199 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca STODGELL, Norman WWII Norman was born in Fisherton on April 21, 1924. There was one daughter, Frieda, and seven sons in the family. He enlisted on June 1, 1943 in Winnipeg and took his basic training at Fort Garry, Manitoba for three months and his advance training at Camp Shilo, Manitoba. He got one month off to help his father take the crop off in the fall of 1943. Then he had to take his advance training over again. There were fourteen of them at Shilo that had taken training for NonCommissioned Officers but two of them wanted to go overseas so they kept bugging their Regimental Sergeant Major and he finally gave in and had them shipped out pronto. They went by train to the east coast at the beginning of August 1944 and then overseas on the ship “Aquitania”. The second day out of port they released lots of depth charges at German submarines. It took them four days to reach Liverpool, England. They were in England for about three weeks, then boarded ship again. This was a big convoy of ships. He was on the “Queen of Bermuda”. They were fourteen days on the ocean before they landed in Naples, Italy. They stayed in Ravana, Italy for a short while and that is where he joined the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He met Jack Hall there but could not talk long because they were on their way to the front lines. They spent Christmas Day, 1944 on a big pile of wheat in a big barn. When they left Italy from the Port of Leghorn, they could see the “Leaning Tower of Pisa”, but they would not let them go to see it. They went by ship to Marseilles, France, then by truck to Paris but they were not allowed out of the trucks. Then they went through Belgium to Holland where they went into action again. He was a Bren gunner. One morning, Norman and his buddy were in a slit trench in a field about 75 feet from a large concrete building. The enemy was around this area too. His buddy went first for breakfast and got in okay. Then he tried and got to the building okay but hit the wrong door that would not open. That was when the Germans opened fire at Norman with a machine gun. He had to run 50 feet to the next door. He could see the bullets bouncing off the concrete wall just inches behind him. His buddy in the building had the door open for him and he flew in. He never ran so fast in his life and his speed most likely spared his life. Shortly thereafter, on April 26, 1945, in the wee hours of the morning (it was still dusk) he saw a German patrol coming. He got one shot away and his machine gun jammed. And that was the last he remembered until he woke up in a hospital twelve hours later. One of his buddies by the name of Freddy Smith from Lake Francis, Manitoba, told him that he got the guys that got him. He was in the hospital for two weeks, so he missed some of the VE Day celebrations. After he was released from the hospital, he was sent to a lake in Holland for convalescing for three weeks, then six of them went to Aberdeen, Scotland, on leave for three weeks. After that they went to Belgium. He came home on the “Île de France” ship in October 1945 and was discharged on November 26, 1945. He resided at his father’s farm in Fisherton, Manitoba. Norman received the following medals: 1939-1945 Star, Italy Star, France and Germany Star, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, and War Medal 19391945. He joined The Royal Canadian Legion Hodgson Branch 158, in November 1945. He had been an active member and received a life membership.
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