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"When we would distribute the mail, everyone would come to see if there was something for them; it was so important for a soldier's morale"

"The Red Cross went up twice to try and rescue the two wounded, right up in front, but the Germans kept firing on them."

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"As countries were freed, they not only played for the military but they also played for civilians too"

"I didn’t return to Arnhem and the bridge until the 60th anniversary, 2004. I went down a walk on the Wednesday night and I walked along the river, the route we’d gone in, up the approach and onto the bridge and looked down at the buildings we’d occupied that were rebuilt, and it was an eerie feeling. It was strange. It brought back a lot of memories [...]"

See below for Mr. McCreesh's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"And when you think that, with your flying equipment on and the Mae West and a parachute, it was pretty cramped quarters."

See below for Mr. McVean's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"Major Mahoney was awarded the Victoria Cross, my troop officer was awarded the DSO, my troop sergeant was awarded the DCM and my bow gunner was awarded the Military Medal. Someone asked me what I got and I said, “Yes, I got scared.”"

See below for Mr. McLean's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"Now, we could have blasted the place off the map but Montgomery wanted the hand-to-hand fighting. He said the Canadians will handle it."

See below for Mr. McCourt's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"I was watching the Typhoons, or the ‘Tiffies,’ blowing up a forest and I was thinking, give them hell, boys."

See below for Mr. MacDonald's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"Why don’t I take the PIAT and I’ll shoot it at the first house. And he said, it’ll give an awful roar and a surprise factor and then we go rushing down towards the place."

See below for Mr. McDonald's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought during the First World War from 9 to 12 April 1917. It is Canada’s most celebrated military victory — an often mythologized symbol of the birth of Canadian national pride and awareness. The battle took place on the Western Front, in northern France. The four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting together for the first time, attacked the ridge from 9 to 12 April 1917 and captured it from the German army. It was the largest territorial advance of any Allied force to that point in the war — but it would mean little to the outcome of the conflict. More than 10,600 Canadians were killed and wounded in the assault. Today an iconic memorial atop the ridge honours the 11,285 Canadians killed in France throughout the war who have no known graves.

This is the full-length entry about the Battle of Vimy Ridge. For a plain-language summary, please see Battle of Vimy Ridge (Plain-Language Summary).

"[She] said, that was the only thing she was convinced, that was the only thing that saved my life, was this supposedly over-prescribing of the penicillin."

See below for Mr. McAndrew's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"I had three bad months. That was Normandy, until we got out of Falaise. Once we got out of there, I had no problems. The Germans had two 88s [anti-tank gun] and when we tried to move, they blasted us."

See below for Mr. Steinberg's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

Joseph Benjamin “Joe” Keeper, world-class athlete and war hero of the Norway House Cree Nation (born 21 January 1886 in Walker Lake, MB; died 29 September 1971 in Winnipeg, MB). Keeper competed at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Olympics, where he participated in the 5,000 and 10,000 m track events. Keeper later served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War and received the Military Medal for his actions at the front. After his death, Keeper was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1977 and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

"I was able to find an old German from the First [World] War, he was a first war veteran and I told him it was over and he was the superintendent looking after the telephone exchange. And I asked him if he had a bottle of wine and he said, yes. So he got us a bottle of wine and this other fellow and I sat down and drank the wine. And that was the war, it was over for us, we were so pleased. It’s hard to explain how we felt."

See below for Mr. Ogilvie's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest naval battle in the history of the world, and we did our job"

See below for Mr. Taylor's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"Food was the most important part which we never did have very much of, and then sickness, you start diarrhea, dysentery and big sores formed on your legs from malnutrition."

See below for Mr. Stebbe's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"So I told him, you want to know what’s going on? Get up off your butt and come on up here and take my place and I’ll take yours."

See below for Mr. Hawryluk's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"A knock came on the door and it was my station commander who said, 'Ray, I’m sorry to tell you this, but your friend has not returned, will you please repack his luggage so we can send it back to his wife in Canada."

See below for Mr. Gauvreau's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

"I met a lot of other young girls from coast to coast and some even American girls. And so we decided we’d go out this one night to a house party."

See below for Mrs. Hawryluk's entire testimony.

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.