199 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca RAYSON, Stanley “Stan” WWII Stanley was born in Somerset, Manitoba on June 19, 1910. Stan Rayson who lived in the Villa in Treherne and who made his home at Somerset and Swan Lake for many years was 32 years of age when he enlisted in the Army in 1942 (9 days before Christmas). He landed at Juno Beach on D-Day May 6, 1944, was wounded and still returned to action. Stan was stationed at Camp Shilo (in Manitoba) in 1943 and after six months went to Halifax by train. They were on the ocean for six days, landing in Liverpool, England as a member of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. He was stationed in the south part of England (south of London). He and his comrades took the 21 mile boat ride across the English Channel on May 6, 1944, D-Day. They landed at Juno Beach, France just as it was becoming daylight and Stan, like the rest of his comrades found themselves in waist high water (part of the landing procedure). “We went from the larger boat to a flat bottom boat for landing” says Stan. “There were about 15 of us in the landing boat”. “There was a certain amount of confrontation at this spot on the beach head, but compared to other locations, there was very little fighting right there. It was there however, that I received a bullet right through the calf of my leg”. Two of the fifteen in Stan’s platoon were wounded. They moved (the two who were wounded) to a cove along the shore line and when darkness came, they moved to a red cross building. “I was able to bandage myself and able to walk out.” “The next morning I remember the whistling of shells overhead from the big ships”. Stan was transferred back to a supply boat and returned to England for just under a month. “I returned back to Europe later in 1944, this time by plane to Belgium. We went all through Holland and then to the edge of the Black Forest in Germany, still fighting in the west part of Germany”. Stan recalls being eye witness to the aerial onslaught on Duzzeldorf, Germany, a key location for the German oil supply system, watching from the opposite side of a river. “I was in the Canadian Armed Forces for two and a half years” reports Stan “from start to finish”. When the end of the war came he was returned back to Holland for what he considers to be a long time and then returned to Canada, arriving in Montreal on New Year’s Day 1946. Stan came back to the Somerset and Swan Lake area, back to his dad’s farm. Stan had a vivid memory of the dates, places and times, returning from the front line. He was a member of Legion Branch 120 for sixty years. Stan passed away in 2011. ROBERTSON, Lawrence A. “Larry” SPECIAL DUTY AREA Larry was born in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia on August 30, 1936. He enlisted in London, Ontario on February 2, 1956 with the Canadian Army (Artillery) and did training in Camp Utopia, NB and RCSA Shilo, MB. He posted to 1RCHA in Winnipeg in September 1957 and then to Z Battery 2RCHA. Following an injury on the Shilo Ranges, he posted to RCSA Shilo. He re-mustered to Administration and posted to 9 AMU (Air Movements Unit) in Winnipeg. In 1972, he posted to #22 NRHQ (NORAD Regional Headquarters) as Administrative Clerk. He was released in April 1976 following which he worked for Corrections Manitoba in Brandon for 22 years. He has been a member of The Royal Canadian Legion, Wheat City Branch 247 for 24 years and is now a Life Member.
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