| In September 1944 a Canadian padre visited the base and
told the Canadians that the maximum stay in the Far East was 18 months.
I privately approached the padre. On learning that I had already been in
the Far East for nearly two years, he reacted by saying, "Why are
you still here?" and added, "I'll look into it." All this
I took with a grain of salt, but, surprisingly, my repatriation to Canada
soon followed. On 25 October 1944 I left Kolar for Bombay as a passenger
on one of the squadron's Liberators. At Bombay, I met five other Canadians
who were also repatriated and going home thanks to the padre's actions.
After a short stay in Bombay we left by ship for England, sailed across the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and up the Red Sea to Suez, Egypt. From Suez we went by military trucks to Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea. This involved an overnight stay in tents midway along the Suez Canal. The canal was continuously being dredged and the sand was piled high on both sides, hiding the canal completely. I awoke early and when I stepped outside, all there was to see was sand and more sand, no vegetation whatsoever, and no water. To my astonishment, there above the sand was the superstructure of a ship sailing by. This sight was enough to drive you mad if you didn't remember where you were. |
At Port Said I boarded another ship, sailed through the
Mediterranean Sea, and spent New Year's Day on board ship in Gibraltar.
In due time we arrived in Portsmouth, England. I went to London immediately
and as always I stayed at the Canadian YMCA, Leinster Club. While there
I visited the Bremner family, including Margaret and Sheila, all of whom
I had known for some time.
In 1977 while on a trip to Britain, Jacqueline and I spent an enjoyable 11 days visiting Mrs Bremner and Sheila. Mr Bremner had passed away several years before. In 1940 the Bremner's home had been totally destroyed by German bombs and Shelia was seriously injured. At the time she was working for Canadian Army Headquarters in London and the Canadian army made sure that she received the best medical treatment available, for which the Bremner family was very grateful. Even years afterwards, in 1977, Mrs Bremner, then 82 years of age, did everything possible so that we would have a nice holiday as a mark of appreciation to Canadians. On this same trip we also visited Ken and Molly Buckley, Cecil Cox's parents, Margaret Bremner Ford, and we went to Moreton-in-Marsh and Selby. |
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