The timing of an eventual assault was the subject of much debate and disagreement amongst the Allies. Russia had been bearing the brunt of Hitler's aggression and Stalin was demanding that the Allies open a western front to relieve pressure on them.
Britain, meanwhile, was at its lowest ebb, with the Battle of Britain having raged, and Britain's sea lanes were being ravaged by German U-Boats. While the US was lending Britain material support, it would not become a formal combatant until the Pearl Harbour attack in December, 1941.
It was against this backdrop that the Canadian military buildup took place. Eventually, there were tens of thousands of troops stationed along southern England, ready to defend the motherland if necessary, and all waiting for the day when they might get sent into action on the continent itself.
This photo was taken at Chub's base near Aldershott, August 1941.
It was a time of considerable routine and even boredom for the thousands of Canadian troops stationed in England. Their time was filled with endless training (see pix)
In Chub's case, the monotony was broken only by occasional forays into the countryside to assist local farmers, and more importantly, by visits to Gartocharn, Scotland, where he met his bride-to-be, Becky Forshaw. His subsequent military records revealed that he had only three 1-week leaves to meet Becky, and to get to know her, over a 14-month period before they were married in Kilmaronock church by Loch Lomond, on April 9th, 1942.
Subsequent events would ensure that their marriage would begin on very shaky ground indeed.______________________________________________________________
Iain writes ...
From London, we headed off to Newhaven, likely on the same tracks that our father used to head north to Gartocharn to see his future bride.
The reader needs some background here. Dad did not just discover Gartocharne by accident. It was ordained. Years earlier a young man named Jimmy Forshaw emigrated to Canada to seek fame and fortune. He ended up working on farms in the Angusville, Manitoba area and eventually married Jessie Angus. Jessie had (amongst others) two brothers, Jim and Albert Adam(Chub).
So back to leave from Newhaven: apparently on alternate weekends, Jim and Chub would head north to Scotland to visit Jimmy’s family. We learned much later (after all of the players had passed away) that both brothers were ‘dating’ Jimmy’s sister Becky. Obviously, our Dad won out and the rest they say is history.
During that official trip in 1987 we visited Canadian military cemeteries in both England and France. Two elements stood out for me: “The phrase ‘we stand on guard for thee’ found within O’Canada took on a whole new meaning for me. The other phrase that my parent’s generation used “when the boys came home” also had new meaning as I looked at the ages on the tombstones – 15, 16, 17 etc. (When ever I go into a highschool class to talk about democracy I ask the boys who are in that age to stand up – then I tell that story.)
When we got to Newhaven, had checked in and were given a lift to the Newhaven Fort by the Scottish manager of the hotel we were at, we started to enter the past. The museum has a great collection of material related to WWII (as well as other wars that Newhaven had participated in), and in particular the Dieppe Raid. We got a bit of the sense of what it was like ahead of time. Over 10,000 troups were stationed there, some just preparing for what would come ahead, while others participated in defending the shoreline. They had lots of time on their hands.
When our uncle Jim, his wife Janet and daughter Jane visited Dieppe some years ago he took them to their favourite pub. The same owner was there and (without knowing who he was talking too) complained about those ‘damn Canadians’ who stole a barrel of beer from behind the pub. Uncle Jim did not let on that he was part of the crew who did the deed. We didn’t know the name of the pub, but we did find the church where both Angus’s stayed in for the duration of their 18 months in Newhaven. We bumpted into it by accident as we strolled through the old town. I had visited it before on my ‘official’ visit and recognized it as soon as we came upon it.
The church where Chub was billeted while he was in Newhaven.
The harbour at Newhaven today
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