LEST WE FORGET 97 BJERKE, Eva Emilia WWII Eva was born in Saskatchewan’s Norquay District in 1925. She joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corps in 1943 and took her basic training at Vermillion, Alberta. Corporal Bjerke was stationed in Chilliwack, British Columbia and served as an orderly room clerk before being discharged in 1944. Her sister Eva and brother Art also joined the Army from the Bjerke family farm. Eva passed away in 1991. BONDERUD, Alan Norman WWII Alan was born in 1918 in Leroy, Saskatchewan. He joined active service in July 1942 and was a member of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada. He served in the United Kingdom and Northwest Europe. Upon his discharge he received the following medals: 1939-1945 Star – Overseas War Effort; France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp for Active Service; War Medal – WWII. Alan was one of the founding members of The Royal Canadian Legion Leroy Branch 309 and was a member for over fifty years before his passing in May 2002. BOND, Ernest Walter WWI Ernest was born in Whitewood, Saskatchewan on August 19, 1898, to parents Charles and Hilma (Luthala) Bond. His parents farmed at New Finland. His mother died in 1899, leaving him to be raised by his father. He attended school at Nurmi Oja School and helped his father farm. His father remarried in 1907 and Ernest had two step-siblings. He enlisted in the Army in Whitewood on March 29, 1916, with the 217th Battalion. In 1916, while training at Camp Hughes, he was hospitalized for measles in Winnipeg from July 3 to July 23 and with diphtheria from December 18 to December 24. He left Halifax on June 2, 1917, aboard the Olympic and was taken on strength with the 19th Reserve. He spent twelve months in Canada; 23 months in England and nine months in France. Private Bond went to France with the 48th Battalion Machine Gun Corp on March 1, 1918, and was wounded on November 6, 1918 with a gunshot wound to the thigh. He was sent to Epsom Convalescent Hospital on November 27, 1918. He was discharged on May 17, 1919. After returning home, Ernest married Aina Maria (Mary) Koskinen in 1922 and they had one daughter, Ivy. They lived in Ontario. Ernest passed away in 1969, at the age of seventy, and is buried in Springcreek Cemetery in Mississauga, Ontario.
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