99 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca DAVIES, Wilfred Russell “Wilf” WWII Wilf was born in Bethany, Manitoba in 1923. He enlisted with the 12th Manitoba Dragoons in Minnedosa on May 31, 1941, at 17 years of age. He and his older brother Lloyd joined the same day. They were sent to the Jerry Robinson building in Winnipeg for basic training in the Minto Armouries. Wilf’s next posting was to Camp Shilo for three months. Here the brothers finished basic training, including small arms and .303 Lee Enfield rifles. After Shilo, he and Lloyd began work at M.T.S., at Camp Borden, learning the mechanical end of Bren Gun Carriers and driving military trucks. They transferred back to Shilo until late fall in 1941. When the Japanese submarine scare happened on the west coast, the biggest part of the Dragoons was posted to Souke, near Victoria, BC. Lloyd stayed at Souke, with an attack of asthma, while Wilf went to Jordon River for night shore patrol guard duty. They rested and slept during the day. The following spring of 1942, they were sent to Debert, NS to finish training on army vehicles, Bren guns and bigger guns. They left for Britain in spring of 1943, travelling to Brighton. Here they were trained on armoured and scout cars. The scout cars carried a crew of two and were armour-plated. The armoured cars had a crew of five. Wilf did not stay at one place very long, so he saw a lot of England. The unit slept in the bush in tents and travelled in convoys. Wilf was a driver instructor. Shortly after D-Day, about May 20, 1944, they crossed the English Channel in landing crafts. All of their vehicles had been waterproofed. They got off the landing crafts into about four feet of water, off the coast of Normandy. When they arrived, there was not room for them to work with the vehicles, so they did guard duty in town. Wilf’s unit was the 18th Armoured Car Regiment Reconnaissance, which was changed a few months later to 15th Armoured Reconnaissance. When they got to France, the name changed back to 12th Manitoba Dragoons. Their duties included going out and locating enemy, then reporting back to HQ, who would phone Artillery or Air Force, whichever was needed to deal with the enemy. Their job was to find out what the Germans had in the way of equipment. They were once shelled by the Americans, who mistook them for German soldiers. Alf Nicholson from Franklin was killed. A few of them received shrapnel wounds. “We picked shrapnel out of one fellow’s bum with a jack knife! I got shrapnel in my right arm,” according to Wilf. Later on, as they travelled through northern France, one armoured car was blown up and the whole crew was killed. One of their men was killed by a booby trap attached to the doorbell of a house. It exploded in his face. The Dragoons travelled right along the coast through France, Belgium, and Holland, going as far as the Black Forest in Germany when the war ended. Wilf and his friend took military equipment to Czechoslovakia, for the Czech Government to purchase. They did this for about two months. Returning to England in September, they set sail for Canada on December 20, on board the Queen Mary. They had turkey and all the trimmings, including one bottle of beer per man, for a Christmas feast. They landed in NewYork and took a train to Winnipeg, making it back to Minnedosa for New Year’s Eve. That night Wilf attended the New Year’s Eve dance in the Armouries. Welcome home! Wilf and Lloyd ran a trucking business for a few years after the war, delivering coal and grain, etc. In 1947, Wilf married Adeline Kolesar of Spring Hill. They moved to Neepawa where Wilf worked for Earl Murray in the garage business until 1949. Then he returned to the home farm when his dad became ill. In 1961, Wilf started working for the RM of Minto as grader operator, and he retired in 1988. He was honoured to have been presented with a Champion Road Grader plaque for many long years of grader service. Adeline and Wilf divorced in 1982, and Wilf married Shirley Wiebe of Minnedosa in 1983. He raised a family of two sons and a daughter. He joined The Royal Canadian Legion Minnedosa Branch 138 and was a member for 27 years. In retirement, Wilf enjoyed curling, travelling, bowling, carpentry and gardening. Wilf’s comments of his war service: “As far as my war memories are concerned, we did what we had to do. In our troop we had fourteen men to begin with, and only four of the original guys came back.” He attended about four Reunions. He received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, Defence Medal, France and Germany Star, 1939-1945 Star, and War Medal 1939-1945. Wilf passed away in 2003.
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