LEST WE FORGET 355 WHEELER, Wilfred H. WWII Wilfred was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan on January 6, 1922. He enlisted in the Army with the S.S.R. and served with the Army Service Corps. He took basic training in Dundurn, SK and served during World War II from 1941 to 1945 with 2 Cdn Div. Coy, RCAC in England, Holland, Belgium and Germany. Like so many returning service personnel, Wilfred spoke very little about his time overseas. But one story and one incident come to mind. Wilfred was in England with a few days of R & R, so he was able to travel to his parents’ hometown in Wiltshire County. The normal practice was to hit a pub as soon as possible for a pint and that is what Wilfred did. He got into a conversation with a pretty barmaid by the name of Flossie. Wilfred had a steady girlfriend back home and marriage was a strong possibility, so a conversation was all he enjoyed. That was a good thing since upon returning to Canada after the war ended, he learned that Flossie was his father’s youngest sister. She had never travelled any more than twenty miles from the family home and was working to support her family. The incident happened when one summer his son was working casually for a sound and lighting company who had a satellite office and warehouse in a former Air Training Base barracks just outside of Weyburn. Wilfred was asked to come along and help load the equipment since everything was stored in six different rooms. His son offered to go from room to room and place what was needed in the hallway and Wilfred could load it on the truck. Finishing his tasks, he found his father was AWOL until he showed up at the far end of the hallway. White as a ghost, Wilfred walked silently past him and left the building. When found outside, his only words were “it still smells the same.” Apparently, he had wandered off and found the barrack’s shower which had held onto the odor of the military issued soap. Wilfred passed away in March 1991. WHITE, Ross Charles WWI Ross was born in 1895 in Fall Brook, Ontario. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I serving in Canada and England. Ross received the British War Medal for his service.
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