207 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca Meanwhile, the army was preparing for D-Day, and he was posted to Epsom Downs, He was selected as the Brigadier General’s personal driver for overseas. A week before D-Day, the special driving school was dismantled in preparation for D-Day. About 500 men a week were trained at this school. Steven arrived in Caen, France, three days after D-Day, after the big push. He was attached to 1st Canadian Army H.Q. He drove the Brig. Gen.’s self-contained vehicle onto the barge before leaving to cross the English Channel, then handed it over to the Brig’s new driver. He was barbering in H.Q., as well as driving. He barbered once a week, officers in the morning, other ranks in the afternoon. His driving job was to drive new officers and men to the front line – trucks, jeeps, and the “hup” (bigger than a jeep, closed in and a cab-over engine). Field Marshall Montgomery, “Monty”, used to come to 1st Canadian Army H.Q., where he was attached. As Head Quarters, they followed up the advancing army. He was on the job until war’s end. Steven drove all through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Luxembourg. He had lots of close calls, was shot at lots; one whizzed by his neck. He was lucky. He only got a scar on his neck. It was visible only when he got a haircut. One time, in Antwerp, Belgium, he took some officers to a meeting. He went into a building for a drink when a rocket bomb exploded and he was knocked under a table, but not hurt. It was sure dusty. Then he picked up his two officer passengers and proceeded on their way. He spent one week in hospital for observation in Ghent, Belgium. Their H.Q. moved every day or two as a safety precaution. Once, when they were stationed at Nijmegen, Holland, they had to cross a pontoon swinging bridge across a river, built by the Royal Canadian Engineers. He was delivering a kitchen unit. His truck radiator was hit by a German bullet and made unserviceable. He had to hitch-hike back to his unit and have another truck dispatched. At the end of the war, he got a one-week leave and went to see Joan at Hayling Island. He missed the plane to Europe, due to a storm, so he hitch-hiked back to Europe. Got a troop boat at Dover to Caen, then troop train, and eventually got to Appeldorn, Holland, where he camped overnight under the stars, near the Royal Palace. Two weeks later, he was “repatted” to England and married Joan Tibble on October 26, 1946, on Hayling Island. He stayed there until March 1948 working for Joan’s father who operated a market garden and nursery. He also did some carpentering and bricklaying. When he returned to Canada with his bride, they stayed on his father’s farm at Crawford Park for a while, then made their home in Minnedosa. He worked for North American Lumber Co. for a year, then with Valdi Sigurdson and, later, at the Co-op Lumber Yard., building houses. Then he went carpentering with his own crew, contracting. He retired from carpentering in 1986 and helped his son, Brian, when necessary, building cupboards, etc. He and Joan had one son and one daughter, and had five grandchildren, four boys and one girl. He enjoyed gardening and woodwork, making such things as bowls on his lathe, a process involving glue and a lot of pressure. He was a 56-year member of The Royal Canadian Legion Minnedosa Branch 138. He had a thirty-year Legion pin and served on the Legion Gardens Board and held various offices in the Legion. He received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, Defence Medal, France and Germany Star, 1939-1945 Star and War Medal 1939-1945. Steven passed away in 2011. SKATCH, Steven Russell (continued)
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