183 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca PHILLIPS, Ralph W. WWII Ralph was born in 1923 in Amaranth, Manitoba. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1941 and went overseas working as a dietician in an army hospital in England. On D-Day, he went over the Channel and was wounded when the barge he was on was blown up. Ralph was brought back to England to recuperate after which he returned to his previous position of dietician. He was discharged in late 1945. Ralph was a member of Langruth Legion Branch 162 for more than thirty years before he passed away in 1996. PIHULAK, Nick WWII Nick was born in Gonor, Manitoba on October 3, 1917. He joined the Canadian Navy in 1942 and was stationed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, serving on HMCS Blairmore in Canada, England, France and Germany during World War II. The Blairmore was a minesweeper tasked with clearing the mines off Omaha Beach before the D-Day attack could begin on June 4, 1944. Under heavy fire, they cleared 85 mines by sweeping and blowing them up. They were accompanied by the U.S. Augusta, HMS Monitor and several U.S. destroyers. The crew was told that they were embarking on a suicide mission, resulting in a potential loss of 85% of the crew. Miraculously, they all survived. Serving as a Stoker/Petty Officer until the end of the war, Nick then returned to Fort Frances where he married and raised his family of six. He spent 44 years as a stationary engineer in the pulp and paper mill in Fort Frances and was a member of Fort Frances Legion Branch 29 before he died on October 13, 1999. POTT, Thomas Edmond “Tom” WWI Tom was born in England in 1896 but came to Woodmore, Canada with his parents. He joined the 190th Canadian Battalion in November 1916 but only spent about a year in the trenches fighting due to gunnery and musketry training and a bout of diphtheria. Sent to Belone, France, his unit was issued gas masks and they marched 3 miles to a gas chamber to test them. He also ran messages from the front lines to where orders were being made. Tom often talked about lying in the trenches and dugouts to escape the bullets while many of his comrades and their horses were killed. Discharged on August 12, 1919, Tom was awarded the Victory Medal, the British Empire Service Medal, the Medallion for the Battle of the Somme, and the British Button. He met Doris Treadwell in 1918 and they were married on April 29, 1919. Tom brought his new bride home to Woodmore where they settled on a farm near his parent’s home. They have lived there ever since. Tom died in 1992. POTT, Harold Wilfred Earl WWII Harold was born in Woodmore, Manitoba in 1921. He enlisted with the Fort Garry Horse at Minto Armoury in Winnipeg in 1941, trained at Camp Borden in Ontario, and served with the Fort Garry Horse as Trooper in Squadron B. His service included duties in Canada, Britain, and Northwest Europe. Harold was honourably discharged in December 1945 with the following medals: 1939-45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal. He was a member of Dominion City Legion Branch 160 for fiftysix years and was awarded a Lifetime membership in 2002. Harold died at his home in Woodmore in 2005.
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