LEST WE FORGET 293 NEILSON, Donald Foote WWII Donald was born on June 21, 1919 in Glasgow, Scotland. On September 6, 1939, at the age of 18 years, he joined the army. It was called the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and he was in the 1st Division Ammunition Co. They hauled ammunition, food, people, etc. Donald trained at Mewata Barracks. On December 15, 1939, they left by boat for overseas and spent Christmas and New Years on the boat landing at Greenock, Scotland on January 2, 1940. He received $1.30 a day for service pay, half of which was held back and sent home to his mother and father. Donald’s group was taken by train to Inkermann Barracks Woking Surrey, England. On this train they were served drinks by waiters dressed in tuxedos. He took his training there. In the spring of 1940, they went to Brest, France and were there a day and a night when they were chased out (evacuated). Before they left, they drove the Brigadier Generals Buick over a cliff and also destroyed all their vehicles and any equipment they could not transport so the Germans couldn’t use them. From the summer to the fall they toured around England keeping on the move all over so the enemy would think because of so much activity that there were a lot of troops, as they were afraid the enemy would invade England. When the allied Forces were evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940, they met the boats with trucks to transport the troops to wherever they were to be sent. Sometime in the mid 1940’s, Donald was sent to the army Post Office and here he played the drums with the 1st Division Ammunition Companies unofficial Band. In the end of 1940 and the beginning of 1941 was the battle of Britain, and there was much bombing and air-raids. The people of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales had blackouts. This was the times when they couldn’t have any light on. A lot had airraid shelters, also there was a large community shelter and they also used the subways or any where else they felt was safer. The sirens would blow intermittently for a warning and then would blow steady when all was clear. His uncle Don, who lived about 70 miles out of London, had a big metal like shelter in the middle of their dinning room. It looked similar to Quonsets on today’s farms. It was during this period that Donald was pumping up a blow torch when it exploded and he was burned on his neck. He was not hospitalized but was off work for a time. One morning he found a piece of shrapnel stuck into his pillow right beside his head. While in the army they would receive 48-hour leaves after a couple of weeks work and they would have to pay their own travel fare. Because he was a Machinist, he was paid $1.30 a day, .20 cents of this was trades pay. From 1941 to 1943, Donald was stationed in England on standby. In the fall of 1943, he was transferred to the Ordnance Corps and went to the Isle of Butte, Scotland, there he took commando training in preparation for the invasion of Europe, which was on June 6,1944 (D-Day). He was sent to Europe and landed in France on June 7, 1944. From there they fought through France, Belgium, and into Holland. While he was a troop his rank was Sgt. Major. The actual fighting of World War II ended on April 15, 1945, but there was a lot of dissention for awhile. He returned by boat and train to the farm in approximately June 1945, and was discharged from the army August 1945, serving a total of 5 years and 11 months. Donald passed away on April 14, 1988.
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