91 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca IMLAH, Walter R. WWII Walter joined the army on May 15, 1941 and had some parade square drill in Winnipeg, but mostly other recruits showed them how to march. While on guard duty at Water St. Barrack, he had to wait for a uniform. He went from there to Camp Shilo and was posted to the administrative wing RCATC. He was a dish washer and runner for the RSM then a telephone operator at the Regimental Sergeant Major’s office. In the fall, they went to Fort Garry for the winter. He got double pneumonia and ended up getting discharged for being unable to meet required military physical standards. He was discharged on April 29, 1942.Walter went to Ontario and worked in the bush camps for a couple of months, to Saskatchewan for harvest, then worked in Canada Packers and back to the bush swamping cordwood. On March 10, 1943, he went to Winnipeg and joined the army again. He went to Fort Garry for basic training and Camp Shilo for advance training. He got his trained soldier’s badge in the first part of August 1943. He got an embarkation leave to spend 48 hours at home, then they were off by train to Halifax. There they boarded the Queen Mary and were off to the United Kingdom. On August 30, they sailed past some land away at a distance. They were told it was the coast of Ireland; this was where he was on his twentieth birthday. They disembarked in Scotland, got on trains, and were taken to Whitley, England, a holding unit. From there Walter went to Worthing, England. He saw Slim Hallett and Charley Mackie there. That is where the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders were stationed. This was the regiment in which he had originally enlisted. He was put in D Company, 17th Platoon. After a couple of weeks there, he saw orders he was to report to Battalion Headquarters at 8am sharp to take a special course in scout and sniper training. He reported there and although he trained with the regiment on the schemes etc., they were being trained as scouts. The training was how to get in and out of enemy lines, compass reading, map reading, etc. and lots of target shooting. Walter went to Inverness, Scotland in January 1944. There, he was trained on landing craft infantry. This showed them how to get on the boat and then how to get off in the water and into battle. Some mornings there was about an inch of ice on the water. Well, they would head for the shore, stop about thirty feet out and down went the front end, like dropping a big tailgate of a truck. Everybody had to jump out and head for the shore. Sometimes, if you were short, you went over your head but most of the time the water was two or three feet deep and ice cold. From there he went back to Worthing, England and on to Broom Park, which is about 11 or 12 miles from Canterbury. They were all housed in tents. The scouts and snipers had their own tent. There were 44 of them. One time they were out on a scheme and the scout platoon had their own cook. The cook’s nine-day leave came through and they were out on this scheme until the following Monday. The cook could leave on Friday night. All of a sudden, the Captain came up to Walter and told him he would be the cook for the next three days. Walter said, “I can’t cook”. He said, “Herb said you could and he will show you what to do”. Walter was the cook for three days. Walter also used to cut hair. That all started because they all had to have a hair cut by morning - this order was given by their Major.Walter had a date that night and the barber was busy and a guy named Tickle, and Walter, were waiting. Walter asked him if he ever cut hair. “A couple of times I cut my younger brother’s hair” he said. Walter said, “Me too, so let’s cut each other’s hair”. Walter asked the barber if they could use his tools when he was not using them.When the barber put his clippers down, Walter used them.When he put the scissors down, he used them and then Tickle did the same thing to cut Walter’s hair. Walter went on his date and Tickle went dancing. The next day a guy came looking for the fellow who cut Tickle’s hair. Walter was pointed out to him and he wanted him to cut his hair, from then on Walter cut lots of hair. (continued)
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