in Wind¬ sor on the H.M.C.S, Hunter and became a petty officer. He says that during his navy career his most interesting experi¬ ence was “being guard of honour for the Governor-General im Ottawa.” His dis¬ charge was complete in October 1944. whereupon he resumed teaching at Walk¬ erville Collegiate Institute. MISS O. E. SAUNDERS On March 25, 1943. Olive Saunders entered the Wrens and soon worked her¬ self up to a lieutenancy. She was sta¬ tioned at Halifax for 20 months and in Newfoundland for eight months. Among many of her thrilling experiences in the Wrens, Lieutenant Saunders ranks her nine-hour operational flight in an air¬ force bomber over a convoy as the most exciting. She also had the opportunity of : pending two days on a frigate observing submarine detection devices under con¬ ditions at sea. W hile in Newfoundland. Miss Saunders had the opportunity of meeting and chatting with Frank Sinatra. She has a picture of herself shaking- hands with Frankie. Lieutenant Saun¬ ders received her discharge papers on August 1, 1945 and returned to W alker¬ ville Collegiate Institute. MISS G. I. TUNKS Miss Tunks enlisted in the Wrens in December 1942. and by New Year’s Day 1943, found herself one of a group of Wrens travelling over the Rockies to Vancouver. Here, Vancouver played host to its first group of W rens. Ottawa was Miss ' Punks’ home station, and from here she visited various places — Sydney for ten days, for example. While in Sydney she was fortunate to be one of two Wren officers a lowed to go to sea. On board, they worked the powerful Oerlikon guns and witnessed a good deal of minesweep¬ ing. They had the thrilling experience of hoarding Merchant Ships, and on one Tanker, talked with an engineer who was a survivor of three torpedoed tankers. W hile at sea. thev had the self-satisfviner experience of seeing the Captain take seasick pills while the two Wrens found ro need for them. Miss ' Punks feels that her years in the W rens were almost the most educational of her life, and while we know navy life is wonderful, we are glad to welcome her back to Walkerville. PattvosUye ouA aJhj Uii iA, Page Thirty-One

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BLUE AND WHITE RETURNED From the Armed Forces MR. !. A. ALLISON ()n April 25. 1941, Ian Allison enlisted in the Canadian Army. He spent about a month at the O.T.C., Hrockville, whence he emerged a one-pip wonder, and after a ft v days’ “visit” at Camp Borden he left for England. By the end of June he had joined the Calgary Regiment of the First Canadian Army Tank Brigade and after training and manoeuvres in England he received his second pip (February 1942). In August, 1942. Lieutenant Allison was fighting with the Calgary Tanks and the Essex Scottish at Dieppe, and the Cal¬ gary losses and casualties were terrific. From Dieppe Lieutenant Allison re¬ turned to England to train new Canadian reinforcements, and at this time received his captaincy. Before he joined his unit in Italy he had received his crown, and with them fought through Cassino. the Liri Valley, the Hitler and Gustav lines and North of Florence where he was wounded. He was again with his regi¬ ment when they landed in Marseilles. They fought up through Belgium, had a three-week rest, then pushed through Germany and back—this time into Hol¬ land. After the last two battles, Arnhem and Ede, a truce was called, lasting two weeks, for the purpose of transporting food to the starving Dutch by the Cal¬ gary Tanks. On July 29, 1945 Major Allison left for England and on October 15. 1945 he be¬ came “Mister” Allison once more. MR. F. BECKLEY Mr. Beckley. a member of the Essex Tank Regiment, was once a cadet at . C. I. In 1942, he joined the army tak¬ ing his training at O.T.S. in Brockvillc, then at A 27 Training Centre at Dundurn, Sask. In 1943, he went overseas, serving in the front lines in France. Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Captain Beck’ey had many harrowing experiences. W hile across the German lines, his armoured car blew up. He was in the same house with a 500 lb. bomb during the German bombing of Falais. At one time, he was trapped for 36 hours about 25 miles be¬ hind the Gentian lines. MR. A. FLETCHER In 1941, Mr. Fletcher joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was trained at Rivers, Man., and then served as an in¬ structor until 1945. Ft. Lieut. Fletcher, as a navigator, had the misfortune to make a mistake in his calculations and found himself flying over the then neu¬ tral United States. When asked to relate some of his thrilling experiences over¬ seas. Mr. Fletcher said that the only thing that he did in England was to fly around in the fog. MR. C. M. FORMAN Mr. Forman joined the air-force in March 1942 and left for Manning Pool where he received his basic training for the air-crew. After leaving Manning Pool, he entered about eight other schools in Canada and finally arrived at Regina A.O.S. where he completed his training. As flying officer (navigator), he spent two years overseas and partici¬ pated in bombing missions on the conti¬ nent in the famous Lancaster bombers. While he was on one of his missions, his plane was shot down near Paris and only he and two others out of seven escaped alive. The skipper was captured by the Germans. Mr. Forman and the rear gun¬ ner. both behind enemy lines, managed to outwit the Germans and obtain help from a French family who were part of a well-organized underground. About three weeks later they were rescued by the Third American Army who had broken through the enemy lines. In Octo¬ ber 1944, Mr. Forman came back to Can¬ ada and his discharge was complete in February 1945. Page Thirty

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BLUE AND WHITE LITERARY WINNERS OF THE BLUE AND WHITE PROSE CONTEST First Prize SUSIE OF THE TEST TUBES The girl who sighs with envy after re¬ reading ' “Arrowsmith. “Disputed I’as sage.” or “Microbe Hunters” hopes to achieve some day the glory of being the valued assistant of the great Dr. So-and- So. the world’s outstanding research worker in some field or other. Perhaps she has even been inquiring about train¬ ing courses to fit her for this great career: undoubtedly she will be anxious to find out a few of the details of her future life. Let us say she has completed her train¬ ing and is accepted in a famous research lab.—assistant to Dr. Smith ' s chief tech¬ nician! Down to the lab. she comes, eight o’clock sharp, all crisp and white in her new uniform. Anxiously sitting oil the edge of her chair she watches the various staff members drift in, exchange casual remarks, and briskly begin their work of the day. Minutes trudge past, and finally the newcomer approaches a dignified gentleman who is vigorously swirling a flask of muddy yellow liquid, and ventures. “Please, sir. where will I find Dr. Smith’s head technician? I ' m his new assistant.” “Well. I’m sure I don’t know why Jones needs an assistant—he can’t keep busy himself. But you can help me if you like, while you wait. Jones never arrives before nine. I’m Smith.” Susie views with awe this far ■ us scientist, and nervously stands ready to do his bidding. To her surprise, her first task is to wash a dozen racks full of mini¬ ature test tubes containing sticky white jelly, and it takes her nearly two hours, since each tube must lie shaken upside down, prodded with a glass rod, and im¬ mersed in a huge pot of hot green soap. Poor Susie! her hands are now sacrificed to Science! Meanwhile, the tardy Jones arrives, and promises her a job in the animal room as soon as she has van¬ quished the sticky test tubes. This she finally does, half expecting some com¬ ment on their glistening cleanness, but the doctor merely indicates Jones wait¬ ing next door. A pecu ' iar odour greets Susie as she opens the door. Rows and rows of metal drawer-like cages till this room, and the clamour of sharp little squeaks informs her of the presence of thousands of tiny white mice. To her dismay, Mr. Jones calmly pulls out a cage, takes a handful of mice and nods to her to do the same. Just drop them in this glass jar. weigh each one and keep the ones from eighteen to twenty grams. When you’ve put the rest back, bring the good ones to me in the lab.” “But . . . how do I . . . pick them up?” “Haven’t you ever worked with mice? Simply take hold of the tail, like a handle. They don’t often bite!” Susie cautiously approaches one meek little mouse in the corner of the cage, picks him up gingerly, but finding that he squirms, frantically drops him, not in the jar. but on the floor! She scrambles madly after hint diving under tables and i ' nches but he disappears along a drain- Page Thirty-Two