THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION ALBERTA-NWT COMMAND www.abnwtlegion.com 215 on left thigh”. Some of the toe was gone and there was no toenail. It was always kind of troublesome for him, though he did get a small pension from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs for his troubles. He always considered it to be laughably small, though. Recovering from the Wound After receiving his wound on February 2, 1945, he was admitted to the 1st Canadian General Hospital (600 beds), though there must have been some field treatment before that. 1 CGH was located in Jesi, some 160 km from Ravenna. On February 11, he was moved to the larger 14th Canadian General Hospital (1200 beds), in Perugia and at the same time was transferred from 12th Fld Coy to X3 Unit RCE. This was a code for all ranks evacuated on medical grounds behind Regimental Aid Posts. Apparently, the wound was bad enough to keep him in the hospital until March 1. By that time, 12 Fld Coy was on its way to Northwestern Europe, so it looks as if he couldn’t very easily rejoin them. There must have been a couple of weeks of waiting until he was taken off the X-3 list and put on the X-8 list on March 14. That was a code for all non-effective held at the Base Reinforcement Units whose return to the UK had been authorized. Then there were a couple more weeks of waiting, until on April 6 he embarked for the UK, though it took until April 18 for him to arrive there. That seems like a long time for a trip from the Mediterranean to Britain given that the U-boat menace was no longer operative, but maybe there were some stops along the way. He may have spent some time being looked after by the British (some of the late-leaving Canadians were). Given that possibility, there may have been a short trip in North Africa where the British Army had some hospitals. Martin often mentioned North Africa as one of the places he had been. AWOL, the Riots at Aldershot and Saved by the Atom Bomb The last major event in Martin’s story is all wrapped up in these postwar concerns – fear of the Pacific war, slowness in repatriation and just general exhaustion from it all. Near the end of June 1945, his wife said he was regretting signing up for the Pacific War, while away from the camp visiting her. She said he repeatedly stated that “he had done his bit. It’s the turn of others now.” She told him “Mart, you can’t stay here. They’ll find you. You have to go back.” But he didn’t go back. Not right away. He went AWOL for a short time. That wasn’t unusual; plenty of allied soldiers had done so before the surrender of Nazi Germany and they were still doing so. There were many Canadians, Americans and others who were on the lam in Britain at that time. He was in a pub and was spotted by some British officers. “What are you doing here, Canada? This is out of bounds – you should be in your barracks, especially after what happened at Aldershot.” What had happened at Aldershot was a riot by Canadian troops. It is a story that has been pretty effectively covered up by the official history, though not entirely censored. Basically, the troops who were impatiently waiting in the barracks at Aldershot for shipping, got fed up. There was a lot of concern about whether the allocation of shipping to bring men back to NorthAmerica was fair. Many thought that the American troops were getting privileged treatment, even though they entered the war much later than Canada and had therefore spend less time away from home. First in – first out, that was felt to be the only fair way to do things. This frustration, warranted or not, boiled over on Independence Day, July 4, 1945. Supposedly a newsreel announcing the departure of U.S. troops on a trans-Atlantic liner set things off. At that time, Martin didn’t know what the British officers were talking about, but reluctantly or not, he made it back to Aldershot. Once there, he discovered a chaotic situation – Canadians had rampaged through the town and camp for two nights, vandalizing buildings, breaking windows, stealing cigarettes and booze. But there was little violence and no rapes. In that way, it was a very Canadian riot. He tried to report for duty late, AWOL and all. But someone told him “Forget it mate! Everything is in an uproar. There’s been no time for muster parades and the records are all in a mess.You got lucky, there’s no AWOL for you!” So, he was lucky and missed out on the punishment that would surely have been meted out – perhaps a bit of time in the brig, maybe some lost pay, maybe being put on the black-list, to be repatriated last. His luck continued to hold. The concern about the Pacific war ended with the dropping of the atom bombs inAugust 1945 and the surrender of Japan. So, no combat engineer duties, helping troops to storm the beaches, then slowly advancing inland, building bridges and avoiding land mines. His service record shows a transfer from 1 Coy EU to 131 CD MD 13 (4 Repat) on August 9, 1945 which was the same day that the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. To finish the story, he was granted 30 days leave on August 13. It seems likely that he got more time away from camp than that, however. He came back to Canada in November, being discharged on November 30. His war bride from Scotland followed somewhat later in the spring. They had reasonably successful lives in Canada, which included raising seven children. Martin was instrumental in the formation of the Jasper Place Branch of The Royal Canadian Legion in Edmonton and spent many happy hours there. He was a member for 45 years. Like so many of their generation, they did their duty. They deserve honour and respect. Martin passed away in 1991. Olausen, Martin Olaf (continued)
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