LEST WE FORGET 51 BALE, George Seymour WWII George was born in 1920 on the family farm south of Elrose to George and Miriam Bale. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy in July 1942. He saw service on two destroyers on the Atlantic Ocean. The destroyers were escort ships taking convoys of ships from Canada and the United States across the ocean. He was discharged on November 30, 1948. George returned to the farm in Elrose after his discharge from the Navy. He worked as a Postmaster at the Elrose Post Office for many years, retiring in 1985. After retirement, he moved to Mirror, Alberta to be with his son and daughter-in-law where he passed away in 2001. BALL, Edward Allan “Ted” WWII Edward was born in Keystown, Saskatchewan in 1919. He served with the Air Force as a Flight Engineer during World War II in North Africa and in England. After the war, Edward worked in Northwest Territories and Northern Saskatchewan. He lived in Vancouver working for Canadian Pacific Airlines as a ground mechanical inspector and stayed in Vancouver after his retirement. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Silton Branch 33. Edward passed away in 2011. BALE, Willard Austin WWII Willard was born on June 1, 1917, on the family farm south of Elrose, the oldest child of George and Miriam Bale. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in mid-august 1942 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He got a harvest leave for six weeks to help his father get a crop in the bin, then was off to Manning Post in Edmonton, Alberta. There they learned marching discipline and received their vaccinations. On November 1, 1942, he was sent to Claresholm, Alberta where he learned Morse Code until March 1943 when he was back in Edmonton at St. Joseph College to learn airplane identification. He then was sent to Trenton, Ontario Flying School to learn gunnery and flying. Sadly, after two weeks of training, his dream of heading overseas as a rear gunner was halted when he was hospitalized with Rheumatic Fever until April 1944, when he was discharged and sent home. At the time of his passing in July 2010, he had been a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Elrose Branch 206 for 65 years, fifty of those as Poppy Chairman.
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