129 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca McINTOSH, William Neil “Bill” WWII Bill, only son of Neil and Annie (Lloyd), was born on July 1, 1903. He received his education in Neepawa, Manitoba. Bill farmed with his father until his father retired. For the next seventeen years, he continued farming in the Basswood district. On July 4, 1940, at the age of 37, he enlisted in the Lake Superior Regiment in Brandon, Manitoba. He took his training at Camp Borden, Ontario. Bill was posted overseas and went over to the United Kingdom on the ship Queen Mary. Following further extensive training, he took part in the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. As the Canadian Army advanced, Private McIntosh saw active service in Italy, France, Holland, and Germany. After his return to Canada on the Queen Elizabeth, he was discharged on January 11, 1946, in Winnipeg, and returned to Basswood to work with Manitoba Hydro. Bill seldom talked about his war experiences and was never a well man after he got home. His father made the comment, “He wasn’t the son that left home.” On June 24, 1950, a little more than four years after his discharge, Bill died in Deer Lodge Hospital in Winnipeg following a lengthy illness sustained during the war. He is buried in Fairmount Cemetery, north of Basswood, Manitoba. He received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, Defence of Britain Medal, Italy Star, France and Germany Star, 1939-1945 Star and War Medal 1939-1945. McLEAN, Duncan Oliver “Ollie” WWII Ollie joined the Army, RCA, at Brandon A4, on October 10, 1941. Born in 1919, he was 22 years old and farmed south of Rapid City. Following basic training at Portage, he was posted to Burnaby, BC in January 1942, and attached to the 59th Battery. Their job was searching for Japanese subs on the west coast. Following this, he was sent to Nanaimo, and then to Victoria where he was based at Campbell River, on the lookout for enemy subs in the Juan de Fuca Strait. In 1943, he was posted to Petawawa, Ontario near Ottawa, to an RCA holding unit for more training. He was a signaler and worked on telephone communications. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to Debert, Nova Scotia, in preparation for overseas posting. At Debert, a huge camp, there was sand as far as the eye could see. He was there for about three weeks, then loaded on board the Queen Mary in Halifax Harbour, bound for the Old Country. They left Halifax in August 1943, with a cargo of 16,400 troops. The trip was good, and they zigzagged as a precautionary safety measure in case of lurking German subs. They landed at Greenock, Scotland three days later. At Greenock, they took the train to Redding, south of London. There, the unit was dispersed, and Ollie was in the 7th Medium for about three months. He was then promoted to Corporal. On June 10, 1944, Ollie was posted to the Continent. An area of about ten miles square was then under Allied control. They landed at Caen. Ollie was involved in the Battle of Falaise. That was a real dirty mess. Their own unit did more damage to the unit than the enemy did; (continued)
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