89 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca COCHRANE, Leslie WWII Leslie joined the Canadian Army on May 11, 1943 in Winnipeg. He took basic training in Fort Garry. From there he was sent to Camp Shilo for advance training. He then went directly overseas landing in Liverpool. They were given a hardening training for one month in England. They then sailed for Italy which took 28 days before they landed in Naples. They went to a holding unit in Avalenio. They joined with the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry and were sent to Italy. During combat, a shell exploded right beside him and he was rendered unconscious; he lost his bearings for quite some time. He spent two months in hospital. After convalescing, he returned to the front lines with the Saskatchewan Light Infantry (M.G.). They sailed from Leghorn to Marseille where they joined the Canadian Army in Northwest Europe. They saw action mostly in Holland. After peace was declared he volunteered for the Pacific Force. While he was on leave, the war with Japan ended and he got his discharge in 1946. In April 1953, he joined for survival training (A.F.) with the Winnipeg Grenadiers for two months. He re-enlisted on June 9, 1953 and took training at Petawawa, Ontario, and was sent directly to Korea. They sailed from Seattle. It took 21 days to reach Pusan, Korea. He was there with the occupational force for ten months. He returned to Canada at Christmas 1955, and got his release the following June. In October 1961, he rejoined the Winnipeg Rifles and took survival training at Minto Armories in Winnipeg. While there, he roomed with Ebenezer Asham. A funny incident took place on parade. The night before the parade, Eb spent hours polishing up his boots. Leslie couldn’t be bothered, so he threw his in a corner and bought nice shiny new ones. The next day on parade Eb developed a very sore foot so he went to see the M.D., the doctor examined it and said, ‘No damned wonder you have a sore foot, you have on one shoe size 9 and the other size 8.’ He had put on one of Leslie’s boots by mistake. That was his last military service; he obtained his discharge in 1961. The medals he received were: 1939-1945 Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp; also the Prov/Awarded United Nations Service Medal. Leslie resided in Fisher River and was a Life Member of Hodgson Legion Branch 158. COCHRANE, Robert J. WWII Robert enlisted on July 8, 1944 as a reinforcement. He took his basic training in Fort Garry, Manitoba, and his advance training at Shilo, Manitoba. He got married on February 2, 1945, and then went overseas to England in March 1945, aboard the HMCS New Amsterdam. He met Tiny Link as Tiny was coming to England and he was leaving for the continent. After spending two weeks in England, he went to Amsterdam with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and into Walfhazy, Holland. He was stationed twenty miles from Apeldoorn and the Rhine River. He took part in the 3rd Division Dominion Day march for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth I, in front of Westminster Abbey. He volunteered for Burma and landed back in England for a few weeks. He arrived back in Winnipeg on July 11, 1945. Robert received his honourable discharge in the fall of 1946. He has been a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Hodgson Branch 158, although he resided in Alberta.
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