Our Parents Who Served

[John McGillivray]

I have mentioned before in other posts about by father who served in the RCAF during the war on the wrong side of the ocean. Karman, he was also a smoker and died from cancer two days before my eleventh birthday.

The photo below is of my German uncle; the one on the left. He immigrated to Canada during the 1930’s, and was married to my mother’s oldest sister before the start of the war. During the war he was in the Artillery. I’ve seen photos of him standing along side of 5.5in guns. After the war he was in the Canadian Occupation Force. On the back of the photo is his mailing address while serving in the C.O.F.

B-160681
Gnr. Kloninger R.A.
2/26 Bty
2/12 Field Regt. R.C.A.
C.O.F

I was never able to talk to him about his war time experiences. Every time that we visited with them, my mother always warned me not to ask him about the war. It must have been a strange experience to be a German in war time England, or to be in his home country, Germany, as part of an occupation force.