Faint Footsteps, WW2

My father started his military march as a raw recruit in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve in Hamilton, 1941. He continued his training in Halifax, volunteered for the Combined Operations organization and soon marched in Scotland and England, where he prepared for the Dieppe raid and Allied invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Now I am doing the marching, so to speak, to learn more about his WW2 adventures.

If you would like to learn more about my adventures following my father's faint footsteps made during WW2, please visit my new blog - Faint Footsteps, WW2 

My most recent post tells the story, mainly with the use of photos, of how I built a boat in which to transport my father's ashes from London to the Atlantic Ocean, and thereby fulfill my promise to bury him at sea.

Link to I Build Me a Boat

Cheers!

Photo by GH

Book re Combined Operations

"DAD, WELL DONE" Navy Memoirs

If you want to learn more about Canadians who served in the Combined Operations organization during the Second World War, please visit my new blog - Canadians in Combined Operations, WW2.

"Then one day, the day we had been waiting for came - V.E. day - and

what a celebration. They poured beer in my hair, there was no routine,

everything went mad and uncontrolled but nothing untoward happened."

The most recent post is Chapter TEN in my father's Navy memoirs, written in the mid-1970s, about his service on Vancouver Island - including his V-E Day celebration - after two years of 'HO' or 'Hostilities Only' in Europe.

Cheers!

Link to Three New Blogs

Photo GH

Large Triplexes 2

Spring Line Up

More photos of Gord's line up of large triplexes can be seen at 'The Workshop' blog - in mere seconds.

Let me know what you think.

Photo GH

New Blog - The Workshop

More Photographs, More Projects

Please visit Gord's new blog, The Workshop, to view more photos of projects built inside his wee - and oft-times dusty - workshop.

Most recent post at The Workshop

As well, click on the Label below (i.e., the workshop) to view a countless number of posts from Gord's original and dust-covered blog, It Strikes Me Funny.

Photos GH

Three New Blogs by G. Harrison

It Strikes Me Funny is Closing Down

I am currently developing three new sites. Please join me there, if interested.

US Troops land in N. Africa (Nov. 1942) with aid

from Canadians in Combined Operations

Faint Footsteps, WW2 - I am learning more about my father's WW2 experience in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve and Combined Operations Organization, and I share short stories of his time, for example, in Scotland (training exercises) and Sicily (Allied invasion, July 1943), and of my own travels for research purposes.

Canadians in Combined Operations, WW2 - At this site I list books, photographs, memoirs and more details about the Combined Operations organization and Canadians who served in it during WW2.

The Workshop - I spend productive time in my small woodworking shop almost everyday and post progress reports and photos of various projects.

Top Photo - credit to Imperial War Museum
Bottom Photo - GH

Spring Has Sprung

It's Official

 Spring Daffodils

Spring Rietveld Chairs

Spring has sprung, the deck chairs have 'riz

Soon as they dry, I know where my butt iz.

Link to My Morning Smile

Photos GH

Bird Watching - A Gang of Jays?

Three, Then Five... Six?

I seldom see three Blue Jays at the feeder. Less often than that do I see five or six hanging out together at the feeder and nearby spruce trees. But today I did.

I felt they were in a gang, bold and brash, getting ready to rob a bank!

Link to more Bird Watching

Photo GH

Bird Watching - The Line Up

Increased Traffic

Due in part to warmer temperatures, there is higher traffic at my backyard feeder. A pair of jays here, a pair of cardinals there, a gang of sparrows everywhere. And they like the seed mix I toss in most afternoons before my own supper.

Birds are aggressive toward one another but most seem to find a time when they can sit and crack a few shells or gulp down a millet seed... or three.

Link to Bird Watching

Photos GH

The Way We Roll 13

Hamilton Print Drawer

While in Fenelon Falls last weekend I spent a bit of my hard-earned money on flea market or antique items. For example, I now sit in a vintage Harter chair while at the computer and my back is thanking me.

Soon I will hang a print drawer ('Hamilton' is stamped on the drawer handle) behind my desk in which to store - let me see - about 100 family treasures that I've collected on my journey through life, found/stashed in my desk drawers or that were given to me by family members over the years.

PS - There were two drawers in the shop I visited in Fenelon Falls but I only bought the one. So, if you are hungry to have one, call me. I return there in one month.

Price - $40 as I recall, the smaller of the two, and I'll only charge a small handling fee. Say... a million bucks! : )

Link to The Way We Roll 12

Photos GH

The Way We Roll 12

Claude Provost, Forward

Related to yesterday's post: Because I bought a Harter chair at 10% off I saved $12, but not for long. Claude's card smiled at me with a $12 price tag.

On the back of the card I read Claude was known for his 'short, choppy style' and scored 33 goals in 1961 - 62, earning $100 for each  goal over number 15. The extra $1,800 in his pay packet was a lot of money in the early 1960s.

Why, I got a five-cent raise (to 55 cents per hour) at Maedel's Red and White (grocery store in Norwich) in 1963 and thought it was a pretty big deal. About once per week I felt like I was eating out 'for free' at Parker's Dairy Bar.

And everybody likes eating 'for free', right?

Link to The Way We Roll 11

Photos GH

The Way We Roll 11

The Harter Chair

 ["Look at the leather and them lovely legs!"]

While in Fenelon Falls recently I discovered a few great finds at a flea market/antique store on the town's busy Main Street. I couldn't say no to this vintage Harter office chair.

["Thank you, Sturgis"]

As soon as I saw chair (the tag said '1930s') I admired its style and colour, the scores of brass tacks and durable, reliable under-carriage. As soon as I sat on it I declared it my writing chair... for life.

Link to The Way We Roll 10

Photos GH

Finished Log Cabin (2)

Instructions and More Detail

[This large birdhouse comes with a free one!]

Instructions and more can be viewed at Gord's new blog entitled The Workshop by G.Harrison.

Link to The Workshop

Photo GH

The Workshop - New Location

New Location, Same Story

I spend so much time inside my backyard workshop, and take so many photos of my projects, I thought a distinct blog or website was in order. So, starting today, my workshops projects will be shared - with all kinds of exciting details (!) - at a new location.

Please visit The Workshop at any time. Go slow and enjoy the view. And don't forget. Happy Hour is at 5PM.

Please link to The Workshop

Photo by GH

Follow Me

Introducing Two New Blogs

 ["Combined Operations by Canada's Clayton Marks, London"]

For information, stories, photographs, links to books and websites (etc.) about the little-known Combined Operations organization that played one of the hundreds of key roles for the Allied forces during WW2, please join me at the following site:

Canadians in Combined Operations, WW2 by G. Harrison

["Many Canadians, incl. my father, trained in Halifax before going to Europe"]

And, for more personal information about the recruitment, training and WW2 experiences of my father Doug, a Canadian member of RCNVR and Combined Operations (incl. details re preparing for the Dieppe raid and embarking on invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Italy), please join me at the following site:

Faint Footsteps, WW2 by G. Harrison

["My father, centre, greets Americans at Arzeu, North Africa, Nov. 1942"]

Questions, comments and submissions are welcome at the two sites.

G. Harrison

Two Photos by GH

The Workshop - Log Cabins (3)

Cold Out, Warm In

 ["Oh, it's cold outside"]

["Inside - New world's record?"]

By some combined fluke of nature and modern technology I saw the temperature rise to almost 14 degrees yesterday in the shop. The sun was shining at the right angle, the heater was set to 'the highest of highs', I'd just had a big cup of coffee and my stomach was a small furnace - all contributing factors I am sure.

And, I was able to move the seven cabins along the trail toward completion.

 ["Three of four small cabins. And the last one is my favourite"]

 ["My fav has old logs made from an old, rescued fence"]

 ["Two of three larger cabins. I will likely paint one of them"]

 ["Old barnboard triangles front and back. Loverly, I say"]

["I may stain this roof, then varnish, to show off the knots and grain"]

Sure, they need a bit of trim. Maybe I'll have a full-on trim day by Tuesday.

Cheers!

: )

Link to The Workshop

Photos GH

Faint Footsteps, WW2 (4)

I Picked Up the Trail Late but Not Too Late

I was given some real treasures when I was young but only discovered their value in my sixties.

That is probably true for others, I bet.

Link to Faint Footsteps, WW2 (4)

Photos GH